Rayetta's Seasonal Notes

Here we go on our ellipse, hurtling through space at our usual pace. This part of the journey is hot and, this time, stickier than usual. Loud is the lamentation of those who forget to change out of their wet clothes, then, chafe themselves. (I got that from Crumby in reference to Ray who has suffered another inner thigh chaffing event). One would think, Ray would learn to change out of his wet underwear when he gets home from work. Usually he does change, but sometimes he does not. So he gets chaffed. Anyway, outside on Day 232 of DY 1, it is hot and sticky. No rain for about 14 days either. So the fire ants have all headed for China. Consequently, I got a tick on me today, for Goddess Sakes. Ticks are very rare these days in these parts.

The CB butterflies have decreased in species and numbers, not counting caterpillars, except for the clouded skipper (Lerema accius), which now may be the most numerous of all the butterflies at the CB. They are early risers however. To get a good count of them, the enumerator must also rise early. Also, there are plenty of buckeyes and gulf fritillaries.

The dragonflies though are quite numerous. Dragonflies are ferocious by reputation with great fierce jaws, used for grinding up gnats and midges. However, even a ferocious dragonfly, like this female eastern amberwing (Perithemis tenera) has to watch out for rambunctious fiery skippers. Fiery skippers are apt to knock her off her perch, no matter how ferocious her reputation. She is 19mm, the littlest of the CB dragonflies.

Later

Hmmm. What do these eat when they can't get me, the Lovely Druidess Rayetta. And why don't these dragonflies come over and get all these mosquitoes. Goodness! That one may have just got one off my right ear. But generally the dragonflies are not where they need to be, protecting me. Yet I am determined to stay out here until the Stygian darkness falls, watching the dragonflies.

Later

OK. Darkness fell upon the land. About when the first firefly lit up, the last 20 or so dragonflies lit out. Or more likely, they dropped into the tall grass prairie simulation in the northeast corner of the east pasture. That is where the last dragonflies were hunting as darkness feel. Curiously, I surmise that these last 20 or so were not among the hoards of tropical skimmers and saddlebags that occupied the same space when conditions were less crepuscular. What the heck are they?

Anyway, my goal was to watch the dragonflies to see if I could discover where they roost. In this, my success was modest. A young male roseate skimmer looked like he was settling down for the night while hanging upon an erect, de-leafed stem of Texas pistache. By then the fireflies had lit up and the rest of the dragonflies had lit out or dropped down. I went to get the camera so I could take his picture. Great! I scared him off. However, I surmise he was fixing to spend the night on that branch, maybe.

But that may account for one out of three fifties of dragonflies that spend all day in that general area. Where did the rest of them go to sleep? Seems like the fences might be a good place for a sleepy dragonfly. I checked some of the fences. No dragonflies.

Tomorrow I am fixing to get up really early. Perhaps I shall surprise some of those dragonflies, yet abed.

Later

Well. I made it out to the area of concern just after Ogma's rising. A romp through the Indiangrass revealed a few dragonflies. Those dragonflies were sleepy, maybe. A couple of them were flying about, but they may have been disturbed by my passage. The rising may be a good time to sneak up on them. Naturally, the mosquitoes that survived the night swarmed me. And the dragonflies did, nothing.

Crumby! Wake up Crumby!

No.

I said wake up! There, that's better. Crumby, do you know anything about dragonfly noggin to thorax articulation? They seem capable of considerable noggin motion. Can they turn their noggins more than 180 degrees? Can they nod?

Uh. I must perform an ablution or two before I can deal with all this. All this is too complex pre-ablution, Rayetta.

Ha! You have no opinions on dragonfly noggin to thorax articulation, do you Crumby. So you are surmising, you shall hide out in the comfort station until I, the Lovely Druidess Rayetta, forget all about dragonfly noggin to thorax articulation.

No, no, no, Rayetta. That's not it at all. I'm simply sleep befuddled and all the waste matter that accrues or travels along during sleep befuddlement is each seeking a way out. Anyway, I do have an opinion. Can I go to the comfort station if I share my opinion?

Certainly, Crumby.

All righty then. What we must do is capture one of those dragonflies. Then we shall experiment to see what object it is most interested in. Once we find an object that holds its attention, we shall tie that object on a string. Then we shall whirl that object around the dragonflies noggin plus bob it up and down in front of that domesticated dragonfly. Soon we shall see what noggin actions it is capable of. Then, once that dragonfly has grown accustomed to domestication and experimentation it shall become a pet. I shall call it Petey. Petey shall ride about perched on the top of my own noggin, ever vigilant for those dipterans that assault me. Petey can eat up all those dipterans that try to get in my ears. Then Petey can temporarily return to the wild, find a mate, and all those baby dragonflies shall also become my pets. I shall have an entire air force of dragonflies dedicated to protecting me from the dipterans. How about that? Can I go now?

Hmmm. By all means Crumby. Head out for the comfort station.

All righty then.

Later.

Yikes! At the CB we have lots of ruellias, both R. drummondiana and R. nudiflora. We have lots. What are they good for? Well, they are good for the bigger skippers. For example, the Brazilian skipper pollinates the ruellias, then goes next door and lays eggs on the neighbor's cannas. The baby Brazilian skippers then defoliate the cannas. It is a win-win situation.