Unfortunately, the Pallid-wing Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis) we caught last Tuesday (6/14) has died like all of the others we have attempted to keep in the past, despite our efforts. When we caught this year's first Pallid-wing Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis), we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. At the time the mentality was simply "catch it first and then think about what to do". Not very smart considering we have never been able to successfully keep these grasshoppers in the past. After we had caught it and set up a rearing enclosure (described here), it was really a game of sit and wait to see what happens. We had no idea whether it would even eat the dry grasses we gave it. But after a few days, it became pretty obvious that it was not having a good time in our home and it had only nibbled a few chunks out of the grass. Out of desperation (and pure curiosity, admittedly), we decided to try force feeding it some stuff. The things had a big head and monstrous jaws like most Orthoptera and it was not terribly difficult to open them up and stuff some food in. First, because we had seen our katydids gobble up Drosophila hydei fruitflies (here and here), we decided to give it mouthful of these flies. When this didn't seem to work, we figured it might like some fruit instead. Fruit is easier to force feed anyway, since it is mostly liquid. On our way back from the Ohlone Greenway, we had picked a very ripe plum which is what we used here. To our dismay (though we weren't completely surprised), the grasshopper didn't really have a thing for fruit and only sucked up a bit of the juice to prevent itself from suffocating in the sticky stuff. I know, it was pretty cruel. Anyway, after failing to feed it properly for over a week, we weren't sure that it was doing very well. Well. . . obviously it must of not because it died today. It was just sitting at the bottom of the container, completely limp and utterly lifeless. No injuries whatsoever -- it probably just died from stress and not eating. I guess we owe it an apology. - Brian
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Timeline 2012–2017
Albany, California This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations on and experiences with various insects in Albany California and surrounding areas, from 2012-2017. Since we did not publish this site until 2016, posts before that were constructed retroactively. Starting in August 2017, we moved to Ithaca, New York; posts from there on can be viewed at Timeline 2017-present: Ithaca, New York. Archives (1,011)
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![]() ![]() Full Species List (Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Adelpha californica Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Antheraea mylitta Antheraea polyphemus Anthocharis sara Argema mimosae Attacus atlas Battus philenor hirsuta Bombyx mori Caligo atreus Callosamia promethea Coenonympha tullia california Citheronia regalis Cricula trifenestrata Danaus plexippus Eacles imperialis Erynnis tristis Estigmene acrea Eumorpha achemon Eupackardia calleta Furcula cinereoides Heliconius erato Heliconius hecale Heliconius sapho Heliconius sara Hyalophora cecropia Hyalophora columbia Hyalophora euryalus Hylephila phyleus Hyles lineata Junonia coenia Langia zenzeroides formosana Lophocampa maculata Manduca sexta Morpho peleides Nymphalis antiopa Orgyia vetusta Orthosia hibisci quenquefasciata Pachysphinx modesta Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio machaon oregonius Papilio multicaudata Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rumiko Papilio rutulus Papilio zelicaon Phyciodes mylitta Phyciodes pulchella Pieris rapae Plejebus acmon Poanes melane Polites sabuleti Polygonia satyrus Pyrgus communis Rothschildia jacobaeae Samia cynthia advena Samia ricini Smerinthus cerisyi Smerinthus ophthalmica Strymon melinus Trichoplusia ni Uresephita reversalis Vanessa annabella Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Unidentified Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio glaucus × Papilio rutulus Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Melanoplus devastator Phaneroptera nana Pristoceuthophilus pacificus Scudderia mexicana Trimerotropis pallidipennis Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Phyllium giganteum Mantodea Mantis religiosa Phyllocrania paradoxa Hymenoptera Apis mellifera Bombus vosnesenskii Brachymeria ovata Linepithema humile Pediobius sp. Polistes dominula Xylocopa varipuncta Unidentified Diptera Lucilia sericata Unidentified Hemiptera Brochymena sp. Leptoglossus sp. Nezara viridula Odonata Argia vivida Libellula croceipennis Coleoptera Coccinella septempunctata Cycloneda polita Diabrotica undecimpunctata Hippodamia convergens Araneae (Class: Arachnida) Araneus diadematus Phidippus johnsoni |