Help, my local forests/parks are filled with vertebrate droppings (and most of the local synanthropes are either very elusive or very boring)! Any entotips?
(forgot to add: main targets = non-grainpest darklings, non-small hemipterans; their favorite local habitats seem to be largely in territory infested by the aforementioned vertebrates)
Oh hey I know this ask is a million and one years old (sorrryyyy). I think my best tip for this one is to visit your forests and parks later in the day, in the evening, at dusk, or if you can, at night. A majority of the insect world’s major predators (lookin’ at you, birds) are active during the day, so they tend to be more active when it’s dark and harder for their predators to see them. Of course, you’ve noted your habitats are infested with vertebrates (likely nocturnal scavengers that love to eat bugs!), so they may be depleting your natural areas of the bugs you want to see.
in any case, bugs rely on camouflage, and during the day, it works out very well for them. At night, all bets are off. They count on natural light sources and natural shadows for hiding during the day, and at night, they’ll just come out. When they sense light from your flashlight, they’ll go into their daytime hiding places (sometimes, but not all the time!), but it doesn’t work, because natural light is no longer at play. Their camouflage breaks down when your light shows an obvious shadow, or when their shiny exoskeleton is highlighted on a matte leaf. Shadows can accentuate any movements they make as well, and our eyes are highly attuned to make out movements.
Specific types of insects will tend to have favorite types of plants. For example, I know that if I look inside a cactus flower, I will probably find a beetle or 20 inside it. If I see a thistle, approaching to inspect it will usually reveal a bunch of leaf-footed bugs. If you can figure out the “favorites” of the bugs you want to find in your area, you’ll have an easier time finding them in the future–just find that plant again!
I hope this helps. Spring is on the way (*fingers crossed*), and may the bugs be plentiful!
February 9, 2019














