July 11 We are just finishing an extraordinary stay at the Ship on the Desert field station in the Guadalupe Mountains National park. The facility has been outstanding – an upper deck conference room, a screened porch with an exceptional view, a wonderfully equipped kitchen. We were also excited to have enjoyed, at last, a light sheet that lived up to the hopes of a summer night in Texas – thousands of beetles, hundreds of species of moths, Mutillid wasps, pentatomid bugs, longhorn Cerambycid beetles, termites. Among the most showy of the insects were the jewel-like Chrysina (Plusiotis) woodii beetles, a lime green beetle with metallic blue feet endemic to this region of Texas, as well as the large Promethea silk moths, and a never ending parade of diverse smaller species in every color imaginable.
We collected many emerald moths, including Chlorochlamys, Xerochlora, and Dichorda. Our female Chlorosea roseitacta laid four eggs in her gladware container – a female Nemoria from Crows Nest ranch has started laying many eggs, and a female Dichorda form last night should begin ovipositing soon. Today is finally warm – after a night in the low 70’s to upper 60s, we are in the middle 80s for the first time since leaving EL Paso, and we had a rain free night with some of us staying up until about 4 am to work the light sheet. After a walk in McKittrick Canyon to see Permian fossils and Guadalupe plants, we will pack the cars and head back down towards El Paso for a dinner celebration and a reorganizing of all the gear for shipping and luggage home on tomorrow’s flight.
July 10
Road trips with an insect collecting adventure are fascinating expeditions. They’re littered with stops for ecstatic descriptions of Ephedra plants or for close encounters with Jerusalem Crickets which turn out to be mere whipscorpions and it’s difficult to think of an experience akin to watching an entire caravan of vans screech to a dusty halt on a lonely desert highway because someone sighted a rare moth fluttering nonchalantly at the side of the road. We eventually arrived in the beautiful solitude of Ship on the Desert, a research station in the Guadalupe Mountains.
We climbed up one of those mountains today, ending up at an elevation of almost 7000 feet and were rewarded with an incredible view. Texas is primarily flat and lording that high above it is an amazing experience. Our station is named fittingly, because it truly is like being on a ship on the ocean, isolated and in the midst of a never ending vastness. There’s nothing to impede your vision and the landscape merely melts away into the horizon, as though you’re trapped in a snowglobe, closed in by a dome of marbled, midwestern sky. It’s a weird thing trying to net a moth in an environment like that. It seems both so beautiful and so bizarre that even when exploring such an endless landscape, our trip can be completed by something so insignificantly small. (Sonjay)
After telling someone about my summer plans of going to Texas the most common response is “wow it’s going to be so hot! Have fun with that…”. Well so far, I’m confused. Not only is it not hot or dry, it’s constantly raining and pretty cool. I have worn pants everyday so far. To add to the false stereotype, I have not seen one tumbleweed or barren desert! I am hearing all about all you guys back in Philly roasting in the heat wave, while all of us down here need to wear sweatshirts almost everyday. I actually like this uncharacteristic Southern weather, because otherwise the hikes in the mountains would be killer.
I have spent a good part of this trip pinning moths, a new talent I have picked up after being too uncoordinated to be chasing moths and butterflies through the rocky, mountainous, and cactus filled environment. I think I’m better at pinning anyway.
Today after our 2 hour car trip (which ended up being 4 hours after stopping every 5 minutes for a variety of reasons) we finally reached our destination of the Ship on the Desert. For those of you who are not up to date on the historic homes of the Guadalupe Mountains, it’s a house at the base of the mountain range built by Walter Pratt, a famous oil researcher. His house was inspired by a boat which is clearly where the house’s name originates from. The house is so cozy and nice, for the first time this trip we are all together in the same house. It is definitely going to be interesting to see 15 people trying to share two showers. I think we will be able to figure it all out, at least for one night. I guess we will find out tonight, after about 20 games of Mafia and a couple ridiculous conversations. (Rachel)
July 9
Roadside by Nel’s Cafe in Fort Davis – Texas is beautiful, especially the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute. We are having to contend with quite a bit of rain, yesterday, today, and in the forecast for tonight. We did get a dry night last night for collecting, and got many valuable insects and the beautiful southwestern Plusiotis gloriosa beetle. Tonight we may need to improvise a bit if we are going to get to run a light at Crows Nest Ranch – check the radar and you will see the unusual and widespread area of heavy rains across western Texas! Tomorrow we will set off for the Guadalupe Mountains NP and hope for some dry time to pack gear… A few photos:
July 8
I’m posting from the parking lot of the Cloudcroft Chamber of Commerce. Last night’s collecting at High Rolls brought some great individual moths, including our first emerald moths, one male Nemoria and one female Chlorosea. A steady and sometimes gusty wind reduced the amount of insect activity, and we ended a it earlier than we might have liked as approaching rainstorms threatened. Lots of gear to pack up today and organize, then we will head down to the cabins at Crows Nest Ranch in Texas – a bit more rain in the forecast in the next two days as more tropical depression remnants move across southern and western Texas from the Gulf. Spirits are good, the landscape is extraordinary. Below is a dispatch from Aqil and a couple of photos.
““Today is day 3 of our great expedition – no, awesome expedition. I’m not even content with calling this journey awesome because I’m pretty sure that there are better words out there to describe the majestic view of the Tularosa Basin and the distant White Sands that we saw atop a view around one of the many winding mountain roads. Now that I think about it, I should start reading the dictionary more often so that I’m not speechless every time I’m faced with spectacles such as those. Not even my past experiences in the many beautiful landscapes of Pennsylvania could prepare me for what I saw today, and neither could my dentist. My jaw dropped while our group drove through the Lincoln National Forest which I found is full of things to gaze at. Our reason for going there was to get in on some nice bug-catching action, and, apparently, there’s nothing like chasing down a colorful butterfly with a huge bug net. It turns out that the ‘thrill of the hunt’ doesn’t only apply to big game. It really thrills me to see a nice catch fluttering around and running after it, swinging my net with the skill of a samurai. During those moments, I find myself appreciating an insect for what it really is, and not just some creepy crawlers that look good in a coating of Raid. Four days ago if you were to ask me if I thought that catching and identifying bugs would be fun, without a doubt I’d say no and give you a weird look. Yet now I’m sitting on my bed in a Cloudcroft cabin, writing about how great it is. I’ve heard people say that you shouldn’t judge something before trying it, and up until now that saying really hasn’t resonated with me. Everything that nature produces really is spectacular, even if it doesn’t look so great.
But this search for geometridae is tiring. Just the other night my own body started trying to shut off while I was attempting to add another moth to my collection during our time in the woods.
Speaking of ‘tiring’, this mountain air is weighing me down. While we were eating lunch in the Lincoln National Forest, some of us went off to explore the area behind a small waterfall near our stakeout. After crossing a suspiciously creaky bridge, there were a flight of steep wooden steps that we had to climb so that we could continue. After one step I was panting whereas in good ol’ Pennsylvania I could run up steps like that with no problem at all. It just goes to show how different this New Mexican landscape is from our normal living environment. Jealousy of the New Mexicans’ enhanced breathing powers aside, I’m glad I’m here to experience it all.
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July 7
As promised, it was remarkably cool our first night at Cloudcroft, and while the mercury pushes 100 degrees in Philadelphia, we went out on a 58 degree evening with temps dropping back to 47 by the end of our night. Our time at White Sands was remarkable – an extraordinary, other-worldly setting. Some very nice Geometrid moths – Hydriomena, Scopula, Eupithecia – and a great diversity of crane flies (Tipulidae) in last nights cool damp setting at Silver Springs, just shy of 9000 feet. Today we will stay at these upper elevations and explore the alpine meadows along the Rio Penasco and then collect at a slightly lower elevation tonight where we should have somewhat warmer temps and a different diversity of insect species, with perhaps some of our emerald moths. See Photos below!
The dispatch below was composed last night by Haleemah.
“It is day two of our Southern adventure and it just gets better with each passing minute. The desert landscape is absolutely stunning! It’s not as barren as we had expected it to be with the exotic Yuccas and creosote bushes peppering the clay colored land. We began our day cruising down state highway 54 towards our cabins in New Mexico, eyes peeled to the windows mesmerized by the endless, seemingly unchanging scenery. We ended up stopping and parking our caravan of trucks on the curb in an area called Orogrande. About 45 minutes were spent exploring the area and collecting specimen that we deemed interesting enough to add to our collection. Afterwards we hit the road again only to end up in New Mexico about a half an hour later. Once we reached the town of Alomogordo we ran into a little problem, one of our tires was flat and threw our plans around a bit, but such is the nature of field work, or travelling in general, really.
As we headed further down the state highway, past Alomogordo, we couldn’t help but notice the abrupt change in scenery as the landscape went from flat, brown, sandy soil and low green shrubbery to towering hills of glowering white sand that closely resembled the sand you’d walk through at the shore, we couldn’t help but look for some body of water as we went further into the park. It was there, with the bright, soft dunes as a backdrop, that we had our lunch.
After picking up a new tire we headed straight for the cabins, which meant a scenic drive through the Sacramento mountains. Once we arrived at our cozy cabins we unpacked, settled, and had a bit of free time on our hands. The group walked down to the small town we had passed on our way home, or what would be home for the next 48 hours. Dinner was served ( pasta night! yes parents, they are feeding us well) and once everyone had their fill, we prepared for a night collecting insects in the woods.
All in all, it was a wonderful and very busy day two; we are all deserving of a good nights’ sleep. I only hope that they’ll be able to wake us up in the morning.”
