SYNCHRONIZED BLOOM OF CACTUS FLOWERS

Photos show a flower of Lobivia huascha rubra from a slight distance and then two close-ups of bees visiting the flowers.
Late in May, one of the loveliest of our landscaping cacti burst into bloom. This cactus, native to Bolivia, is Lobivia huascha rubra. Its brilliant flowers are mostly red, but various clones or varieties show colors ranging from orange-red to blue-red. There is also iridescence on the petals to some extent. In the clone I have growing in my yard, the petals are overlaid with a violet tinge that shimmers in the sun, changing as you view it from different angles.

Not only does a single flower have great beauty, but the plant bursts into bloom bearing multiple flowers per stem, and a given plant can have many stems. The largest plant I have displayed over 70 blossoms open on May 31. The blooms only last one day, but then there are repeat, smaller blooms later in the season. This plant has been used widely in hybridizing between Lobivia and Echinopsis (now including Trichocereus as well) to introduce red coloration into flowers.

I remembered from my days at the Arboretum that when our Lobivia huascha rubra plants were blooming, plants were also in bloom on the same day all over the state. I found this out by calling other botanical gardens and asking. So, I drove around our neighborhood here in Queen Valley, and sure enough, everyone who had this plant in their landscaping had many flowers open on May 31 as well. There were some truly stunning displays. It's too bad that so many of the people here are snowbirds, roosting in cooler summer climates; they missed this event.

The native bees had a field day visiting the flowers. They zoomed in and out of the flowers, intent on harvesting pollen and nectar. These are very handsome, gray plush ground-nesting bees. They often remained deep in the flower for some minutes before emerging to fly to another blossom. Their presence could be detected by the wiggling stamens as the bee moved around their bases.

Rare late May rain

Photos: left, bee flying from saguaro flower; center top, ironwood tree; center below, closeup of ironwood flowers; right, foothill palo verdes in bloom.



It's hard to believe, but last week we had several days and nights of rainy weather. My rain gauge recorded 1.10 inches of rainfall over the duration of the low pressure. Normally this is a very dry time of year. The foothill palo verdes and ironwoods bloomed for a couple weeks longer than they normally do as a result. The yard is alive with toads; red-spotted toads, Sonoran Desert toads, spadefoot toads, Woodhouse's toads. The many kinds of wild desert bees have been very happy with the abundance of blooms; clouds of them surround the blooming ironwood trees.

I'm just getting over a case of the intestinal flu; lasts for 5 days or more, depending on the person. I felt badly not being able to get outside and spend time photographing the last flush of spring color in the desert. I did get some photos before and after being ill and am posting some of them.

The saguaros have been blooming too, but are nearly finished now. There is one old venerable saguaro in my yard which has a down-bending arm, placing saguaro flowers within easily photographable range. Normally one has to climb a ladder to get saguaro flower closeups. I was able to get some good photos of some of the bees that visited the flowers.

An early monsoon is being predicted for this year. I wouldn't be surprised in view of the May rain, which had a distinctly monsoonal pattern, if this does happen. It sure gives a lovely background of picturesque clouds for landscape photos.

Roadside rain puddle and storm clouds above the desert.


Raindrops on Queen Elizabeth rose. Jojoba fruit with raindrop jewel. Young opuntia pad with raindrops.





In my last blog, I promised rain pictures. Finally, here they are. It is nice to look back at them now that the summer heat is beginning and remember these cool, lovely days. Yesterday it was 102 degrees, today 105 degrees, and tomorrow is supposed to set a record high for May 17 of 107 degrees. Because of the late rain and rather moderate temperatures up till now (and the nights are still lovely, down in the 70's) the desert still looks colorful. The foothill palo verdes are in full bloom and the ironwoods are just approaching their peak bloom. The saguaros are blooming, and the ocotillos have just passed bloom. Next time I'll show some of the colorful flowers of the late spring/early summer. The photo above is of bookleaf mallee (Eucalyptus kruseana) with raindrops on the leaves.

This yellow flower has red stamens; most yellow flowers have yellow stamens.


Above are dark red cholla flowers. Deep pink flowers seem to glow.
Dark orange flower.


It's been a while since my last blog. Several things got in the way; income taxes primary among the things. We had some lovely rain last week, rather unexpected for this late in April, but very welcome. The cool weather and moisture is extending the bloom on the palo verdes and cacti (cholla and hedgehog especially) and the desert looks really green. Lots of seeds are setting on the creosote bush and many bushes are still flowering as well.

Our back 5 acres is a paradise of rainbow-colored cactus blossoms. The cholla cacti are blooming, and the flower colors range from yellow through oranges and terra cottas to pinks, rose, and varying shades of red. The photos I'm posting show some of the different colors. The cactus bees are having a wonderful time wallowing in the stamens, collecting pollen.

I took a bunch of photos right after the rainstorm, showing lovely drops of rain water on various plants. However, my hard drive is about full now, so I'm having to back up my humongous photo files to an external hard drive and to DVD's to make room for downloading what I have on the camera flash card. It's actually good that I'm being forced to do the backups--long overdue--because I'd hate to loose all the images I've painstakingly accumulated over several years. Hopefully I'll have the computer tasks done by next week so I can post some of the rain photos.

Spring continues

Beautiful weather; today's high in the low 70s. Plants and people and critters are loving it. We got just a slight trace of rain last night; wish we would get more but the storms are staying to the north and we're getting mostly the winds, which stir up the dust and the allergies, and the barometric changes which bring grief to joints such as mine.

Beautiful flowers continue to come into bloom and more interesting creatures come to light as we work around the yard. We found a tiny banded gecko when moving cardboard boxes; it's one of the youngest I've encountered. We let it find a new home after it got photographed. The hybrid tea rose shown above is the variety "Arizona" which does very well here indeed--appropriately named! It is fragrant as well.

Here are some photos of critters I've found in my yard recently. The moth photos show the Lined Morning Sphinx, Celerio lineata. The larvae resemble the familiar tomato hornworm. The hindwing reveals a pink color when wings are open. Often people mistake this diurnal moth for a "baby hummingbird" since it hovers in front of flowers to collect nectar through its long tongue.

The other two photos are of molluscs. One is of a terrestrial snail, and the other is of a slug.

Hedgehog cactus flower


It's really spring in the Sonoran Desert. The flush of wildflower bloom is over now, but the perennial plants, trees, shrubs and cacti are just entering into their full glory. The blue palo verdes are covered in yellow, the brittlebush is blooming, as are the desert mallow and fleabane daisies. The hedgehog cacti, with brilliant large magenta flowers, are just beginning to open. We're having a spell of wonderful cool weather right now, with nights in the 40's and days in the 70's. It's great to be alive!

My yard is brimming with color as well. The primrose jasmine, citrus trees, mescal bean bush (above general view and closeup of native bee in flower, Sophora secundiflora), red fairy duster, silvery-leaf cassia, Western redbud, and Chinese tamarix are all in flower, and the air is fragrant with mingled perfumes. The roses are in heavy bud, and since I mostly grow fragrant varieties, in a couple weeks we'll have new scents in the air. Hummingbirds are nesting, doves are mating, and there are many kinds of butterflies visiting flowers and laying eggs. There's lots to see and lots to photograph, so I'm not spending much time blogging. I'd rather be outside.

Carol Crosswhite's Bugs 'N Stuff

For Valentines: The Kissing Bug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatoma species)

Just in time for Valentine's Day! What a romantic image this common name conjures up for those who know it not. This slender blackish insect, often with reddish-edged abdomen (depending on the species), gets this name from "kissing" its victim at night, often leaving a reddish bump or blotch on the face. The "kissing" consists of the kissing bug inserting very fine cutting-piercing mouthparts through the skin, then injecting saliva containing an anticoagulant, and finally sucking up a crop full of host blood. Why am I talking about it? It is common where I live and it is medically important. The photo above was taken in August of 2008 of a kissing bug I collected in my washroom. The photo to the left shows the bug upside down in the palm of my hand for scale, and shows the proboscis sheath on the underside of the head. This leathery casing protects the very tiny fine piercing-sucking stylets that do the actual insertion of saliva and taking in of blood.

These are photos of an adult female. The semi-transparent wings visible on the top of the abdomen are found only on adults. Like other insects, kissing bugs go from an egg through various immature stages of growth, here called nymphal instars. Older instars have little wing pads containing the developing wings.

Kissing bugs are so common around my house because we have a high population of pack rats - or wood rats - or trade rats - or white-throated wood rats - take your pick. Scientific name: Neotoma albigula. The wood rat nest is a protected home for the young flightless kissing bug instars, complete with a resident source of blood meals. A blood meal is necessary for each molt into the next size instar; sometimes several blood meals are taken before the current instar grows large enough to molt. There are 5 instar stages before the adult.

Human-kissing bug interaction occurs when the winged adult flies from its wood rat nest home to seek a mate and new territory and a new source for blood meals. Blood is necessary for the male kissing bug to be able to mate and for the female kissing bug to be able to lay eggs. Any warm-blooded animal will do as a source for blood, including wild animals other than wood rats, our pets, and ourselves. Nymphal kissing bugs will also take blood from any mammal, but they are most commonly associated with wood rats.

The winged adults usually begin flying in May where I live, and can be encountered at any time all during the warm months of the year; here that's into October. Adults rest during the day and become active at night. They are attracted to lights, which often brings them to human habitation. Their bodies are very narrow dorso-laterally so they fit into tiny spaces and can enter homes thought to be impervious to insect entry. Once around potential hosts, they use heat-sensing and carbon dioxide sensing receptors to home in on warm bodies exhaling carbon dioxide; scents also attract them. Why do they bite people's faces? Well, often it's because that's the only part of you available to them. Also, that is where there is the highest concentration of carbon dioxide. If you don't wear night clothes and you kick off the covers, there's a good chance you'll get bitten somewhere other than your face.

Usually people never know they've been bitten by a kissing bug. These are really well-adapted parasites. Their slender little tarsi can hardly be felt when they're walking on human skin, and they are very light-bodied before they engorge with their blood meal. The fine little stylets usually can't be felt entering your skin; some people say they felt a little tickle but not pain. The itchy pinkish bump at the bite site (and some people don't even have this reaction) can be attributed to lots of other things. So why are they medically important?

It's your body's reaction to the proteins in the kissing bug's saliva that usually causes the most harm. Our immune system reacts to the foreign protein and allergic responses can result, ranging all the way from moderate discomfort to feeling really ill to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. It's gotten to the point where I get really sick if one bites me. I get hives all over, a fever, nausea, and fatigue. It takes me several days to recover. Needless to say, I devise methods to avoid being bitten. What's worked best over the years has been to keep a light burning in a part of the house distant from my bedroom. During kissing bug season, I do "bug patrol" before I go to bed; I look through the whole house and inspect all around the light source (walls, furniture, floor, lamp shade, ceiling, etc.) for kissing bugs, and I crush them to death and dispose of them without touching them with my bare skin. Why later. I leave the light on, and if I have to get up in the night during kissing bug season, I check again. One of my friends went so far as to place a piece of dry ice (carbon dioxide) by the light source as a further attractant to kissing bugs. I also keep cats. They help to keep down the wood rat population in and around my house, and thereby also really close kissing bug infestations. However, the desert surrounds my house and there are gazillions of wood rats out there with their messy nests in prickly pear patches, constant sources of winged adults. We have lots of natural predators: bobcats, coyotes, Harris Hawks, gopher snakes, king snakes, rattlesnakes, but those wood rats just keep coming. There's a reason rodents are an important element of the food chain!

There's another factor making kissing bugs medically important. They are carriers of a protozoan parasite, a trypanosome that causes a terrible malady called "Chagas' Disease." This is common throughout Mexico, Central and South America, and it is transmitted by species of kissing bugs native to those areas. Wild animals which are reservoirs of the disease are usually rats but could also be bats, armadillo, mice, squirrels, raccoons, etc. that the kissing bugs feed on. They take in the parasite with the blood meals; the trypanosomes grow in the hindgut of the insects. When they bite a new host, the more southern species of kissing bugs usually defecate after they take in the blood. The fecal material, containing parasites, then can get scratched into the bite site, and the trypanosomes can infect the blood and body of the new host. Thank goodness our species of kissing bugs tend to defecate after they've flown off. There have been studies showing that Chagas' Disease is resident in a percentage of rodents in the southern and southwestern United States, and that a percentageof kissing bugs sampled in these areas contained the trypanosomes of Chagas' Disease in their gut. So--don't touch crushed insects with your bare hands or skin, because if there's a lesion or break in the skin, or if you touch mucous membranes and trypanosomes are present, you run the risk of inoculating yourself with a very bad parasite.

I'll end with a horror story involving kissing bug nymphal instars. I was part of the audience in an older building which was being used for giving slide shows during the day, so the room was periodically darkened for at least 45 minutes. The attic of this old building had been home to innumerable generations of wood rats. Unknown to anyone, some cracks had developed in one area of the ceiling. Also unknown at the time, but found out later, was that the resident wood rats had recently been screened out by placing fine mesh wire over all possible points of entry. So--there were a lot of VERY hungry nymphal kissing bugs in that attic, and it was dark, signalling a time for activity, and they could sense heat and carbon dioxide below. Unfortunately, some of them found their way through those little cracks and through the holes in the acoustic tiles and they dropped down onto the friend sitting beside me. She began to complain of feeling itchy, and then asked if there could be mosquitoes in the room. Finally we both went outside to see if we could find the source of her discomfort. She was horrified when fully engorged nymphal kissing bugs (they look like really fat leathery black ovoid ticks) began dropping from her clothes and falling onto the ground. Arggghhh! Call in the exterminators.

Here's hoping you have truly pleasant and enjoyable kissing experiences on Valentine's Day. And, if you are a winter vistor to Arizona, you can relax in knowing that you are here outside of kissing bug season. Please visit my blog site again; I'm going to aim for weekly postings.