The Desert in August
Violent and spectacular thunder and lightning storms moved swiftly across the desert accompanied by heavy rains and strong winds.
Even short storms can produce flash floods that often trap unsuspecting travelers in the desert. These summer rains cause the desert to bloom again, be looking for the barrel cactus blossoms. Summer flowers mean summer butterflies and other insects this in turn brings out the lizards and the birds that feed on these invertebrates. Swallowtail butterflies are conspicuous, the large yellow ones with twin tails and black bars are two-tailed swallowtails and are the state invertebrate of Arizona. One of the prettiest of the summer butterflies is the blue-black pipevine swallowtail. When the most conspicuous butterflies are the yellow or sulfur butterflies. some of them have pure yellow wings, while others have black patterns in the yellow fields. Sometimes hundreds of them will gather around wet or muddy patches of ground where they seek minerals that they need in their diet.
A lucky observer may come across our largest lizard the infamous Gila monster soaking in a puddle left by the monsoon rains . These lizards are strikingly colored with orange and black patterns. They are a venomous reptile however they will not attack and only bite people that try to pick them up or who are foolish enough put their hands down a hole when they don't know who might live down there. There are no authenticated cases of a Gila monster bite being fatal however the venom could cause several days of intense pain. The Gila monster has a porous skin and would dry up quickly in the hot desert sun. This is why it spends 90% of its life deep in a burrow coming out in the evening and seeking puddles soak in.
Another lizard that can be seen is the whiptail lizard. This lizard has a streamlined smooth shiny body and moves in nervous jerky steps. It can be seen looking under pebbles and leaves while it hunts for small insects. These lizards are all female and young are true clones of the mother. A true matriarchal society!
Tarantulas can often be seen in late August wandering about looking for a mate. These are the males the females stay near their burrows usually near a rock or cactus and only venture out at night looking for their prey consisting of grasshoppers, beetles and other small insects. The female tarantulas can live up to 15 years or more. The males usually only live for seven or eight years until they reach sexual maturity, they usually die shortly after mating. The mating season for the male tarantula is a risky affair. They have to avoid being run over on the roads and cart paths, being eaten by birds, toads and small mammals or becoming prey to tarantula Hawks. The tarantula Hawk is a large wasp that attacks the tarantula and paralyzes it with a powerful sting. The tarantula Hawk then drags the paralyzed tarantula to a burrow where it lays a single egg attached to the spiders abdomen. When this egg hatches the larva of this wasp feeds on the paralyzed tarantula. Really fresh food! If the male tarantula avoids all these hazards and finds a female tarantula he then must approach very carefully to see if she is acceptable to his advances or if she may just want him for dinner.
Jim Cloer
Violent and spectacular thunder and lightning storms moved swiftly across the desert accompanied by heavy rains and strong winds.
Even short storms can produce flash floods that often trap unsuspecting travelers in the desert. These summer rains cause the desert to bloom again, be looking for the barrel cactus blossoms. Summer flowers mean summer butterflies and other insects this in turn brings out the lizards and the birds that feed on these invertebrates. Swallowtail butterflies are conspicuous, the large yellow ones with twin tails and black bars are two-tailed swallowtails and are the state invertebrate of Arizona. One of the prettiest of the summer butterflies is the blue-black pipevine swallowtail. When the most conspicuous butterflies are the yellow or sulfur butterflies. some of them have pure yellow wings, while others have black patterns in the yellow fields. Sometimes hundreds of them will gather around wet or muddy patches of ground where they seek minerals that they need in their diet.
A lucky observer may come across our largest lizard the infamous Gila monster soaking in a puddle left by the monsoon rains . These lizards are strikingly colored with orange and black patterns. They are a venomous reptile however they will not attack and only bite people that try to pick them up or who are foolish enough put their hands down a hole when they don't know who might live down there. There are no authenticated cases of a Gila monster bite being fatal however the venom could cause several days of intense pain. The Gila monster has a porous skin and would dry up quickly in the hot desert sun. This is why it spends 90% of its life deep in a burrow coming out in the evening and seeking puddles soak in.
Another lizard that can be seen is the whiptail lizard. This lizard has a streamlined smooth shiny body and moves in nervous jerky steps. It can be seen looking under pebbles and leaves while it hunts for small insects. These lizards are all female and young are true clones of the mother. A true matriarchal society!
Tarantulas can often be seen in late August wandering about looking for a mate. These are the males the females stay near their burrows usually near a rock or cactus and only venture out at night looking for their prey consisting of grasshoppers, beetles and other small insects. The female tarantulas can live up to 15 years or more. The males usually only live for seven or eight years until they reach sexual maturity, they usually die shortly after mating. The mating season for the male tarantula is a risky affair. They have to avoid being run over on the roads and cart paths, being eaten by birds, toads and small mammals or becoming prey to tarantula Hawks. The tarantula Hawk is a large wasp that attacks the tarantula and paralyzes it with a powerful sting. The tarantula Hawk then drags the paralyzed tarantula to a burrow where it lays a single egg attached to the spiders abdomen. When this egg hatches the larva of this wasp feeds on the paralyzed tarantula. Really fresh food! If the male tarantula avoids all these hazards and finds a female tarantula he then must approach very carefully to see if she is acceptable to his advances or if she may just want him for dinner.
Jim Cloer
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