Backyard animal challenge

[Skye]

Oh yes, it's challenge time. The aim is find as many animal species in your backyard as you can. These can be insects, molluscs, worms, vertebrates, whatever. Try to find out their scientific names, but common names will do. A description or links would be nice too. Maybe take a picture of the more interesting things, y'know, tigers and the like. If you don't have a backyard you could go to a park. Go forth and edify!

[YT2095]

Nice idea and I have 1000`s on my land, I just don`t know what most of them are called, so a grey green 11mm bug with 6 legs and wings it uses WHEN it wants to, Oval shaped with long(ish) antenna won`t cut it, not only that but it would take forever and a day to list them like this

also the cam servers down.

 

btw, that bug is a cock chafe (sp).

 

 

trust me, I`m not that smart when it comes to bug names, I only know that one because a mate told me.

[ecoli]

Interesting, but my backyard is too big (I live on 2 acres) and I have a lot of pets. This sounds like a weekend project...

[AzurePhoenix]

And here I am living in a desert

 

I'll be back if I can find more than a dozen to claim my pity-prize

[Bluenoise]

btw' date=' that bug is a cock chafe (sp).

 

 

trust me, I`m not that smart when it comes to bug names, I only know that one because a mate told me.[/quote']

 

You sure he wasn't messing with you?

[AzurePhoenix]

North of where I live we have cockchafer beetles. Stupid things fly straight into the campfire like frat boys into a beer-truck.

[YT2095]

those are the ones accept these are Green and only seem to like certain plants.

[Glider]

There's only one kind of chafer beetle that's green. The Rose chafer (Cetonia aurata). It's usually 14-20 mm long. The Cock chafer is usually between 25 and 35mm (big bugger). The beetles are ok, it's their grubs that are the problem. They live underground and eat plant roots roots. Happily, they seem to prefer grasses.

 

Vine weevil grubs, on the other hand, are little bastards. They love bonsai and potted plants (warmer soil, higher localised concentration of white feeder roots) and you don't know they're there until the plant starts to collapse, by which time it's too late. They're almost impossible to kill with insecticides too.

 

My 'garden' is only tiny (26 feet long) so I'm not really a contender in this thread There do seem to be a lot of common snails and a variety of slugs though, as well as woodlice and a range of spiders.

 

There are also two grey squirrels that have set up a drey ijn the cherry tree at the bottom of the garden. These are both on final warning! A pair of woodpigeons are resident too as well as at least two robins (always squabbling). There are blue tits and great tits and several others that I don't recognise.

 

The number of birds is down to the fact that Cherry Tree woods are at the bottom of the road here (and Highgate woods are next to them too). This would account for the owls I hear sometimes at night, the hedgehogs and the local fox (although I can't claim these in my garden).

[AzurePhoenix]

Birds ~ 21

House Sparrow, Great-Tailed Grackle, House Finch, Starling, Morning Dove, White-Winged Dove, Inca Dove, Pigeon, Roadrunner, Greater Egret, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Black Crowned Night Heron, Gambel’s Quail, Scaled Quail, Red-Winged Blackbird, Anna’s and Black-Chinned hummingbirds, Cactus Wren, Great Horned Owl, Mockingbird

 

Reptiles and Amphib. - 5

Mediterranean Gecko, Canyon and Fence lizards, Western Skink, Spade-Foot Toad

 

Inverts ~ 43

Carpenter ants, fire ants, cicada, pillbugs / potato lice, Tarantula Hawk, Honey Bee, Carpenter Bee, Wasp, Paper Wasp, varied small spiders and jumping spiders, Black-Widow, Wolf Spiders, assassin bug, preying mantis, House Fly, RobberFly, Mosquito, Dragonfly, Damselfly, Arizona Blister Beetle, Darkling Beetle, German & Oriental & American cockroaches, 9-Spotted Ladybug, June bug, Pallid-Winged Grasshopper, House Cricket, Lacewing, Aphid, Earwig, leaf-hopper, Milk-Weed Bug, Katydid, Walking Stick, Sphinx Moth, Tiger-Swallowtail Butterfly, Monarch Butterfly, Viceroy Butterfly, Painted Lady Butterfly, Hairy Desert Scorpion, Harvest Mite

 

Domestic - 6

Russian Tortoise, Painted Turtle, Red-Eared Slider, House Cat, Gold Fish, bunny wabbit

[Joena]

Hello,

 

I don't have time to watch our backyard, but i already seen lots of insect but only in fossil amber and i know most of the insects common name and some of their scientific name. such as jumping Spider, Weevil, Scorpion, Pseudoscorpion, moth fly, wasp, tick, worker ant, male ant, Stingless bee. but we can view those insect on fossil if we will use microscope. by the way , i am working in one of a microscopes Dealer and also we do sell fossil amber stones. and i know that some people cares insect.