Category Archives: Animals

Asian swallowtail butterfly

Asian Swallowtail Butterfly

The Asian swallowtail butterfly (Papilio xuthus) is also known as the Chinese yellow swallowtail, and in my butterfly book, the citrus swallowtail. Whatever the name, this is the only swallowtail butterfly found in Hawaii, first sighted in 1971.

I see them mostly when I’m standing at the kitchen window, either preparing food or washing dishes. They seem to sense when I’m otherwise engaged and flutter by scenically. If I grab my camera and rush out, they’re always gone. For whatever reason, I hardly ever see them settle on a plant; they’re always flying.

This one was slightly less flighty than most and obliged by returning to the same plant several times.

Teamwork

Ants and a spider

I noticed this spider moving across a dirt road in a most peculiar way. A closer look showed the reason why. This group of ants was taking it home, but not in a warm and fuzzy kind of way.

The ants were moving at a pretty good speed, which was impressive considering there were several of them involved and all pointing in different directions. After a few moments, they scuttled over the side of a rock and out of sight.

The victim looks like some kind of jumping spider.

Smaller lantana butterfly

Smaller Lantana Butterfly

The smaller lantana butterfly, also known as the lantana scrub-hairstreak (Strymon bazochii), was introduced to Hawaii in 1902 to control lantana species. I don’t believe it has been terribly successful in that regard, but it has managed to establish itself in Hawaii. At least it hasn’t turned out to be a deadly scourge like the mongoose and several other species. For that we can be grateful.

 

A green anole looking for its keys?

Anole hanging on to leaf

Something about how this green anole is hanging on to the leaf, and its expression — a touch of frustration and resignation — made me imagine it was looking for something, lost keys perhaps, or that bug it had stashed for later.

More likely, it’s thinking, ‘If I keep very still, perhaps this annoying thing will go away.’

Tenting for termites

Tented for termites

No, it’s not the circus come to town. These tents are for a more macabre purpose, the termination of termites.

As in most warm climates, termites are a problem here. Houses, especially older ones, are easily colonized. Without treatment, the occupying termites will consume wood from the inside, leaving a thin membrane as protection. Infested wood might look fine, but a gentle push on the surface will go right through two or three layers of paint to the termites’ cavern inside.

Besides leaning against a wall and going right through, a prime indicator of termites is small mounds of little round pellets below a pinprick hole in a wall or piece of furniture. These are termite fecal pellets, which the worker termites clear out of the nest from time to time.

Another indicator of the presence of termites is to turn a light on and find a horde of them flying around the room. Around here, May is the prime time for this activity. These flying termites are fertile males and females, leaving the nest they grew up in to find a place of their own and start a new colony.

As unpleasant as it is to find a room full of flying termites, it’s even worse to wake up and see countertops littered with discarded wings, a sure sign that these fertile termites have moved in to a new spot.

So tenting for termites is common practice here. The structure is covered with nylon sheeting until it is completely sealed and then a fumigant is pumped in. The tent usually remains on overnight. After the tent is removed, the house has to sit empty a while for the gas to dissipate. It’s not wise to go back in too early or one could find oneself joining the termites. Typically it can be two or three days before a home can be reoccupied.

Tenting for termites is effective but it has downsides. It works for drywood termites, but not subterranean termites since they live outside the house and just dine inside. There are also environmental concerns about the process. And while fumigation works, there’s no guarantee that a new colony of termites won’t move in just as soon as the gas has cleared.

Tenting for termites