An ant forages among the florets of a wreath plant.

I've run past wreath plants thousands of times in the chaparral of local open space areas. At a glance, the nondescript wiry brown plant isn't very appealing. But, it's one of a few plants you'll see blooming in the chaparral in the Fall, so on a run this last November I took a closer look. This revealed a lavender-tinged composite flower that is anything but mundane. And, as I was to discover, a case of probable mistaken identity, and an example of one of the ways new species occur.

On a chilly October morning, following a cold night at 9400 ft., a Seven-spotted Lady Beetle is slow to move from her bivouac amid the blossoms of a Rabbitbrush.

The photo is from the North Backbone Trail Revisited hike and run.

Fanged and clawed, death waits,
On a highland of lavender, near a saffron spire.

The silhouette of a crab spider on the petal of a back lit Purple nightshade (prob. Solanum xanti). The blossom is about 0.8 inch (~20 mm) wide, which would make the span of the spider's crab-like grasping forelegs about 0.25 inch (~7 mm). From a run at Sage Ranch Park on November 2, 2006.

Note: This is not a photo of Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna).

Technorati Tags: poetry, spider

Sylvan Hairstreak (Satyrium sylvinus) on California Goldenrod (Solidago californica) at Sage Ranch Park.

Cucumber Beetles (Acalymma trivittata) munching on the pistillate blossom of the wild gourd Calabazilla (Cucurbita foetidissima). The photograph is from Sunday's Ahmanson-Cheeseboro run.

A Blue Milkweed Beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus) on a somewhat insect eaten Narrow Leaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis).

Photograph was taken on a run on Laskey Mesa in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch).

The fuzzy critter with the beady eyes is a Bee Fly. Its darting, hummingbird-like movements caught my eye while running on the Tumamait Trail near Mt. Abel (Cerro Noroeste) on Sunday. It was feeding on a Western Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum). Fully consumed by the morning's experiences, I had been marveling at the vibrant yellow of Wallflowers along the trail.

Like the Star Lily, Large Flowered Phacelia (Phacelia grandiflora) appears to be a "fire follower," blooming in the Simi Hills in the aftermath of the Topanga Fire.

Tarantula Hawks are among the largest of wasps, and are said to have one of the most painful stings of any insect. As chilling as any science fiction, female tarantula hawks hunt, attack and paralyze a tarantula, and then use the spider's inert -- but still living -- body as a host for the wasp's egg and developing larva.

Males have straight antennae, and females curled antennae. This may be because the long, showy antennae of the male would be a serious liability when battling a tarantula. The title photo is of a male on a narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) at the start of the Chumash Trail in Simi Valley. Here's another photo, taken in Las Llajas canyon by runner Lynn Longan, in which a female tarantula hawk has just attacked and paralyzed a tarantula.

Several good runs start at the Chumash trailhead, and many variations are possible. It's 2.6 miles up the trail to Rocky Peak Rd, and from there you can do out and backs north or south along the fire road, or loops via Las Llajas canyon, the Hummingbird Trail, or the Lower Stagecoach Trail. (Photo from a run on September 14, 2005.)

Related post: Sting of the Tarantula Hawk, Chumash Trail Training