Fire-necked Batyle Beetle

Our trip to Scioto Brush Creek on Wednesday has turned up quite a few plant rarities, including an endangered sedge and grass. However, it turns out that I might have found a rare beetle as well. I spotted this colorful insect on a sprig of American Water Willow, a common plant throughout Ohio that is restricted to the sand and gravel bars of rivers. John Howard and I thought we should post this unknown specimen to Bugguide.net, and sure enough, this site of amateur and professional entomologists came through again! What I had found was in fact the Fire-necked Batyle Beetle (Batyle ignicollis), and a member of bugguide.net said this species is "Nice Find! this species is not that abundant." The point here? Scioto Brush Creek not only harbors a diverse and intact fish assemblage in its waters, extremely rare plants on its banks, but also unusual insects. I felt like I was traveling back in time as I entered the creek--I was thinking what the Olentangy River looked like 300 years ago, and thought that it might share some characteristics with Scioto Brush Creek. Clear water, narrow riffles and wide deep pools, and water willow everywhere. The Olentangy is covered with trash. I can't walk more than a few feet without finding some evidence of people. But in Scioto Brush Creek, I could count on one hand the pieces of trash we found. A football, a cord to an electric blanket, and a Seagram's bottle cap. Anyways, the place is great. Although this property is only 36 acres and protects only one bank of the Creek, it is fantastic. To learn more about Scioto Brush Creek, check out the Friends of Scioto Brush Creek, a local watershed group dedicated to protecting this area's unique resources.

Tom

A Dragon from Scioto Brush Creek

Another dragonfly from Wednesday's trip to Scioto Brush Creek. This is a black shouldered spinylegs. This one has awesome coloration, with the yellow abdomen and light green body especially striking.

Tom

Longnose Gar

John Howard, an excellent naturalist who lives in Adams County, was telling me about the fish that live in Scioto Brush Creek. Where we first entered the stream, it was rocky and shallow. Several hundred feet downstream, however, the stream deepened and widened into a gigantic pool. In this pool, we spotted perhaps the coolest fish I have ever seen in Ohio, a Longnose Gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Here you can see the gar looking like pencil in the river. I then zoomed in on the fish to give a closer view. I just never realized we had these fish in Ohio. I haven't seen any in the Olentangy, and I doubt they are here in Columbus, but in Scioto Brush Creek, they are readily seen as they like to float at the surface.

Tom

 

 

More Dragons

Sometimes you have one of those days when you see tons of cool stuff. Bugs, plants, reptiles, amphibians. Today the Ohio Heritage Naturalists traveled to Scioto Brush Creek and here is just one example of the interesting animals we found. I believe this is a black-shouldered Spinyleg, Dromogomphus spinosus. An amazingly beautiful animal, it was basking in a meadow opening above Scioto Brush Creek.

Tom