![]() My wife shared those feelings, and together we made a commitment to return to Lake Tahoe every year from then on.Īnd return we did. That visit was much too short – only 3 days, but that was more than enough time to rekindle my love affair with Lake Tahoe. One year ago, I returned to Lake Tahoe for the first time since moving back to St. The beauty of the Sierra is overwhelming (this should be obvious after my last several posts), and it didn’t take long for the deep, clear, blue waters of Lake Tahoe to capture my heart. The coniferous forest of the Sierra are the grandest and most beautiful in the world, and grow in a delightful climate on the most interesting and accessible of mountain-ranges…–John Muir, The Mountains of California (1894)ĭuring the early 1990’s while I lived in Sacramento, I spent a lot of time exploring the nearby Sierra Nevada – my first true mountain experience after cutting my entomological teeth in my beloved Ozark Highlands. If I can’t, I use the tap method and hope for the best! For species that I haven’t encountered in the field before, I use the slap method at first (if I can) until I have a feel for their escape behavior. However, once their behavior is learned I have found this method to be more consistently successful than the slap method – even on soft substrates. The tap method does require more knowledge about the beetle’s escape behavior in order to anticipate how quickly and in which direction the beetle will fly – some species delay take off just slightly, thus requiring a slight “pause” between the tap and the swipe. All of this can be done while standing, so it’s easier on the knees. With a little practice, one eventually learns to reach down into the open net bag and grab the beetle while preventing it from flying up and out. A quick 180° flip of the net rim closes the opening to prevent the beetle from escaping, and it is easily seen in the hanging net bag, where it can be grabbed from outside the net bag with one hand to secure it before reaching into the net bag with the other hand. Here again, the beetle is stalked until within net reach (made easier with a longer handle), but rather than slapping the net bag over the beetle, the rim of the net is tapped against the ground next to the beetle and then assertively swiped sideways to catch the beetle just as it starts flying. Because of this, I have adopted a technique that I call the “tap and swipe” method. In these types of habitats, the net rim simply cannot be clamped tightly enough to eliminate the gaps (not to mention the added difficulties in kneeling on these surfaces). Many species are found in glades and other habitats with exposed rock substrates. The major limitation of the slap method, however, is that it doesn’t really work on hard, uneven surfaces. This method can also be taxing on the legs, as each attempted capture involves kneeling and standing back up (getting harder and harder for these 50+ year old knees to do). ![]() Still, there are a few things I don’t like about this method – the beetle may hide against the inside of the rim and be difficult to locate, and once found it may be difficult to grab the beetle through the net if it is against the ground (don’t even try lifting the rim and reaching under – the beetle will zip out and be gone). This is easy to prevent on sandy and soft clay substrates, as the net rim can be sealed against the ground by kneeling quickly on each side of the rim to embed it slightly and using the hands to hold up the net bag and locate the beetle. If there are any gaps between the ground and the net rim, the beetle will quickly dart through them and fly away. This method works well enough, but it has its limitations. ![]() The collecting method shown in the video is what I refer to as the “stalk and slap” method – the beetle is slowly stalked until within net reach, and the net bag is slapped over the beetle. It takes practice, patience, and lots of second chances. Adults have excellent eyesight, and many species are extremely wary. More about “ Tiger Beetle Safari“, posted with vodpodĬapturing tiger beetle adults can a little (lot) more difficult than implied by this video.
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