Joshua Tree National Park

Over the weekend I took a class on the insects and other arthropods of the Morongo Basin. Much of the class was held at Joshua Tree National Park, but we also visited the Morongo Preserve and the Coachella Valley Preserve.

Along the trail to Barker Dam we came across fresh bighorn sheep scat and tracks, but where are the sheep?

There they are, way up on the rocks high above the dam. We ended up seeing two ewes and a ram .

These acorns are the fruit of the scrub oak trees we saw along the trail.

If the acorns are the fruit then what is this?

This is a gall. Small insects, usually small wasps lay an egg on the tree, and inject chemicals as well that cause the plant to create a gall. The gall provides a house for the larval insect and some food as the larva develops.

This is a gall on a creosote shrub. Many plants make galls in response to insects laying eggs on their stems or leaves.


These dark lines along the stems often appear on more mature creosote shrubs. They are made by a type of scale insect. Native Americans would scrape the sticky secretion and use it as a glue.

This beautiful wasp (Scolia dubia) was getting nectar from the flowers.
This is a Mormon metal mark butterfly on a California buckwheat which is the food plant for its larva .

Dragonflies often land on shiny car parts. Why? Maybe they see the silver shiny surfaces as looking like water.

Spring in the Mojave Desert

This diminutive plant has a wonderful flower. This is Lilac Sunbonnet Langloisia setosissima. The whole plant is about 2 inches tall. Check out the blue pollen.

Climbing milkweed, Sarcostemma cyanchoidies, is an important host plant for the larvae of butterflies. Notice the tendrils it uses to cling to other plants for support.

Desert Five Spot. Eremalche rotundifloria. How about that? A scientific name that is very logical. Rotundifloria, round flower. These flowers look like little domes until just before they wilt, then they open up to show off their spots.

Hey, that's no flower! This rattle snake was snoozing in the shade of a creosote shrub until we rudely walked by and disturbed it.

One of the best things about camping is seeing the sunrise.

The clouds were beautiful on Saturday.

A rainbow cloud

Spring in the Mojave Desert

I've just returned from about a week in the Mojave Desert. Since we had some rain this year, the desert is blooming, especially in the lower elevations and on the warmer south facing slopes. 

Lupine in bloom in Joshua Tree National Park

One of the rare pollinators I spotted. While there are billions of blooms, I didn't see even dozens of pollinators. Where are they all? 

The view from Amboy Crater

Joshua Tree National Park

It is downright cold in Joshua Tree National Park in December. That makes it a good time to go because the park and campgrounds are not crowded at all. Plus if you are like me, cold weather is perfect hiking weather. My camping buddies and I spent four days in the park at Jumbo Rocks Campground, and while we enjoyed the sunny days, we would have appreciated warmer nights. The coldest low was 22.
Joshua Tree is an especially interesting park because it encompasses two types of desert. The Joshua Trees are a dominant form of vegetation in the Mojave Desert section of the park, but are replaced by creosote shrubs, ocotillo, and cholla cactus as one desends into the Colorado Desert area of the park. The Colorado Desert is a part of the Sonoran Desert and is dryer, hotter, and lower in elevation than the Mojave.