Some captures from my hike yesterday for #InverteFest, a periodic community science event where we share & appreciate the bugs around us. No matter the time of day or year, even after a harsh summer like this one, I can always find interesting inverts in the New Mexico desert.

A few hours later

I was surprised to see this Coachwhip high up in a sumac bush, catching the very first of the sun's rays

On my desert hikes, I just don't expect to look *up* and see these creatures. Can you spot it?

Mesquite sap!!

This is a natural object I found in the Chihuahuan Desert. Any guesses? I'll share the answer tomorrow...

1 year ago today 💚

More on cicada songs: xitter.cf/bugsicles/status/15444…

Its new exoskeleton will soon lose its iridescent green tinge and it will look like this the next day. We've been seeing many of these in the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico lately. They can make a very loud 'buzz' when startled, or when calling for a mate.

Its wings are crumpled, however, and so must be 'inflated' with circulatory fluid and allowed to harden. When we checked on this bug 30 minutes later, they were coming along nicely.

This Common Cactus Dodger cicada (Cacama valvata) has lived its entire life underground, sucking sap from plant roots, until now. Emerging to do its final molt, it finds a branch and wriggles out in its winged adult form.

Caught in the act!

Just another lovely experience in the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park near Las Cruces.

This individual likely took advantage of the moisture to emerge and molt, for we found this fresh shed just a few feet away.

This was the morning after about 0.4 inches of rain in the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico.

It quickly understood that we posed no threat and began to go on its way.