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Photo#358535
Winter-worthiness - Psyllobora vigintimaculata

Winter-worthiness - Psyllobora vigintimaculata
Alameda County, California, USA
December 14, 2009
A cold spell in recent days, with nighttime temperatures in the low 30s, left many P. vigintimaculata dead. Some adults and larvae survived and resumed activity when the area warmed up. (It's harder to tell about pupae.) This one is walking along the edge of a frostbitten zucchini leaf.

useful data!
Especially that some larvae were able to survive the freeze. I haven't seen wild larvae of any species since early November. But I also haven't been looking as hard...I'll go check a few of my summer Bugging Spots today. (After a week of horrible freezing rain, ice, and single-digit wind chills, it's supposed to go all the way up to the 50's!)

 
Yes . . .
I thought the effect of weather on this population might be of interest. But I'd better add that we didn't have a hard freeze. For example, the zucchini leaves wilted, except the ones that were shaded by something higher, but the zucchini stems didn't. Standing water didn't turn to ice.

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