South Texas Border Chapter
Texas Master Naturalist

The attractive Coprophanaeus pluto , a dung beetle. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) It was getting deep into November. I still had my moth sheet/black lights going to see if a certain firefly was still in the neighborhood. If it was, it didn’t stop by. Instead, gazelle scarabs, Digitonthophagus gazella , were nightly visitors, a bit late in the season, I thought. Gazelle Scarab. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) Another interesting late-night November visitor attracted to the black l

Cuetlaxochitl , Euphorbia pulcherrimo. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) It was called cuetlaxochitl , Euphorbia pulcherrimo , long before specimens were collected by Joel Roberts Poinsett while he was the first U.S. Minister to Mexico. This was pointed out to me by a friend and fellow Texas Master Naturalist who avidly supports the transformation movement taking place in Mexico – which includes the restitution of indigenous cultural beliefs and values, including the nomenclature o

Professor Gregory A. Sword, Locust Watch presentation. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) Two of my favorite things – warning about invasive species and promoting citizen scientist projects. The new project: South Texas Locust Watch has been set up to track a nonnative locust that might soon be crossing into south Texas. Citizens are being asked to keep an eye out for it, photograph it, note its location and report it – a citizen scientist opportunity. A big thank you goes to Ashle

Evening Bat, safely rescued high up on a palm trunk. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) If you haven’t heard, November through February is tree planting time in the Rio Grande Valley. We are entering that cooler time of year when it’s kinder to plant trees and shrubs while they are dormant. They will establish over the winter, without the heat stress of summer, and then begin flourishing in spring. As Texas Master Naturalists, we promote native plants, of course, and I like to inclu

Menacing, perhaps, but not scary -- Great-tailed Grackle. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) What better way to proceed into Hallowe’en week than through a bit of nature. Nature is pretty scary – until you learn about it. I was pretty scared the first time I happened upon a cormorant. I was new to Texas and new to nature photography, after years as a military news and documentary photographer. But this unscary scary missive isn’t about cormorants, yet. I’m starting with crows. A fun

Silverleaf Nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium . (Photo by Anita Westervelt The first thing I learned about silverleaf nightshade, Solanum...