Tucson Desert Museum

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2009-07-22 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum : Title correction on book.
Re the entry 10-11-2007 "Pebbles in our shoes" is "Pebbles in Your Shoes" :

Carr, William H.|q(William Henry),|d1902-1985
Pebbles in your shoes :|bthe story of how the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum began and grew /|cby William H. Carr.
Tucson ... read more

2007-10-14 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Butterflies by the dozen : Do pipevine swallowtails lay eggs twice a season?
Looking back over these notes from last year, it reminded me that just last week - in early October 2007 - I saw a Pipevine swallowtail laying eggs as well. Do they have two cycles, and how do they overwinter? Are there special plants for the pupae ... read more

2007-10-11 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum : "Pebbles in our shoes"
I read this book many years ago, "Pebbles in our Shoes" about the founding of the Desert Museum. I haven't seen it on sale anymore in the gift shop, but you can probably find it online.

2007-10-10 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Native trees and concrete : It was the scale bugs
Talked to a member of the botany staff yesterday, and he let me know that the big problem with the palo verdes was a huge infestation of scale insects, and that is why they were removed. He also said that the concrete hole type planting is "sub-optimal ... read more

2007-10-10 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Where are the Horseshoe Crabs? : Mineral Magnifier fixed!
Good to see someone is maintaining the area - the scope that was set wrong is now fixed, and you can see the detailed crystal structure of some beautiful mineral specimens in the underground area connected to the cave. The other place in Tucson to see ... read more

2007-10-08 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Native trees and concrete
The palo verdes at the entrance have been replaced, as we'd been told they would be. Apparently Palo Verdes have a wide shallow root system that is not compatible with the cemented entranceway to the museum. It seems a shame to replace them with more ... read more

2007-08-27 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Where are the Horseshoe Crabs? http://desertmuseum.org/
My 2-yr old loves to go to the Desert Museum so much, we get into the nitty-gritty details. So, in the evolution of life exhibit down in the cave, we noticed that the tank supposed to be showing live Horseshoe Crabs as examples of early sea life, is ... read more

2007-07-18 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Lizard Friends : Chuckwalla died shortly after this photo
Spoke to a curator at the Desert Museum, it turns out the Chuckwalla (on the bottom of the 'lizard stack' died about 1-2 weeks after this photo was taken.

But, he said that 'stacking' is a nonagressive social behaviour, and the desert iguana in the ... read more

2007-06-30 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Reptile Room
A few photos...

2007-06-30 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Lizard Friends : Chuckwalla not in the cage today
Perhaps this wasn't so friendly - when we went to the DM last week, the Chuckwalla was no longer in the cage (and he has been there with the desert iguana for years). Will ask a docent if we get a chance.

2007-06-03 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Lizard Friends
Check out this photo - the Desert Iguana and Chuckwalla not only share a cage, they seem to enjoy playing lizard stack today.

2006-09-19 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Twice-stabbed ladybird beetles
Right outside the entrance of the Desert Museum - both palo verdes are attacked by scale insects, which are in turn being consumed by a large population of these striking ladybird beetles -Chilocorus stigma, I think

2006-08-22 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Butterflies by the dozen
Its butterfly season! Visit the butterfly demonstration gardens and see Queens caterpillars consuming the milkweeds, several other species as well. We saw a black pipevine butterfly laying eggs, and a beautiful but unidentified yellow cater. Queens ... read more

2006-08-15 \Tucson\Parks & Rec\Desert Museum\
Dragonflys mating, baby lizards, barrel cactus flowers
There's always something new at the Desert Museum. Today we had closeup views of the Mountain Lion and the Coatis right by their windows. All the small blue and red dragonflys were mating - probably over 50 pairs right upstairs from the river otter ... read more

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum http://www.desertmuseum.org 2021 North Kinney Road (520) 883-2702 ""	add comment
Butterflies by the dozen Its butterfly season! Visit the butterfly demonstration gardens and see Queens caterpillars consuming the milkweeds, several other species as well. We saw a black pipevine butterfly laying eggs, and a beautiful but unidentified yellow cater. Queens of course are plentiful, hovering and feeding in groups of five or more."	add comment
Dragonflys mating, baby lizards, barrel cactus flowers There's always something new at the Desert Museum. Today we had closeup views of the Mountain Lion and the Coatis right by their windows. All the small blue and red dragonflys were mating - probably over 50 pairs right upstairs from the river otter exhibit. And some kinds of tiny bees and beetles seemed to have appeared just to eat Barrel cactus pollen. Docents were out with touchable fossils and cochineal insects (scale bugs that live on prickly pear cactus and are used for red dye). The gal with the fossils (I didn't get her name!) told us that in the San Pedro river area might be the best place to find them near Tucson.	add comment
Lizard Friends Check out this photo - the Desert Iguana and Chuckwalla not only share a cage, they seem to enjoy playing lizard stack today.	add comment
Native trees and concrete The palo verdes at the entrance have been replaced, as we'd been told they would be. Apparently Palo Verdes have a wide shallow root system that is not compatible with the cemented entranceway to the museum. It seems a shame to replace them with more palo verdes, though - why not try to find a native tree or shrub that is capable of adapting to life in a dirt island? Then the '1000 Trees for Tucson' initiative could use that knowledge in choosing native trees that could survive in similar concrete fishing holes downtown. So which trees or shrubs are likely candidates? Mesquites with their long tap roots? What about desert ash, a beautiful tall riparian tree? Or could some species of palo verde adapt better than others? Comments and suggestions welcome!	add comment
Reptile Room A few photos...	add comment
Twice-stabbed ladybird beetles Right outside the entrance of the Desert Museum - both palo verdes are attacked by scale insects, which are in turn being consumed by a large population of these striking ladybird beetles -Chilocorus stigma, I think	add comment
Where are the Horseshoe Crabs? http://desertmuseum.org/ My 2-yr old loves to go to the Desert Museum so much, we get into the nitty-gritty details. So, in the evolution of life exhibit down in the cave, we noticed that the tank supposed to be showing live Horseshoe Crabs as examples of early sea life, is completely empty. (The planaria are also missing from the previous stage, but they are harder to see anyway). Not to nit-pick - we love the museum! But, since this is a world-class facility with hundreds of thousands of visitors yearly, I think it benefits everyone to keep it in top-notch shape. When we went into the mineral room, we also tried to use the magnifier scope, and it was offset so none of the minerals could become visible (at least not with any fiddling I was able to do). It seems that a self-guided museum as the Desert ...read more...	add comment

Tucson Desert Museum

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