Dragonflies

This beautifully flaming-red dragonfly looks like it was born from the breath of fire. Darting about the wetlands, it liked to perch on the oxidizing cables of the bridge over the lily pond.

Dragonflies are amazing fliers. They seem to be darting in every direction as they sweep the landscape catching insects and/or guarding their territory.

According to the Smithsonian, dragonflies are the fastest flying Insect as they are known to travel at the speed of 35 miles an hour. Coupled with their speed is their incredible maneuverability. Each of their four wings is controlled by separate muscles which allows them to swiftly change course in any direction or hover in place.

The adults have eyes that cover most of their head which gives a great range of sight for detecting prey and predators.

Both the aquatic nymphs and the flying adults are skilled at catching insects. They are known to eat many mosquitos — the dragonfly would have been a fitting tattoo and totem animal for my dad who cursed “the bloodsucking varmints,” especially when he was fishing.

Cicadas

There are a few cicadas that can be heard buzzing out at the arboretum. Their sound evokes the long, sun-drenched days of summertime, in which, you want to while away the hot afternoons lounging in the shade by the river.

I found this small explanation on Britannica’s website about their sound: “Cicadas are able to produce these sounds because they possess an organ that is almost unique among insects, the tymbal organ. Each male cicada has a pair of these circular ridged membranes on the back and side surface of the first abdominal segment. Contraction of a tymbal muscle attached to the membrane causes it to bend, producing a clicking sound. The tymbal springs back when the muscle is relaxed. The frequency of the contractions of the tymbal muscle range from 120 to 480 times a second, which is fast enough to make it sound continuous to the human ear. Cicadas also have air sacs that have resonant frequencies comparable to tymbal vibration frequencies, thus amplifying the sound and producing that crescendo of high-pitched buzzing that is the characteristic sound of late summer.”

Speckled Oak Galls

Gall wasps lay their eggs on the underside of the Oregon white oak leaves. When the egg hatches, larvae produce a substance that induces swelling in plant tissues and forms a gall. It protects the larvae as it matures and provides food.

This tree next to the White Oak Pavilion has an abundance of galls growing on the leaves. They are yellow with red speckles and turn an amber color as they age. They have paper thin shells and glow in the late afternoon sunlight. These beautiful ornaments don’t harm the tree. Chickadees will soon start opening them and eating the larvae inside.

Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar

This adventure all started when a friend of mine saw a tiger swallowtail lay its eggs on a willow leaf, and he took me out there to show me. We started looking around the foliage to see if we could find a caterpillar, and he spotted this one nearby.

It grows up to 2 inches. It can be deep to light green. It has yellow eyespots with black and blue pupils. It is swollen in the front which accentuates its eyespots.

It wove a small silken mat that appears to act as a home. It rests there most of the time, remaining motionless to avoid detection by predators. When I went to check on it the other day, it left the mat to eat part of a leaf nearby and then promptly returned to its spot.

It has a large variety of host plants including cottonwoods, poplars, ashes, aspens, alders and willows.

I took a photo of the eggs, and when I went to check on them yesterday, I saw that they had hatched. They start off as these small, black caterpillars with a white band in the middle.

I am hoping to have the opportunity to see the creation of the next stage of its life cycle — the chrysalis. It is dark brown and wood-like and is attached to a twig or the trunk of a tree. It overwinters, and the butterfly emerges the following year completing the life cycle.

In a word, the metamorphosis of an egg to a butterfly is miraculous.

Spittlebugs

This small insect gets it name from the frothy, bubbly “spittle” it produces to make its home. The horticulture extension at the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes the process: “They produce the frothy mixture by mixing air with fluid excretions, but not out their mouth, so it technically isn’t spit. The immature bugs feed face down on the stem, and as excess sap is excreted out the anus, it is mixed with a substance secreted by epidermal glands that enhances surface viscosity and stabilizes the foam to make it last longer. This mixture is forced out of the abdomen under pressure and as it is mixed with air, it forms bubbles. Some species can produce as many as 80 bubbles per minute.”

At this stage, spittlebugs are in their nymphal form. This foamy mass attached to a plant stem hides it from predators, insulates it from extreme temperatures and keeps it from drying out. For food, both the nymph and the adult pierce the stems of plants and suck the sap.

I chased one out of its spittle that was attached to a stalk of grass and took a couple of photos. It crawled up the stem and immediately began to make bubbles. You can see that it is getting close to becoming an adult. The adult stage of the spittlebug is often called a froghopper. It has powerful, springy back legs for leaping and their faces somewhat resemble a frog. They have wings but they rarely fly.

There is only one generation each year. The nymphal stage lasts about 6 to 8 weeks and the adults emerge in late spring to early summer. In late summer to fall the females will lay eggs that will over winter. When they hatch in the spring, we will see the white, foam attached to plant stems again.

Spittlebugs and leafhoppers resemble each other and are related. Leafhoppers generally are smaller and more slender than spittlebugs. The adults will be springing into action soon, and I’ll be trying to tune in my awareness to find them. Maybe they’ll sit still for a photo.

spittlebug_upclose_web.jpg

Tiger Swallowtail

This butterfly bebops around the landscape as if the musical notes of Charlie Parker are its driver.

As it flutters about in its happy-go-lucky way, it flashes its colorful cloak.

It rarely seems to want to land, and when it does, it is not for long. I fortuitously captured this photo as it momentarily paused on an oak leaf. I saw it stop by the flower umbel of a cow parsnip today for a brief sip of nectar.

I’m looking forward to continuing to watch this beautiful creature.

Sawflies & Bracken Ferns

There is a small wetland area out at the arboretum known as The Seeps. I was out there the other day, and I came across all of these small creatures dancing around in the sunlight that was breaking through the clouds. They were in this patch of bracken ferns that were sprouting up and beginning to unfurl. Periodically they would land and deposit eggs. I don’t know if they were laying the eggs on the fronds or piercing part of the plant and laying them inside. Trying to capture a photo was a little challenging. They are sensitive to movement, and they are small. After awhile I managed to take a couple of photos. A knowledgeable friend of mine identified them as sawflies. I found a photo of the species Strongylogaster distans Norton, and it seemed like a good match.

Observing these small creatures reminded me that there is an entire world occurring mostly unnoticed. Reading on the website of the Smithsonian, it says that there are some 900,000 different kinds of living insects known in the world (approx. 91,000 in the United States). It is estimated that there are somewhere between 2 - 30 million yet to be discovered. Additionally, insects probably have the largest biomass of the terrestrial animals. Apparently it has been calculated that “at any time, it is estimated that there are some 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) individual insects alive.” This is blowing my mind.

Read this brief article published on the Smithsonian’s website. It’s awesome.
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/bugnos

Moth - Ctenucha Rubroscapus

The seeps are a small wetland habitat along the road out to the old quarry. Recently out there, I found a few of these caterpillars grazing on green, round vegetation that I think might be a type of sedge. They were all out at the tip, moving down the stalk as they ate. I am always delighted to find the larva stage of a moth or butterfly, because I feel that they can be tricky to locate. In my readings, I found that many species have specific host plants and habitats. So hopefully this knowledge can help guide me in my future searches for moths and butterflies.

Moths at rest do not press their wings together vertically above their bodies. Rather, they hold their wings flat over their abdomens in a near horizontal position. Most are active at night and are well camouflaged to avoid predation during the day.

Adult (Ctenucha Rubroscapus): Wingspan 4.5 centimeters. Wings black, edged with white distally. Thorax black, laterally with two red longitudinal lines, prothorax with a red apical patch. Head red and black. Abdomen iridescent blue.

Ctenucha Rubroscapus

I found this resource online to identify the species of caterpillar:
https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/FHTET_03_11.pdf

Lepidoptera of the Pacific Northwest: Caterpillars and Adults
Jeffrey C. Miller
Department of Rangeland Resources, Oregon State University
Paul C. Hammond
Department of Zoology, Oregon State University

Goldenrod Spider

I noticed that small samaras were starting to emerge out of the flowers of the bigleaf maple, and I went over to have a closer look. I saw a dead bee in the flower cluster, and I realized that a spider was holding on to the end of it.

The goldenrod spider doesn’t spin a web to catch its prey, it uses the tactic of camouflage. It patiently waits on a flower to ambush an unsuspecting insect, such as a bee foraging for nectar. It has a unique ability to change colors depending on which flower it is hiding on. It can either be white like the petals of a daisy or it can turn yellow to blend in with the flowers of a goldenrod. The process of changing colors isn’t instantaneous, it takes days to accomplish.

It is also known as goldenrod crab spider because it holds its legs out to the side like a crab as it waits on a flower.

Goldenrod Spider (Misumena vatia)

Beetle

I saw this beetle yesterday and thought of this poem by Pablo Neruda.

Beetle

I went to the beetle
with my question about life:
the rites of his autumn,
his linear armor.

I hunted him down in the lost lakes
of the black south of my country.
I found him in the volcano’s
malevolent ash,
or followed the fall of his roots
into innermost darkness.

How did you work those hard things?
Your zinc eyes and your necktie?
Your cast-iron trousers?
Your contradictory scissors?
Your gold ridges, the tongs of your claws?
What resins could ripen
the incandescence of your kind?

For myself I ask only
a scarab’s heart
to push past the densities
and sign my name’s secret
in the death of the wood.
(Who knows? My name might take on
new life, turn to the light
new channels in midnight,
come out at the opposite end of the tunnel
with the other wings waiting their turn?)

What is prettier than you,
beetle, inscrutably mute,
priest of the roots,
rhinoceros of dew,
I said. He said nothing.

I asked. He said nothing.

There’s a beetle for you.

— Pablo Neruda

(Translated by Ben Belitt)

Bumble Bees

In the mid afternoon light, I was attracted to the radiant blooms of the red-flowering currant. As I walked over, I noticed that I wasn't the only one drawn to them. A bumble bee was merrily foraging and enjoying the cool, warm spring weather.

Bumble bee colonies are annual. Each year a colony will produce queens that will then mate and find a place spend the winter, usually underground. All of the other bumble bees die. Thus, the first bumble bees of spring are the mated queens that overwintered from last year. When they emerge, they will find a suitable nest site and begin a new colony. Old rodent borrows are a popular nest site.

Bumble bees are amazing pollinators. They are out in early spring, are able to fly in cooler weather and are generalist foragers. In addition, they are buzz pollinators. Here is a PBS video that explains buzz pollination that is worth watching. It’s only 3 minutes and 32 seconds. https://www.pbs.org/video/deep-look-bumblebee/

Another interesting tidbit is that, unlike honeybees, bumble bee stingers lack a barb. So they are uninjured when they sting you, which also means they can sting multiple times. That said, bumble bees are generally not aggressive except when defending their nests or if they are being harmed.

Grasshopper Camouflage

The coloration and markings of grasshoppers give them remarkable camouflage. This ability to blend in to their environment helps them from being detected by predators. I will often see them jump, land and seemingly disappear into the landscape. That said, grasshoppers are an important part of the ecology in providing a nutritious food source for other animals. Also, through their consumption of plant material, they recycle nutrients back into the environment through their excrement. The cool weather and rain have come, and I have seen only a few grasshoppers recently. I look forward to seeing them next year.

Be sure to click on the photos so that you can open them into a larger frame and take a closer look.

Dragonflies Still Flying

Here we are, well into the fall season, and I still see dragonflies. When I catch the flash of their brilliant color markings, along with their swift, flying maneuvers, I always pause to watch.

A couple of days ago I was walking along, and I heard something buzzing. On the ground, there were two dragonflies joined in mating. The male grips the female just behind her head and she will curl her abdomen forward underneath the male to pick the sperm near the base of his abdomen. I will often see dragonflies flying around in this tandem. This pair flew off as I came in closer for a photo. After a little while, I saw one of the dragonflies come back and rest on this limb. This time it was more cooperative in having its picture taken.

Dragonflies will often land on the tip of a plant or a small branch overlooking their territory where you can get a good look at them. As a kid I would spend time on my grandparent’s farm. They had a pond where we often went fishing with cane poles. I remember dragonflies landing on the end of my pole as I stood there patiently waiting for a fish to bite. Those were the days when it seemed like summer lasted forever.

dragonfly_resting_web.jpg

The Work of a Skunk?

I found paper comb next to this hole in the ground. When I looked into the hole I could see parts of the paper nest still attached to the lining of the hole which was about the size of a volley ball. I have seen many Yellowjacket nests in the meadows around the arboretum this year. Skunks are known to dig up their nests and eat the larvae and adults. Apparently they are able to tolerate their stings. Skunks are omnivores. They eat small mammals, birds, bird eggs, reptiles, amphibians, insects, fruit, grubs, earthworms and various plant material. I’m going to be on the look out for more signs of skunks. Wish me luck.

Carpenter Ants - Incense-cedar

I went over to take a look at this old tree lying on the ground. Nearby I noticed this fine wood dust piled all around this Incense-cedar and on the plants nearby too. I knelt down to see if I could find what was making all of those fine particles. As I was looking around, I noticed a couple of pieces of dust float away from the tree. Then I observed ants coming to the edge of this crack in the bark and releasing tiny grains of wood.

Not far from this tree there is an arboretum sign that says the soft inner wood of the incense-cedar is prone to pocket rot which opens the door for carpenter ants. The sign also says that this will eventually get the attention of a Pileated Woodpecker and it will excavate the ant nests. So, I am trying to walk by this tree when I am out there to see if the Pileated finds the nest.

One of the trunks of this Incense-cedar broke off and fell to the ground. You can see in it in the second photo below where the inner wood is exposed at the base of the tree and fine grains of wood have been deposited by the ants from building their nest. I imagine it is a cozy, delightfully fragrant home for the ants.

Chickadee Smorgasbord

Over the past couple of days, I have seen chickadees feasting on the insects on the underside of the Oregon White Oak leaves. There are beautiful speckled oak galls. They are the ones in the photo that are yellow with red dots. Also, there are these small, brown buttons that I believe to be another type of gall wasp. I carefully opened one and found a small larvae inside. I usually see the chickadees take one of the galls off the leaf and fly over to a branch to open it up and eat the larvae. Sometimes. they will peck at it while hanging on the leaf. I’ll also see these little, cottony matts under the leaves. The chickadees also investigate the inhabitants of these dwellings for food. It is amazing to watch these birds move through the foliage with such energy and zip.

Spider Webs in the Morning Fog

In the cool, foggy morning at the arboretum, I was greeted with dazzling spider webs adorned with water droplets. There were thousands of orb-weaver spiders in the meadow that had built webs between grass stalks and old plant stalks like Queen Anne’s lace. They had even built them up in the trees. Another type of spider had woven compact, cotton-like webs close to the ground. They were scattered throughout the meadow cloaked in a light blanket of water. It felt like a magic spell had been briefly cast to reveal all of the spider webs. Once the sun broke through, the spell was lifted and the water droplets vanished into the air. The webs blended back into their surroundings and the sun-warmed spiders were ready to catch their prey. I was grateful that the arboretum had left this meadow untouched this year and allowed the ecosystem to flourish, more full of life.

Yellowjackets Making Paper

Along the path next to the river I still see Yellowjackets scraping wood fibers off the fence with their sturdy mandibles. They will then chew these fibers and make a paper pulp in which to build their beautiful, study nests for the season.

The outer layer of the fence has turned gray and softened. The lighter parts are where Yellowjackets have removed a thin layer of fibers to expose the unweathered wood below.

Banded Woollybear Caterpillar

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Woollybear! I encountered this beautiful little creature traveling along the path in a rush like it was headed to the depot to catch the next train. Was it late for something? It had such determination and purpose in its movement. How did it know where it was going? I was fascinated by the thought of its senses reading the environment and charting its path through the landscape. Life is so full of mystery and wonder.

Fork-tailed Bush Katydid

I was walking out near the barn at the arboretum when this jolly, green giant sprung into the air. I went over to take a look, and it had poised itself to look like a blade of grass (photo right). I am continually amazed at how creatures in nature camouflage themselves by mimicking their surroundings through shape, color, and patterns. This katydid was slow moving, and thankfully not shy about having its picture taken.