Monday afternoon at Mission Creek Park (11 September 2017)

Yesterday afternoon I managed to sneak away from the office for about two hours to visit my favorite local park - Mission Creek Woodland Park.  This City of Mt. Pleasant park is sixty acres in size and has approximately 2 miles of trails.  In addition, the park is home to the city's sledding hill and dog park.  Despite these amenities, much of the park rarely sees visitors due to its swampy terrain - probably one-third of the park can be classified as a Northern Hardwood-Conifer Swamp.

If you want to walk around in this habitat, be prepared to get wet and muddy.  Rubber boots are a necessity except during the winter. Even during the winter I usually wear them because the ice that forms in the swamp is often thin.  During a recent visit I fell flat on my side in six inches of water as one boot stuck in the muck and the other kept sinking.  It's a habitat that teaches humility (a modest or low view of one's own importance).  It's hard to think too highly of yourself when you are covered from head-to-toe in oozing black muck and smell like rotting vegetation.

In spite of (or maybe because of) moments like that, I go to Mission Creek as frequently as I can.  A short walk off trail in a busy park lets me find that wildness that we all (kids and adults alike) need in our daily lives.

European Honeybee on Canada Goldenrod

A willow thicket

Eastern Cottonwood leaves are beginning to change color and drop to the ground

A Poison Ivy vine sneaks its way up in the fissures of this tree's bark

Goldenrods and asters announce the arrival of fall ahead of the changing leaves

Swamp Aster lives up to its name

A single Spicebush berry

Common Boneset

A hoverfly nectars on Swamp Thistle

Ferns hug the ground around the sweeping roots of a Northern White Cedar

Turtlehead flowers invite bumblebees for pollination

Flooding in June caused several trees to collapse into Mission Creek

Up the steep bank, high above the creek, I discovered this animal burrow.  Woodchuck?

Wild apple trees are fruiting - these apples are very tart!

Waiting on a breeze...

Just wanted to share a photograph today. 

This picture is of the seed head of a Fistulous Goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius).  This plant is often mistaken as a super-sized dandelion - its seed heads can measure 3 or more inches across!

What's this bug? - Locust Borer

One of the common features of my job is that people are always asking me to identify things they have found in the wild.  If someone walks into the office carrying a jar, I can be assured that I am going to be asked to identify an insect.  I am not an professional entomologist (someone who studies insects), but I try to help if I can.  With that in mind, I am going to start a semi-regular feature of this blog on insect identification.

So... What's this bug?

Locust Borers exhibit a type of mimicry known as Batesian mimicry.  This means that they are harmless, but look like something dangerous (such as a wasp)

First of all, the animal pictured is a beetle not a "bug".  Both beetles and bugs are insects - animals with an exoskeleton, three body segments (head/thorax/abdomen), and six legs.  Bugs are a certain type of insect (shield shaped body, wings that cross over to form an x-shaped pattern while at rest, and a piercing mouth used for sucking juices), but the word "bug" is often used to mean any insect regardless of species.  Unlike bugs, beetles have a mouth designed for chewing.  Beetles have two pairs of wings, but the outer pair of wings have hardened into a protective covering for the soft inner pair.  This hard outer pair of wings is known as elytra (singular is elytron).

So we have established that this insect is a beetle, but which one?

Specifically, it is a Locust Borer (Megacyllene robiniae).

Locust Borer feeding on goldenrod pollen.

Locust Borers are named because their larvae bore (tunnel) into and through the wood of Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) trees.  In small Black Locust trees this tunneling may actually kill the tree.  The adult can be found in the fall feeding on pollen, especially goldenrod pollen.

The tree and beetle are probably not native to Michigan.  The tree was introduced in the 1800s and often grown for use as fence posts due to its natural rot resistance.  The beetle was likely introduced at the same time.

With its yellow and black color scheme, the Locust Borer is easy to see.  This might seem like it would be a bad thing.  It's easy to see so birds and other predators should be able to pick it off.  Instead these colors act as a form of protection.  By mimicking the color pattern of bees and wasps, this harmless beetle is protected from animals that would be wary of a wasp's sting.  This type of mimicry is known as Batesian mimicry.

A bunch of "almost" butterfies...

Monarch chrysalis in the wild

I photographed this Monarch (Danaus plexippus) chrysalis last night at the home of John and Jean Mitchell.  John is the president of board of directors for the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy.  I was at John's home for a committee meeting.  The board of the CWC often breaks into smaller committees to handle matters that do not require the attention of the entire board of directors.  The meeting last night was to discuss land acquisition and stewardship.  Before the meeting John asked me about some insect burrows along the edge of their driveway.  I didn't see any insects, but from what he described and the shape of the burrows I am pretty confident that they have mining bees.  Right above the mining bee nests, John pointed out the Monarch chrysalis hanging in a juniper.  I rarely find chrysalises in the wild so this was a rare treat for me.

Meanwhile, at home...

We have thirty-two Monarchs is some stage of development.

Monarch chrysalis

We have eleven chrysalises (or chrysalids).

Monarch hanging in a J

Three are in the J stage where they hang upside sown from a "button" of silk attached to the tip of their abdomen.  In this stage they are close to sloughing off their exoskeleton and becoming a chrysalis.  They may remain in a J for a day or more before becoming a chrysalis.

"buttoning" caterpillar and chrysalises

We currently have two caterpillars that are "buttoning".  In this stage they are adhering their abdomen to a solid surface with a web of sticky silk.  This button has to be strong enough to support their weight when they hang from it.  In the picture above you can see not only a caterpillar buttoning, but also several chrysalises attached by silk buttons.

Monarch caterpillars

Finally, we still have sixteen caterpillars (or more - I may have missed a couple) still munching away happily on Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) leaves.  Many of these are in their third or fourth instar.  An instar is a growth phase that a caterpillar goes through.  At the end of each instar the caterpillar must shed its exoskeleton for a newer more flexible exoskeleton that will stretch as it grows.  Monarch caterpillars go through five instars before shedding their exoskeleton on final time to become a chrysalis.

Monarch caterpillars on Common Milkweed in our rearing container.  How many can you see in this photo?

On September 16th, we will have all of our Monarchs at the Ziibiwing Center for their annual Monarch Butterfly Celebration.  If you are in the Mt. Pleasant area be sure to stop by between noon and 4:00PM.

Happy 2017-18 School Year!

Smile! It's time for school!

Welcome back students and staff!

Today is the first day of school for many local school districts.  Other schools started their year last week.  I am excited to begin the new school year.  Many teachers have already contacted me about scheduling programs.  As of this morning, I have 339 program scheduled for this school year.  My first program is this Friday.

Trail Cam Bucks

Trail cameras (or camera traps) have many uses. 

Biologists often use them to document animal species without disturbing their normal behavior patterns.  Maybe this is because the animals live in remote areas with little human presence.  Or they may use them to document species that live in populated areas, but are rarely seen because of nocturnal or secretive behaviors.  Ecologists often set these cameras on timers to record changes over time - for instance a camera may be set to take a photo at the same time every day thus recording vegetation growth or the melting of glacial ice.

Among non-scientists, trail cameras are used in similar ways.  Many landowners use them to document the different species that call their land home.  Probably the most common use (and the use that they are most often marketed for) is for the documentation of deer numbers and habits, especially the habits of bucks.

Over the past eight months my trail cameras have documented lots of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus).  Most of the deer are does and fawns.  Occasionally a buck shows up on the camera.  This is always a thrill.  My latest set of trail cam pictures included images of three different bucks

First was a four-pointer or "forkhorn".  Here in the eastern United States, we count the total number of points on the set of antlers.  In the western United States points are counted differently and this would be considered a two-point buck as it has two points on each side.

The second buck to appear on camera was a six-pointer.  It has evenly matched antlers with three points on each side - so Out West this would be a three-pointer.

The final buck has appeared on camera several times.  I don't think I have shared any of his photos before.  Even after viewing numerous photographs, I'm not sure how many points this deer has on his antlers.  I think he has a pair of brow tines which are not visible from this angle.  If he does have brow tines, that makes him an eight-pointer. 

I believe this is the same deer photographed on my second camera.  In this picture, he definitely seems to have brow tines.  It is also possible that these are two separate deer.  It is difficult to tell based on the camera angles and distances.

Never look a gift caterpillar in the mouth

A large caterpillar clasp a Virginia Creeper vine with its fleshy prolegs.

Yesterday while traipsing through the swamp at Mission Creek Park, I happened to look down at just the right time.  Right on the ground, I saw this large reddish brown caterpillar clinging to a Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) vine. 

This large caterpillar was about 3 inches long and 3/4 inch across

I immediately recognized it as a sphinx moth caterpillar, did not know which one.  Finding it on a Virginia Creeper helped to identify it;  freshly chewed leaves indicated that Virginia Creeper was probably its host species.  Knowing a host plant made it relatively easy to look up.

Pandorus Sphinx caterpillar - a face only a mother (or insect-lover) could love!

It's a Pandorus Sphinx Moth caterpillar (Eumorpha pandorus).  As a larvae, this species feeds on Virginia Creeper and grapes (Vitis spp.).  This species is found across the eastern half of the United States.  Mid-Michigan is on the northern edge of its range.  It is found as far south as the Gulf Coast and west to a line running from eastern Nebraska to eastern Texas.  It's range roughly coincides with the range of Virginia Creeper.  Pandorus comes from Greek and means "all-giving" or "all-gifted"; the female form of the word is Pandora.  In Greek mythology, Pandora is the first woman.  In the myth, she opens a jar containing all forms of evil releasing them into the world.

Pandorus Sphinx caterpillar (head and thorax to upper left) - note white markings on abdomen

The most distinguishing feature of this caterpillar is the row of white spots on each side of its abdomen.  Five of these oval-shaped spots surround spiracles on the caterpillar's abdomen.  Spiracles are pores or apertures through which an insect breathes.  Insects lack lungs.  Instead, oxygenated air enters the insects bodies through the spiracles and passes through a system of tubes known as trachea before entering directly into the insect's body tissues.  Gases that are produced in the insect's body pass from the body tissues into the trachea and leave the body through the trachea.   Some insects have no control over the flow of gases while others are able to expand and contract abdominal muscles to draw in in or expel air (much like the way we use our lungs).