2015 Teasel Seed Head Collection

I have completed collecting Teasel seed heads for the 2015 season and am happy about the progress being made in reducing the number of Teasel growing in the fields.  Gathering the seed heads prevents the ripe seed from being scattered about the field and producing a new generation of this non-native invasive plant.

This is the third consecutive year that I have gathered Teasel tops from the seven acres of Teasel infested young prairie at Blue Jay Barrens.  This area, formerly the site of a moderate Teasel infestation, was practically Teasel free this year.

Most of the Teasel was scattered across the field as individual plants or small groups of two or three.  Areas of concentrated Teasel were generally less than 20 feet in diameter.

Unusual this year were the random plants that appeared to have lost their tops to browsing deer.

These topped plants managed to send up new shoots that flowered and produced seed heads.  The deer are going to have to do better than this if they wish to be heralded as a new weapon against Teasel.

My entire 2015 collection fit into three feed sacks, none of which was filled.  Total weight collected this year was 36 pounds, a 63 percent reduction over last year’s 97.5 pounds.  Teasel has a two year life cycle.  Year one is spent as a basal rosette of leaves.  During its second year, the plant sends up a tall stalk and produces flowers.  The plant then dies and the seeds are dropped as the plant dries.  The reduction in population size this year is a result of the 2013 seed crop being removed from the field.  The Teasel population size should continue to shrink, but the seeds previously dropped in the field can wait several years before germinating, so it will be a while before the population is reduced to a negligible amount.

I’ve had a lot going on the past couple of weeks, so the only time I could put to collecting Teasel was early in the morning.  Awaiting me each morning were a few Teasel heads, dew laden Indian Grass and a large collection of spider webs.

The webs were the product of the Banded Garden Spider, a common resident of this field.

Each orb web was accompanied by a structure of random webs to one side.  The spider was sandwiched between these two creations.  I assume the intent of the random webbing is to give the spider notice of the approach of a possible predator, such as a spider hunting wasp.

I left one late flowering Teasel head in place for a couple of days to give this Red-Banded Crab Spider a chance to finish its meal of Robber Fly.  That big fly should be more than enough to fill up the spider.

The buzz of Robber Flies was common throughout the field.  Diogmites species like this were especially abundant.

A first for me at Blue Jay Barrens was the sighting of this Citrine Forktail.  This tiny damselfly would be nearly impossible to find if you were searching for it.  I saw it only because the low angle of the sun made the insect appear as a bright fleck of gold among the sea of Indian Grass.  I don’t know what it was doing out in the middle of a dry prairie so far from water, but I’m glad it was there.

Robber Fly Pestered by Flies

I’ve been seeing Robber Flies of all sizes, but my favorites are the big guys.  It’s enjoyable to watch something that is easy to approach and view without the use of any special optics.  These are ambush type predators that perch near an open area and fly out to capture insect prey as it flies by.  They always put on a good show.

I found this Promachus hinei busily consuming a large stink bug.  The Robber Fly inserts its mouth parts into its prey and then injects a calming toxin along with digestive chemicals.  The liquefied tissues are then ingested.

I’ve seen Robber Flies capture some rather large prey items.  The stink bug isn’t necessarily large, but it’s a heavy insect that probably took all of the Robber Fly’s strength to haul over to this leaf.

A swarm of small flies was taking advantage of this opportunity for a meal.  I’ve never before seen this type of behavior.  The flies arrived in a hurry, but I don’t know if they were attracted by the Robber Fly or the stink bug. 

Some of the little flies were using the Robber Fly as a perch.  The Robber Fly periodically raised its abdomen and kicked its legs to dislodge the little pests.  The scene reminded me of flies at a picnic.

The Robber Fly eventually completed its meal and dropped the bug carcass to the ground.  I found it interesting that none of the little flies followed the bug.  The bug only fell a few feet and if it was what originally attracted the flies, they should have been able to find it in its new location.  Maybe the pack followed the Robber Fly to take advantage of its next meal.  I’ll definitely be watching for these little flies on future Robber Fly kills.

A Camera Critters submission.

More Satyrs

I tried an early morning excursion in an attempt to photograph some Carolina Satyrs while they were in a more sluggish condition.  I guess all of the small Satyrs were so sluggish they weren’t moving at all.  I didn’t find the first one until things had warmed considerably and the butterflies were acting in their typical wary manner.  I did get a couple of shots of the two larger species of the Satyr group found at Blue Jay Barrens.  This is a Northern Pearly Eye, a rapid flier that normally perches on tree trunks

The Common Wood Nymph is the second of the larger Satyr species.  This butterfly is very common and can be found in a variety of habitats, but I tend to find it in the shadow of trees.

It normally perches near or on the ground.  With the forewing eyespot hidden from view, the butterfly is almost impossible to see.

A couple of days ago I watched a large Robber Fly chase after a passing Common Wood Nymph.  No capture was made and I thought a butterfly of that size would be quite a lot for the fly to manage.  I changed my mind when I found this Robber Fly hanging on to its captured Common Wood Nymph.

The fly has inserted its piercing mouth parts into the body of the butterfly and is busy guzzling down the soft insides. 

 

While I was busy trying to overcome my problem of getting near enough to a Carolina Satyr for a good picture, this Hackberry Butterfly presented me with an opposite problem.  I had trouble getting this guy to back off far enough for me to get a shot.  It first landed on my face and then dropped down to my neck.  Eventually I got it to move onto my arm where it sat calmly drinking sweat. 

The Hackberry Butterfly can sometimes become a nuisance.  In cases where they don’t find enough sweat, I’ve seen these butterflies probe ears, eyes, nose and mouth in an attempt to find some tasty liquid.  I guess I’m luck I always seem to have plenty of sweat to offer.

Five in Five Within Five

We entertained guests over the weekend and I took them on a short walk around the field trail.  As they were preparing to leave, they lamented the fact that they didn’t have anything of interest to see at their own house.  Now, I’ve been to their house and I know there’s plenty of interesting stuff going on, at least as far as the natural world is concerned.  I told them they should just go outside and look.  Some discussion followed and somewhere along the way I wagered that we could step out any door of my house and I could show them five interesting items in five minutes all within five feet of the door.  They accepted the wager and chose the rear door to the garage.

The wager changed as soon as we got out the door.  They felt that the Virginia Creeper covering the wall to one side of the door had too much potential of harboring interesting creatures, so I agreed to exclude that area from consideration.

As they smiled at my, in their opinion, impossible situation, I held up my hand and announced item of interest number one, a Walnut Husk Fly.  They acted as if I had pulled it from my pocket, but I argued that it was not unheard of for a fly to land on someone who was standing outside.  These colorful fruit flies feed on Black Walnut husks.  Since we were standing beneath a walnut tree and could see fallen walnuts on the ground around us, it wasn’t hard to see why the fly was here.

Item number two met with some resistance, but I convinced my guests that animal droppings could be quite interesting.  This particular item adhering to the garage wall was evidence that treefrogs were in the area.  After finding this, a person might schedule a night visit to view the frogs prowling the wall in search of prey.  I offered to dissolve the dropping in water and show them the various insect parts too tough for the frog’s digestive system, but they insisted they had to leave as soon as our five minutes was up.

Movement overhead proved to be a ragged Olive Hairstreak alighting on the gutter.  Olive Hairstreaks have two broods per year and had an extremely successful first brood this past spring.  I hope that means that the second brood will be even more impressive.

Item four was a nice mid-sized species of Robber Fly.  I’ve seen many different species of Robber Fly this year, ranging from small to large.  If I stand still for more than a minute, the small Robber Flies begin using me as a perch from which to hunt passing insects.

We were admiring this fifth item with two of my five minutes still remaining.  Many small larvae choose the side of our house as a pupation site.  Cocoons are usually placed along the mortar joint.

Not far from the exposed larva was a moth larva enclosed in a case.  These little guys also like to use the bricks as a secure place to anchor their case and pupate.

One minute left and I pointed out a spider feeding on an Allegheny Mound Ant. 

Several other empty ant exoskeletons hung in the spider’s web, so this must be a regular prey item.  Forty seconds left and my guests, admitting defeat, said they had to go.  Since we never identified stakes, there was no settling up required.  I did ask them to take a few minutes to look around at home and to let me know what they found.

Monkey Slug and Robber Flies

This has definitely been a good year for finding interesting creatures. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what you’ve actually found. This looks like a character from the movie Gremlins.

From another angle it looks like the head of a Leaf-nosed Bat. The ears may be a little large, but it certainly has a bat-like appearance.

Actually, it’s a moth larva known as a Monkey Slug, the immature form of a Hag Moth. The shape supposedly resembles the shed skin of a Tarantula. I’ve not seen such a skin, but the shape of the caterpillar is distinctly spider-like.

Like other slug caterpillars, the head is concealed beneath the body. If you think of this shot as a puppy face, the caterpillar head is below the chin where it touches the leaf.

This species is not supposed to sting, so I used my finger to roll it onto its back. My finger remained undamaged throughout the operation. From this angle the caterpillar appears to be a living creature instead of patch of fungus or bit of debris.

While photographing the Monkey Slug, a swarm of small Robber Flies began using my hand as a hunting and feeding platform. They would dart out, grab a tiny fly and return to my hand to consume their meal. Fortunately I carry a back-up camera, so I was able to get some shots of the Robber Flies sitting on my regular camera hand.

It didn’t take the Robber Flies long to eat a tiny fly and rush out to grab another. I’m glad I was able to assist with the capture of their evening meal.

Flowers and Insects

Summer is a time of flowers and insects. Everywhere you look there’s an abundance of life. The entrance to the trail is flanked by nine foot tall Ironweeds and Wingstem. The plants lean in to the open area created by the trail and crowd the pedestrians.

A cicada buzzes away among the Ironweed blooms. I think Ironweed is one of the most spectacular of the summer blooms. I was once in a field with someone who asked me how to get rid of Ironweed so they could grow wildflowers. I just bent down one of the Ironweed stalks and stuck the flower head in their face.

Many of the Wingstem flowers are too high to see. I’ve seen blooming Wingstem range in height from one foot up to ten feet depending on the soil and growing conditions. When I first saw tiny Wingstems, I thought I was looking at a different species. It increases the chances of species survival when species growth pattern can adjust to its environmental conditions.

When Wingstem grows alongside other flowering plants, many of the pollinating insects tend to pass it by. The plants always produce an abundance of seed, despite these low insect visitation rates. This bloom is definitely not for people who like symmetry in their flowers. The flowers of the central disk always seem to open in a lopsided manner and the rays are usually unevenly sized and randomly scattered around the disk.

A couple of weeks ago I was wondering where the Robber Flies were. Now their numbers have surpassed even last year’s abundance. This individual decided to use my pant leg as a perch while it consumed this small fly. It didn’t seem much disturbed by my walking around and stayed with me for quite a while as I photographed flowers.

This pair is busy making more Robber Fly food. These look like Picture-winged Flies, but they could be a type of Fruit Fly. The differences between these two groups are in wing vein patterns and other small characters that can’t be seen in the photo.

Orange Coneflower, Rudbeckia fulgida, is sometimes referred to as Brown-eyed Susan. This is one of my favorites. It’s an extremely hardy perennial that spreads easily by seed. The blooming season runs through the summer and up until heavy frost. Orange Coneflower is a favorite of many species of insects and always has something interesting crawling around on its flowers or leaves. I’ve scattered a lot of this seed around the field and now have an abundance of this plant.

Robber Fly

Robber Flies have been everywhere this year. I was sitting on a rock watching Robber Flies catch gnats when this fly shot out and grabbed a passing Treehopper. The attack was super fast and at the same time effortless. The Robber Fly flew out and caught that Treehopper as easily as you or I would reach and take a dinner roll from a basket. The fly will soon have its meal sucked dry.

Reminds me of The Man with No Eyes character in Cool Hand Luke. It’s a wonder that such a tiny brain can process all the information gathered by these faceted eyes.

There is just a shallow curvature to the front surface of the eye. I would imagine this is necessary in order to concentrate forward facets to achieve depth perception for effective hunting. There are still plenty of facets facing up, back and to the sides, so this insect doesn’t miss much in any direction.