Leader of Today’s Ramble: Heather Lickliter Larkin
Authors of Today’s Report: Heather Lickliter Larkin, Linda Chafin, Don Hunter
The photos that appear in this report were taken by Don Hunter unless otherwise credited. Photos may be enlarged by clicking them with a mouse or tapping on your screen. Not all of Don’s photos from today’s ramble made it into the Ramble Report, so be sure to check out his Facebook album at this link.
Nature Ramble Rainy Day Policy: We show up at 9:00am, rain or shine. If it’s raining, we will meet and socialize in the conservatory (bring your own coffee); if there is a break in the rain, we’ll go outside and do a little rambling.
Today’s Emphasis: Bugs We Find!
Photo of White-banded Crab Spider by Heather Lickliter Larkin
Announcements and other news: The Garden’s 13th Annual Native Plant Sale will be held at the Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies, on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2-6 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 11, 2-6 p.m.; and Saturday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m.-2p.m.
Catherine reminded us that the next art ramble, which she will lead on September 26, is inspired by Margot Guralnick’s Urban Botanical Art which you can see here. Below is an example that Catherine created last week in the Children’s Garden Arbor.
Do native insects pollinate the exotic plants in our gardens? Find out the answer here.
Reading: Heather read the poem “Bug Hunt,” by A. Harris When out finding bugs you don’t need a lot just a tree and some bushes – whatever you’ve got.
A path by the car park, a dusty old lane. If you’re out finding bugs, don’t gripe or complain.
That sunset’s excessive. A sunrise? For mugs. You don’t need the world when you’re out finding bugs.
Number of Ramblers Today: 25
Today’s Route: We left the Children’s Garden, heading down the entrance road to the White Trail spur to the powerline prairie and the floodplain. We stopped just short of the river and returned to the Visitor Center by the road, enjoying the Dunson fence as always this time of year.
Pre-Ramble Observations:
Don went in search of the two Daddy Long Legs that he photographed during the last two Rambles on these Rattlesnake Master flower heads. Sure enough, they were still there with a third joining the party. He photographed this single lacewing egg on the same flower head.
Observations:
Funnel spider web
Heather spotted this barely visible funnel web near the base of a tree beside the White Trail Spur. The resident spider was partially visible at the bottom of the funnel, and a strong anchor silk led up to nearby shrub. Normally, funnel spider webs, constructed at ground level, don’t have or need these anchor silks. No one could recall ever seeing this type of construction for a funnel spider web.
Dale wrote this about Funnel web spiders for the 30 August 2018 Ramble Report: “Funnel web spiders weave a non-sticky platform of silken threads with a short, cylindrical tube at one edge. The tube serves as a refuge for the spider. When a wandering insect walks across the web the spider detects the vibrations from its footfalls and rushes out from its refuge to grab and bite its victim. The bite injects a venom that paralyzes the insect and begins to digest its internal organs. The spider carries it back to the refuge where it consumes it.”
White-marked Tussock Moth caterpillars are spectacularly arrayed and defended: their heads are red, and the body is adorned with white stripes, tufts of long white hairs, two long black tufts for and aft, four clumps of short hairs that mimic cocoons of parasitic wasps, and two bright red defensive glands on their rear end. The caterpillar is not venomous, but touching the hairs can trigger an allergic reaction in many people and also can cause severe damage if they become embedded in skin and mucous membranes. The caterpillars are common during the late summer and fall in eastern North America, where they consume the leaves of a wide range of hardwood trees, here a Hop Hornbeam.
Blue Curls is a member of the Mint Family and has the typical two-lipped mint flowers; the upper lip is divided into four sections and the lower lip is marked with a scattering of dark purple dots on a white background. The “curls” are actually four long stamens protruding from the top of the flower. Large bees visiting the flowers bump up against the pollen-laden stamens as well as the stigma which is tucked in among the stamens.
The sun had not yet reached the eastern edge of the powerline prairie and large clumps of Bigtop Love Grass were glowing with dew.
Once we entered the powerline prairie, we began to see many insects and spiders.
Lined Orbweaver
Banded Garden Spider
Note the zigzag stabilimentum, one thing that sets this species’ webs apart from those of Joro Spiders.
Bristle Fly resting on unopened Late Boneset buds.
Asian Lady Beetle without spots, but with patches of fungus near the back edges of its elytra (wing covers). The fungus is Hesperomyces harmoniae, a newly named species.
Common Eastern Bumble Bee on Yellow Crownbeard
Female Chinese Mantis in the top of a Yellow Crownbeard plant, poised in its typical, head-downward posture. We can tell it is a Chinese mantis instead of our native Carolina mantis because the wings are longer than the abdomen. Chinese mantis will eat anything they can get their face on, including hummingbirds if given the opportunity.
Western Honey Bee foraging on Yellow Crownbeard flower heads
American Bird Grasshopper
We caught two species of katydids, Red-headed Katydid (left) and Fork-tailed Bush Katydid (right) and viewed them in plastic vials. Note how long the katydid antennae are compared with those of the grasshopper in the photo above.
Ocola Skipper nectaring on Yellow Crownbeard flowers
Ailanthus Webworm Moth is a native of tropical south Florida and Central America, where its larvae feed on tropical plants in the genus Simarouba. It now thrives throughout North America on the invasive species, Tree-of-Heaven (aka Ailanthus Tree), which is in the same family as Simarouba.
A Tumbling Flower Beetle is searching for pollen, its preferred food, among the flowering spikelets of Yellow Indian Grass. As beetles go, they are fairly effective pollinators. When disturbed, they use the enlarged femurs on their hind legs to propel themselves away from potential predators, jumping and tumbling as they go.
Green Stink Bug on the back of a Yellow Crownbeard leaf
Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp was also seen on Yellow Crownbeard.
This late in the year, Passionflower vines are nearly defoliated by Gulf Fritillary caterpillars, left, who will then turn to eating the ripening fruit. An adult Gulf Fritillary was found nectaring on the nearby flowers of Yellow Crownbeard.
The large, shiny, hairless abdomens of Eastern Carpenter Bees make them easy to distinguish from the hairy-all-over Bumblebees, below.
American Bumblebee nectaring on a Mexican Sunflower
The find of the day was this White-Banded Crab Spider, spotted by Heather on the flower heads atop a Tall Ironweed. Crab spiders are ambush predators, sitting and waiting in the center of a flower for something to land at which point that something will receive a free hug. The funny thing is that research has shown that in UV light the spider glows and is nearly irresistible to other insects, making them twice as likely to land on that flower as others without spiders in them.
Gray Hairstreak butterfly
Hairstreak butterflies exhibit a behavior not found in any other butterfly: they rub their hind wings together while at rest. Extensive research went into finding out why, and the answer is that Hairstreaks have antenna-like protrusions on their hind wings; rubbing them together makes the protrusions wiggle like antenna do. Since Hairstreaks are normally preyed upon by jumping spiders. Rubbing the hind wings together and making the false antenna wiggle makes jumping spiders think that the hindwings are the head. They will jump at the wing and the butterfly will be able to escape. Photo by Heather Larkin
Scentless Plant Bug resting on a Late Boneset flower head
Dusky Stink Bug feeding on a Yellow Crownbeard. Their piercing-sucking mouthparts include a straw-like proboscis through which they suck plant juices.
Bill sliced open and photographed a gall on the stem of a Late Boneset (below), exposing the Boneset Stem Midges within.
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSED AND OBSERVED SPECIES White-banded Crab Spider Misumenoides formosipes Green Lacewing (egg) Family Chrysopidae Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium Funnel Web Weaver spider Agelenopsis sp. White-marked Tussock Moth (caterpillar) Orgyia leucostigma Hop Hornbeam tree Ostrya virginiana Blue Curls Trichostema dichotomum Bigtop Lovegrass Eragrostis hirsuta Lined Orbweaver spider Mangora gibberosa Banded Garden Spider Argiope trifasciata Bristle Fly Family Tachinidae Late Boneset Eupatorium serotinum Asian Lady Beetle Harmonia axyridis Fungus on Asian Lady Beetle elytra Hesperomyces harmoniae Common Eastern Bumble Bee Bombus impatiens Chinese Praying Mantis, female Tenodera sinensis Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera Yellow Crownbeard Verbesina occidentalis Wingstem Verbesina alternifolia Frostweed Verbesina virginica Maryland Senna Senna marilandica American Bird Grasshopper Schistocerca americana Red-headed Meadow Katydid Orchelimum erythrocephalum Fork-tailed Bush Katydid Scudderia furcata Ocola Skipper Panoquina ocola Ailanthus Webworm Moth Atteva aurea Tumbling Flower Beetle Mordella sp. Green Stink Bug Chinavia hilaris Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp Eremnophila aureonotata Purple Passionflower Passiflora incarnata Gulf Fritillary (adult and caterpillar) Agraulis vanillae Eastern Carpenter Bee Xylocopa virginica American Bumble Bee Bombus persylvanicus Mexican Sunflower Tithonia rotundifolia Treehopper Acutalis tartarea White-banded Crab Spider Misumenoides formosipes Tall Ironweed Vernonia gigantea Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus Scentless Plant Bug Harmostes fraterculus Dusky Stinkbug Euschistus tristigmus Late Boneset Eupatorium serotinum Boneset Stem Midge (gall) Neolasioptera perfoliate
Authors of Today’s Report: Linda Chafin, Don Hunter
The photos that appear in this report were taken by Don Hunter unless otherwise credited. Photos may be enlarged by clicking them with a mouse or tapping on your screen. Not all of Don’s photos from today’s ramble made it into the Ramble Report, so be sure to check out his Facebook album at this link.
Nature Ramble Rainy Day Policy: We show up at 9:00am, rain or shine. If it’s raining, we will meet and socialize in the conservatory (bring your own coffee); if there is a break in the rain, we’ll go outside and do a little rambling.
Today’s Emphasis: Seeking what we found on the Orange Trail
Announcements: Catherine let us know that the next art ramble, which she will lead on September 26, is inspired by Margot Guralnick’s Urban Botanical Art which you can see here. Below is an example that Catherine created in the Arbor before Ramblers arrived.
Rare firefly identified in UGA’s State Botanical Garden. “The Loopy Five, named for its looping flight pattern, has been spotted in high concentration in the wetlands boardwalk area on the Garden’s Orange Trail. The firefly [has been] petitioned to be on the Endangered Species List.”
Karen shared that a butterfly walk is scheduled for Saturday, September 21, at the Tallassee Forest Preserve. The walk will be led by Jim Porter, lifetime butterfly aficianado and retired UGA ecologist. You must register by calling or emailing the Oconee River Land Trust: (706) 552-3138 -OR- info@oconeeriverlandtrust.org
Show and Tell:
Karen passed around her phone with a photo, above, that she took of a Hickory Horn Devil, the caterpillar of a Regal Moth. It’s consuming a Sweet Gum leaf, one of several species including pecan, hickory, black walnut, sycamore, and ash, that they eat. The caterpillar can reach a hefty 5.5 inches in length. The adult, below, with a wingspan up to 6 inches, is just as spectacular. Photo of adult by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren.
Reading: Linda read from an interview with Terry Tempest Williams, environmental activist and writer from the American Southwest, in The Politics of Place: An Interview with Terry Tempest Williams, by Scott London. You can read the entire interview here.
London: In “An Unspoken Hunger” you say, "Perhaps the most radical act we can commit is to stay home." What do you mean by that?
Williams: I really believe that to stay home, to learn the names of things, to realize who we live among... The notion that we can extend our sense of community, our idea of community, to include all life forms — plants, animals, rocks, rivers and human beings — then I believe a politics of place emerges where we are deeply accountable to our communities, to our neighborhoods, to our home. Otherwise, who is there to chart the changes? If we are not home, if we are not rooted deeply in place, making that commitment to dig in and stay put, if we don't know the names of things, if we don't know pronghorn antelope, if we don't know blacktail jackrabbit, if we don't know sage, pinyon, juniper, then I think we are living a life without specificity, and then our lives become abstractions. Then we enter a place of true desolation. I remember a phone call from a friend of mine who lives along the MacKenzie River. She said, "This is the first year in twenty that the chinook salmon have not returned." This woman knows the names of things. This woman is committed to a place. And she sounded the alarm.
London: What do you think happens when we lose a sense of intimacy with the natural world around us?
Williams: I think our lack of intimacy with the land has initiated a lack of intimacy with each other. What we perceive as outside of us, is actually in direct relationship with us.
Number of Ramblers Today: 27
Today’s Route: We left the Children’s Garden and headed across parking bay 1 to the Orange Trail trailhead. We took the trail downhill through the Oak/Pine forest and across the beaver marsh, and returned on the Purple Trail.
Pre-Ramble Observations: Before Ramblers arrived at the arbor, Don spotted two Daddy Longlegs on Rattlesnake Master seedheads (below, left) and the interesting patterns of dried fruit clusters of Hoary Mountain Mint (below, right).
Today’s Observations:
Myrna set the pace for today’s Ramble.
We set off across parking bay 1 where some Virginia Pines, planted in the 1980s when these parking lots were put in, were being taken down (below). These are fast growing, short-lived, densely branched pines, planted when a quick vegetation buffer is needed. Their natural range is largely the lower elevations of the Southern Appalachian mountains and foothills. They are not native to Clarke County, but start to appear as you travel north into Hall and Habersham counties. With their short twisted needles, flaky reddish bark, and crowns loaded with small cones, they are easy to spot, even from a distance. Virginia Pine is a pioneer species whose seeds require bare mineral soil to germinate. Historically, fire was the agent that created these seed beds, usually killing the trees but creating the conditions necessary to replace the population.
Roger counted the rings on a recently felled Virginia Pine in the parking lot, deciding that the tree was between 30 and 40 years old. Photo by Gary Crider
Once on the Orange Trail, we noticed the abundance of Shortleaf Pines in this area, including this old stump with a portion of its heartwood intact. Prized for its ability to kindle fires, heartwood is also known as fatwood, fat lightered, and lighter wood. You can actually buy a 25 pound box of fatwood sticks from L.L. Bean for $50 (plus shipping, of course). Pine heartwood is loaded with resins that contain the highly inflammable compound terpene that repels insects and slows rot.
Shortleaf Pine bark is pocked with crater-like resin pits, also called pitch pockets. These extend inwards into the trunk through the sapwood.
Roger related the abundance of Shortleaf Pine in this part of the Garden to its history of cotton (and other) agriculture in the 1800s and early 1900s and to logging as recently as the 1960s. Pines and Red Cedars are the first tree species to establish following disturbance in the Piedmont, followed by hardwoods such as oaks, hickories, Black Gum, and Sourwood.
We spotted several down and decayed tree trunks in the woods, including this hardwood trunk that had been partially excavated by Pileated Woodpeckers, which chip out rectangular holes in their search for insects.
This decaying Shortleaf Pine trunk is well on its way to becoming humus, thanks to White Rot, a wood-decaying fungus, and the efforts of Pileated Woodpeckers.
The trunk and branches of an Eastern Red Cedar are also scattered across the ground here and are much better preserved than are either pines or hardwoods. Oils in its wood confer resistance to both rot and insect attack and makes the wood an excellent choice for fence posts and blanket chests.
Although White Oak bark typically has long, loose scales, this tree’s bark was notably shaggy. The trunk also bears an atypical number of leafy twigs sprouting along the trunk. Such sprouts arise from dormant buds under the bark and are called epicormic branches. They are thought to be a response to a sudden increase in light created by an opening in the canopy. The extent to which a tree responds to more light with epicormic branching depends on the vigor and genetic makeup of the individual tree.
A rambler spotted Eastern Jack O’Lantern mushrooms in the creek bank and Bill climbed down for a closer view (Photo by Gary Crider). This bioluminescent fungus commonly grows on buried roots. Its gills glow faintly green when fresh which is thought to attract insects that spread its spores. Because of its color, this species is sometimes confused with edible Chanterelles, which is unfortunate since Jack O’Lanterns are highly toxic.
Photos of Eastern Jack O’Lantern below are by Bill Sheehan.
A Strawberry Bush, aka Hearts-a-Burstin’, is tucked back into some blackberry shrubs on the steep creekbank, its pink fruits opened to expose the bright orange seeds. This is one of the few individuals of this species to reach reproductive age at the Garden. Most are browsed nearly to the ground by the hordes of ravening deer that browse here. Walt Cook calls this shrub “deer ice cream” for a reason.
This small creek was once known as Humphrey’s Spring Branch, named for the early 1800s owner of this tract of land. Thanks to Roger C. for uncovering this piece of the Garden’s history. There is still a small spring at the head of the creek, slowly eroding the slope in an upstream direction, a process called headward erosion.
Rocks piled around the base of this oak tree (photo, left) testify to the agricultural history of this area, where clearing rock from a future field was the first order of business for a farmer. The rocks are a mélange of dark minerals, mostly amphibole and biotite, as well as other lighter colored minerals, such as quartz and feldspar (photo, right). Roger’s research indicates this area was in cultivation beginning in the early 1800s.
Wood Oats are one of a handful of native grass species that grow in shady Piedmont forests. Its small seed heads are borne on long, arching stems (below).
Bill and Don spotted a nice flush of Turkey Tail fungi on a downed tree branch (photo, left). The photo of the lower surface (right) shows the many tiny pores that release spores.
The large patch of Broad Beech Ferns along the Orange Trail is a favorite stop for ramblers, who renamed the species Fox Face Fern. The large, lowermost pair of pinnae that angle backwards are the “ears.”
Layered metamorphic rock along Humphrey’s Spring Branch.
Bluehead Chub are often seen in the deeper sections of the branch.
As the branch approaches the beaver marsh, we began to see lots of Virginia Jumpseed (photos, below), along the trail. It is a species of moist to wet habitats that is closely related to the smartweeds. Virginia Jumpseed’s white (sometimes pink), four-parted flowers are held on tall, usually solitary stems. As the fruit matures, tension builds at the base of the fruit’s stalk. If disturbed, the ripe fruit are ejected as much as 12 feet from the plant, hence the common name. Fruits may also be carried when the hooked, persistent styles (seen in the central photo) catch on the fur of passing animals.
Dotted Smartweed (left) and Water Pepper (below) are in the same genus, Persicaria, as Virginia Jumpseed. Both have mildly spicy leaves that “smart” your tongue.
Leafy Elephant’s Foot is another common creekside and floodplain species.
Green-eyed Susan (aka Cutleaf Coneflower) is growing and flowering among Virginia Jumpseed near the beaver marsh. The Cherokee call this species Sochan and value its nutritious leafy greens.
Don spotted this American Dagger Moth caterpillar perched in a pile of dead limbs and crashed through to get this photo. The caterpillars eat the leaves of a wide variety of hardwood trees and shrubs. The adults (below) have a wingspan of 2 to 2.5 inches. Photo of adult moth by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren.
Sensitive Fern sterile frond, right, and fertile frond, below.
We identified these spectacular clusters of fruit as belonging to Jack-in-the-Pulpit (or, actually, Jill), but a comment on Don’s Facebook page suggested that these are Green Dragons instead. Jacks have trifoliate leaves, while Dragon’s leaves have 5-13 leaflets. Since we didn’t look closely at the withered leaves lying around the base of the plant, we will return soon to check. The height of the fruit stalk also suggests that it’s a Green Dragon.
Ramblers exploring a patch of Duck Potato in the wooded edge of the beaver marsh. Duck Potato forms large patches throughout the marsh.
Duck Potato flowers and fruits Duck Potato, known to the Cherokee as Wapato, also reproduces by the spread of underwater stems. The “potatoes” are corms, swollen storage organs buried in mud at the base of the stems. These are edible both raw and cooked, and were known to the Cherokee as Wapato, an important part of their diet before European colonization. Wildlife (muskrats, beavers, wading birds and ducks) eat both the corms and seeds of the plant.
Short-winged Katydid resting on a Duck Potato leaf
We were sorry to find that Marsh Dayflower, one of the most invasive of aquatic plants, is spreading in the marsh. It forms dense mats that outcompete native wetland plants.
Ebony Jewelwing damselfly posed on a Marsh Dayflower leaf
A heavily skeletonized Green Ash leaf found on the boardwalk across the lower end of the marsh
No Ramble is complete without a sighting of a Carolina Anole, this one yellow rather than the bright green or dull brown that we are familiar with. Color phases, including a blue phase, are rare and are due to the lack of one of the pigment genes that control anole coloration. Photo by Bill Sheehan
Roger came prepared for all eventualities with his grandson’s dinosaur umbrella.
SUMMARY OF OBSERVED SPECIES Daddy Longlegs Order Opiliones Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium Mountainmint Pycnanthemum sp. Virginia Pine Pinus virginiana Shortleaf Pine Pinus echinata Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum Pileated Wood Pecker (evidence and call) Dryocopus pileatus Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginiana Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra White Oak Quercus alba Eastern Jack-o-Lantern mushroom Omphalotus illudens Strawberry Bush, Heart’s-a-burstin’ Euonymus americanus Musclewood Carpinus caroliniana Turkey Tail fungi Trametes versicolor Wood Oats Chasmanthium sessiliflorum Broad Beech Ferns Phegopteris hexagonoptera Bluehead Chub Nocomis leptocephalus Virginia Jumpseed Persicaria virginiana Leafy Elephant’s Foot Elephantopus carolinianus Beggar-lice Desmodium sp. Green-eyed Susan Rudbeckia laciniata Sensitive Fern Onoclea sensibilis Cherokee Sedge Carex cherokeensis Dotted Smartweed Persicaria punctata Mild Water Pepper Persicaria hydropiperoides American Dagger Moth (caterpillar) Acronicta americana Mariana Island Fern Macrothelypteris torresiana Jack(Jill)-in-the-Pulpit Arisaema triphyllum or Green Dragon, A. dracontium Duck Potato, Wapato Sagittaria latifolia Short-winged Meadow Katydid Conocephalus dorsalis Ebony Jewelwing damselfly Calopteryx maculata Hop Hornbeam Ostrya virginiana Marsh Dayflower Murdannia keisak Water Hemlock Cicuta douglasii, synonym Cicuta maculata Green Ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Carolina Anole Anolis carolinensis
Authors of Today’s Report: Linda Chafin, Don Hunter
The photos that appear in this report were taken by Don Hunter unless otherwise credited. Photos may be enlarged by clicking them with a mouse or tapping on your screen. Not all of Don’s photos from today’s ramble made it into the Ramble Report, so be sure to check out his Facebook album at this link.
Nature Ramble Rainy Day Policy: We show up at 9:00am, rain or shine. If it’s raining, we will meet and socialize in the conservatory (bring your own coffee); if there is a break in the rain, we’ll go outside and do a little rambling.
Today’s Emphasis: Late summer wildflowers, fruits, butterflies, and caterpillars in the floodplain.
Announcements: Catherine mentioned a BBC article describing a project in East Sussex, England, where dogs are reseeding native species by romping around in a wildlife restoration area while wearing seed pouches.
And speaking of dog seeding activities… Gary brought up the topic of a new-to-Athens invasive plant species, Japanese Chaff Flower, Achyranthes japonica. It’s been consuming Atlanta parks for years and is now established in Athens at Memorial Park. We need to be vigilant in identifying this plant where we see it (here are some good photos and info). If we see it, we should notify the Ecological Resources Coordinator in the Athens/Clarke County Sustainability Department, Stephanie Green, 706-613-3838 ext. 6136 or stephanie.green@acc.gov. Much of this invasion is believed to be due to dog walkers and dogs – Chaff Flower seeds readily stick to fur and clothing. The county is considering a public outreach program targeting popular dog walking locations with information signs.
Show and Tell: Don brought a branch of American Burnweed (also known as Fireweed), a ubiquitous native weed spread far and wide by its wind-dispersed seeds this time of year.
Like other members of the Aster (Composite) Family, Burnweed holds its flowers in tightly packed heads. In Don’s photo, left, there is an unopened head in the background and a fully opened head up front. Yes, fully opened – there are no ray flowers and the head expands only when the seeds are ready to disperse, below.
Burnweed seed head dispersing hundreds of plume-tipped seeds. Photo by Hladac, Wikimedia Commons.
The stems of Burnweed are visited by a female Burnweed Gall Midge, a tiny insect who lays her eggs only in the stems of Burnweed, inducing the formation of a swollen gall.
Burnweed leaves are also visited by leaf miner insects that deposit their eggs between the upper and lower layers of leaf tissue. The narrowest end of the trail is the point where the leaf miner female laid her egg. Once the egg hatches, the ever-enlarging larva carves an ever-widening trail as it travels the leaf, eating everything in its path. In Don’s photos, you can see that the larva traveled the length of the leaves three times as it ate and grew. What is most amazing is that this is all taking place in the incredibly narrow space inside the leaf – a cramped but safe hideout from predators. At some point, the larva metamorphoses into an adult which then exits the leaf through a tiny hole it chews through the leaf surface, visible as a dark spot on the leaves in the photos above.
Reading: Linda read “Summer Is Losing Its Grip,” from Middlewood Journal: Drawing Inspiration from Nature, a Journey into the South Carolina Piedmont Woods by artist/essayist Helen Scott Correll.
I can tell summer is losing its grip. It’s interesting to note that I understand more every year that the seasons, which I used to consider fairly distinct, are really quite blurred. Painted Buckeye and Virginia Creeper leaves begin turning red as early as July: fuzzy spring-like oak leaves sprout until frost. During this morning’s ramble I saw the first “fall” Silvery Aster bloom for the year, and the Grass-Leaved Golden Asters, which have been blooming for a couple weeks. Thoroughworts aka Bonesets are in bloom, but fading. Tall Goldenrods already brighten the woodland edges. Joe Pye Weed and Pale Indian Plantain are in full bloom down by Meetinghouse Creek.
While I drew, fall Field Crickets trilled in the field behind me, and a White-Breasted Nuthatch’s loud and nasal ank ank! ank ank! gave away his position as he walked head-first down the trunk of an oak looking for insects. I remember the bird’s name and differentiate him from the brown creeper, who also hops on tree trunks, by thinking what a “nut” the Nuthatch is to hop head-first straight down the tree. The way a Brown Creeper does it, starting at the bottom of the tree and spiraling up the trunk, seems so much easier. The name Nuthatch actually comes from the bird’s habit of wedging nuts into cracks in a tree bark, then whacking at it with his sharp bill to “hatch” the nut from its shell. A Pileated Woodpecker screamed several times close by. A breeze kicked up and stirred the leaves, eventually becoming a steadying cooling wind that persuaded me to stay a while, just to enjoy it.
Number of Ramblers Today: 27
Today’s Route: We left the Children’s Garden arbor, heading into the Lower Shade Garden toward an entrance road gate, where we turned left down the road. We walked along the Dunson Garden deer fence, eventually making our way out into the power line ROW, then walking down the ADA trail to the Middle Oconee River. Here, we turned right (upstream) and walked for a short distance on the White Trail before turning around to head back.
Today’s Observations:
Two Daddy-long-legs are exploring the spent flower heads of a Rattlesnake Master in the Children’s Garden.
A Common Eastern Bumblebee nectaring at a flower cluster in the Hoary Mountainmint near the Children’s Garden Arbor. Note the pollen grains stuck to the hairs on its thorax and abdomen.
From Bees and Flowers Harness Static Electricity to Spread Pollen: “When a bee flies through the air, it generates a positive electrostatic charge. This charge arises due to the friction between the bee and positively charged particles in the atmosphere. Flowers, on the other hand, function as part of the Earth’s surface and typically hold a slight negative charge. This charge is concentrated at…the tips of petals, the pollen-carrying stamens, and the ovary-containing pistils of the flowers…As a bee approaches a flower, the difference in charge causes antennae and tiny hairs to flutter, which the bee detects as a physical sensation (interestingly, honeybees respond to the motion of their antennae, while the fuzzier bumblebees respond to sensation from the hairs). When the bee approaches a flower, the electrical interaction becomes even more dynamic. The pollen, being negatively charged with the rest of the flower, is attracted to the positively charged bee and leaps across and sticks. When the bee visits the next blossom, some of the now positively charged pollen leaps across to the negatively charged pistil and begins the process of fertilization.”
Aubrey inspects the large Virginia Creeper vine that inhabits a Loblolly Pine in the Lower Shade Garden. It has long since detached its delicate suckers from the tree’s bark at the lower end. No one knows if bats actually use the bat house attached to the tree; there is no guano present, so probably not.
Several plantings of Golden Surprise Lily, also called Hurricane Lily, are in flower. These names reflect the fact that the flower stalks appear mysteriously without leaves in late summer and early fall, just in time for hurricanes. Their leaves appear only after flowering is over and persist til spring when they disappear. The bulbs then go dormant till hot, dry summer weather triggers blooming. For cultivation info, click here.
A Red-femured Orbweaver spider in a web beside the Lower Shade Garden path
Though uncommon in our mostly acidic Piedmont soils, Carolina Buckthorn can be abundant in soils with higher pH. It is an important wildlife species, acting as host for several butterflies: Gray Hairstreak, Painted Lady, Spring Azure, and Henry’s Elfin. The red berries are eaten by many species of birds. The Buckthorn family is largely tropical with only a handful of species, including Rattan-vine and New Jersey Tea, appearing in Georgia.
American Beautyberry with its berries clustered around the stem at each leaf node
Its berries are eaten by a variety of small mammals, including possums, raccoons, and squirrels. More than 40 species of songbirds are known to eat the fruit.
Silky Dogwood is planted in the Dunson Garden and spills out into the edge of the road, offering its blue fruits to birds. A late nymph stage Eastern Leaf-footed Bug is exploring these fruits. Leaf-footed Bugs are considered a major pest in fruit orchards and vegetable gardens; adults probe deep into fruit with their long, piercing-sucking mouth parts to extract water and sugars. Even the nymphs are able to pierce the skin of fruits. Fruit discolors and rots where the insect pierces the skin.
Bill spotted a recently named gall species that inhabits the branches and twigs of dogwoods. Each of the swellings is a separate chamber containing a single larva. Photo by Bill Sheehan
Eastern Anglepod is a milkvine in the same family as milkweed. Its fruit, left, is suspended from a vine that has climbed the Dunson Garden fence. Like milkweeds, milkvines have plumed seeds dispersed by the wind, below (photo credit: Alana Walker).
The Passionflower vines on the Dunson Garden fence are a great place to see all the stages in the life cycle of Gulf Fritillary butterflies. We didn’t see any eggs today, but did see many very small to large caterpillars that were eating their way through the leaves, left. Right, a caterpillar has just begun to pupate, hanging upside down, curling into the characteristic J-shape, and laying down some chrysalis silk.
Butterflies are not the only insects to enjoy Purple Passionflower vines. Ants help themselves to nectar produced by the extrafloral nectaries (EFNs – nectaries not inside a flower) found on the leaf stalks. They also attack caterpillars, reducing the amount of damage to the leaves.
Two Morning Glory vines grow on the Dunson Garden fence, Small White Morning Glory, left (click to enlarge), which has both white and lavender flowers, and Red Morning Glory, its corolla speckled with grains of white pollen.
Spotted Beebalm is still blooming. The pink bracts attract pollinators and the maroon dots on the yellow petals guide the insect, often a Carpenter Bee, to the nectary at the base of the flower tube.
American Wisteria (left) growing on the split rail fence in the right-of-way is heavily infected with Powdery Mildew (right). Rambler and plant pathologist Elizabeth Little writes: “Powdery mildew is an easily recognizable plant disease. Unlike other fungal plant parasites, these fungi grow mainly on the plant surface, creating a dense gray to white mat easily seen with the naked eye. Feeding structures called haustoria (see drawing below) grow into the live plant cells and extract nutrients without killing the cell. Each powdery mildew fungal species can only infect a specific genera or species of plant and do not cross infect other types of plants. While the fungus can be an important problem in some agricultural crops, in the garden the disease does not usually cause enough damage to warrant treatment. The fungi prefer warm and humid weather, but frequent rain will reduce infections. This year has had ideal conditions for development. Adequate sun and good air circulation will reduce infections. Resistant varieties are available for some plants such as cucurbits.”
Drawing of microscopic view of Powdery Mildew by Lenore Gray.
The Aster family dominates the view of the floodplain right-of-way in late summer and early fall. Four genera rule: Wingstem, Ironweed, Sunflower, Boneset, and Goldenrod (Verbesina, Vernonia, Eupatorium, and Solidago).
Three species of Wingstem, also known as Crownbeards, are common in the right-of-way. All are in the same genus – Verbesina. A Peppered Jumping Spider lurks amongst the flower heads of White Crownbeard (above, right). Also known as Frost Flower, this species produces beautiful frozen shapes from fissured stems during below-freezing nights in late autumn.
Yellow Crownbeard (left) and Common Wingstem (right) have similar flower heads, growth habit, and leaf shapes. The easiest way to distinguish them is leaf arrangement: Yellow Crownbeard’s leaves are in pairs and Common Wingstem leaves alternate around the stem.
Tall Ironweed’s flower heads lacks the ray flowers that most Aster Family species have. It makes up for it with showy, brilliantly colored disk flowers.
All species in the Aster family have flower heads surrounded at the base by one to several series of small overlapping bracts called phyllaries. In the case of Tall Ironweed, there are 4 or 5 series of bracts, each outlined in red and with spreading hairs along the edges.
Rough-leaf Sunflower is one of 24 species of native sunflowers in Georgia. It is tall, up to 6 feet, with smooth, often waxy stems. The flower heads have yellow disk and ray flowers. Its leaves are opposite with inch-long stalks, and are conspicuously three-veined and very roughly hairy, almost like sandpaper to the touch.
Late Boneset, with its snowy-white flower heads, is abundant in nearly all the sunny openings in the Garden.
Tall Goldenrod, often more than 6 feet tall, is ubiquitous in the Piedmont, spreading aggressively on roadsides and in other disturbed areas. Its flower heads have 8-13 ray flowers, and its leaves are roughly hairy, distinctly three-veined, and sometimes toothed.
Bean Family plants are also at their peak of flowering and fruiting in late summer. One of the most interesting plants (to me) in the floodplain is a “bean” – Maryland Senna, above. A tall, branched shrub, it bears many yellow, five-petaled flowers in August and long, showy bean pods in September. Its leaves are compound, made up of 6-12 pairs of oval leaflets. Near the base of the leaf stalk, is a very small, green or brown bump – an extrafloral nectary serving the same defensive function as the EFN’s on Passionflower leaves. Ants swarm to these nectaries and, in their spare time, attack the caterpillars of Sulphur butterflies who lay their eggs on the leaves of Senna.
Maryland Senna flowers (above left) and fruits (above right) – note the ants swarming among the fruits. Caterpillars of Cloudless Sulphur (below, left, click to enlarge) and Sleepy Orange (below, right, photo by Heather Larkin).
After much ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the gorgeous caterpillars, we walked to the river and turned upstream along the White Trail for a short walk in the shade. Even though I’ve walked this route scores (hundreds?) of times over the last 45 years, Ramblers noticed two tree species I’ve missed: an American Basswood and a Sugarberry.
The American Basswood is on the river side of the trail, soon after the little bridge. Basswood has large, more or less heart-shaped leaves (above, left) that are easily mistaken for Red Mulberry’s. Basswood’s leaves are mostly hairless, especially this late in the season, while Red Mulberry’s are roughly hairy on the lower surface and somewhat hairy on the upper. A reliable distinguishing trait of Basswood is the ring of smaller trunks that surrounds the main trunk (above, right). These sprout from the root crown of the original trunk and can become quite large. Basswood flowers are loaded with nectar and the trees are famous “honey trees” in some parts of the country. American Basswood prefers rich, moist soils and therefore is usually found in floodplains in the Piedmont. In the mountains, it grows in moist coves and boulder fields. European species of Basswood are known as Linden and Lime Trees, names apparently derived from the proto-German Linde. While discussing the Basswood, we were serenaded by a White-eyed Vireo.
A young Sugarberry is established on the landward side of the trail, its trunk covered in the warty projections (above, left) that are characteristic of Sugarberry and the closely related species, Hackberry. Roger first spied this tree and bushwhacked through the undergrowth to examine its trunk (above, right).
Hackberry Petiole Galls are formed when a small Psyllid insect lays its eggs in the stalks (petioles) of Sugarberry and Hackberry leaves. Uninfested leaves do not fall from the tree in autumn, making it easy to spot the galls in the winter. Details here…
Hackberry Emperor butterfly caterpillars are beautifully camouflaged at this stage for surviving on Hackberry and Sugarberry leaves. Later, the caterpillars will turn brown and overwinter in rolled Hackberry and Sugarberry leaves. More info here…. (Photos by Bill Sheehan)
The banks of the Middle Oconee River are subject to serious erosion following our heavy winter rains. The dense root networks of Catbriar, River Oats, and other plants hold the riverbank soils in place.
Stinging Wood Nettle’s flower clusters, leaves, and stems are covered with long, brittle, pointed hairs (photo below). But it’s not the hairs that sting; it’s the liquid inside the hairs that does the damage. When brushed, the tips of the hairs break off and release a fluid that contains a witch’s brew of irritating compounds, including histamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and formic acid, the same chemical that makes ant bites sting. Invertebrates aren’t harmed by the compounds and, though we may not love the stinging, we have to love the beautiful Red Admiral, Eastern Comma, and Question Mark butterflies that use nettles as a larval host plant.
Red Admiral caterpillars (below, right) roll Stinging Nettle leaves into a temporary shelter while they eat the leaf, leaving some frass behind when they move on to the next leaf (below, left). Caterpillar photo by Anita Gould.
Other cool insects we saw today…..
Nason’s Slug Moth seen on a Sugarberry leaf
Zabulon Skipper
A late instar Milkweed Tussock Moth having a very bad hair day.
Like Monarchs, these moth larvae feed only on milkweeds. More info here… Photo by Heather Larkin
An ant-mimic jumping spider in the genus Peckhamia Photo by Heather Larkin
Common Angle Moth is in the Geometer Family, so called because the larvae seem to be measuring the earth as they hump along the ground, also earning them the nickname “inchworm.” They are often seen apparently suspended in space from a nearly invisible silk thread. Dale wrote about inchworms in the July 8, 2021 Ramble Report. Photo by Heather Larkin
Black Saddlebags is a species of skimmer dragonfly that occurs throughout North America. Photo by Bill Sheehan
SUMMARY OF OBSERVED AND DISCUSSED SPECIES American Burnweed Erechtites hieraciifolia Burnweed Gall Midge Neolasioptera sp. Daddy Longlegs Order Opiliones Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium Hoary Mountainmint Pycnanthemum incanum Common Eastern Bumble Bee Bombus impatiens Joro Spider Trichonephila clavata Loblolly Pine Pinus taeda Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia Surprise Lily, Hurricane Lily Lycoris aurea Red-femured Orbweaver Neoscona domiciliorum Carolina Buckthorn Frangula caroliniana American Beautyberry Callicarpa americana Silky Dogwood Cornus amomum Dogwood gall Neolasioptera cornicola Eastern Leaf-footed Bug (nymph) Leptoglossus phyllopus Florida Torreya Tree Torreya taxifolia Eastern Anglepod Gonolobus suberosus Gulf Fritillary (adult and caterpillar) Agraulis vanillae Purple Passionflower Passiflora incarnata Ant (on passionflower vine) Family Formicidae Little White Morning Glory Ipomoea lacunosa Red Morning Glory Ipomoea coccinea Spotted Beebalm Monarda punctata American Wisteria Wisteria frutescens Powdery Mildew An ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales White Crownbeard Verbesina virginica Yellow Crownbeard Verbesina occidentalis Common Wingstem Verbesina alternifolia Tall Ironweed Vernonia gigantea Late Boneset / Late Thoroughwort Eupatorium serotinum Rough-leaved Sunflower Helianthus strumosus Dog Fennel Eupatorium capillifolium Virgin’s Bower Clematis virginiana Red-tailed Hawk (heard) Buteo jamaicensis Tall Goldenrod Solidago altissima Maryland Senna Senna marilandica Cloudless Sulphur (caterpillar) Phoebis sennae Sleepy Orange (caterpillar) Eurema nicippe False Nettle Boehmeria cylindrica River Cane Arundinaria gigantea Camphorweed Pluchea camphorata Basswood Tilia americana White-eyed Vireo (heard) Vireo griseus Sugarberry / Southern Hackberry Celtis laevigata Hackberry Petiole Gall Pachypsylla venusta Hackberry Emperor butterfly (caterpillar) Asterocampa celtis Catbriar Smilax bona-nox River Oats Chasmanthium latifolium Common Yellow Wood Sorrel Oxalis stricta Stinging Wood Nettle Laportea canadensis Red Admiral (larval shelter only) Vanessa atalanta Nason’s Slug Moth (caterpillar) Natada nasoni Zabulon Skipper Poanes zabulon Milkweed Tussock Moth (caterpillar) Euchaetes egle Ant-mimic Jumping Spider Peckhamia sp. Peppered Jumping Spider Pelegrina galathea Common Angle Moth (adult) Macaria aemulataria Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata
