Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
A few times this summer I’ve been cleaning the animals’ exhibits at the zoo (Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo) and have seen butterflies landing on their scat. (Scat is the scientific name for “poop”). Now why would such a beautiful, fragile, little creature be wanting to land on scat?! The two just don’t seem to go together. Butterflies are attracted to scat because of what it has to offer. They do something called “mud-puddling” where they use their proboscis (straw like mouth part) to suck up fluids. Scat has a variety of nutrients, including nitrogen and sodium that butterflies need for reproduction, but can’t find in nectar alone. Amino acids, vitamins, and minerals can also be found in scat and are appealing to butterflies. Although scat may not be as alluring to us, it’s like a Slurpee for the butterflies!
Butterflies can also be seen "puddling" in sand, soil, and carrion (rotting meat). You may even see them in large groups exhibiting this puddling behavior.
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“Painted Lady Butterfly Farmer” can be my new title after receiving a butterfly kit for Christmas! Let me explain… For Christmas I received a butterfly kit from my Grandma and was so excited because I have been eyeing up one of these pop-up butterfly habitats ever since I had worked at Itasca and became the “Monarch Butterfly Caretaker” for the summer. This kit came with a coupon to purchase five Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillars to raise into adult butterflies. Not only was I excited to try raising the caterpillars into butterflies, but I thought this would be a fun thing to do with my niece and nephew who are six and four. I went on the Carolina Biological Supply website and used the coupon to order a cup of five larva (caterpillars) with food that arrived at my doorstep via USPS. I got lucky and a bonus caterpillar was included so I had six to raise! When the cup arrived, the caterpillars were very active and crawling all around their cup. They even arrived with a small care pamphlet (which was handy since my parents had to care for them when I was away during the week). The caterpillars were fairly small when they arrived but went to town eating their food and letting out silk that soon covered the walls of their cup. After six days of having the caterpillars, they had more than doubled in size and the first one crawled to the top of the cup and hung in a J formation; signaling that it was preparing to turn into a chrysalis soon. I saw it in a J in the morning and shortly after lunch it had already changed into a chrysalis! The other five followed suit and were in the J formation by the evening and chrysalises by the next morning. Once they were all chrysalises, it was the waiting game. Following the directions, three days after the last chrysalis is formed, we moved the cloth from the top of the cup to the netted butterfly habitat. The cloth was secured to the top of the habitat with sewing pins. After about a week, the butterflies emerged from their chrysalises! I was gone for the weekend, so my parents were the butterfly caretakers in my absence. My dad mixed up a sugar water concoction to tide them over until I was home for the release. Now comes the most fun part, the release! It was a family affair as we all gathered in the back yard. My nephew was all for holding and releasing them, whereas my niece was content with watching and helping take pictures. It was fun to see their faces as we watched the butterflies fly off. I think it was a great experience for all involved! A hands-on learning experience for the kids, as well as the adults involved! Whenever my niece and nephew came over, they had to ask how the caterpillars/butterflies were doing and check on them. And once they had all emerged as butterflies they couldn’t wait to tell me the good news! I’m not sure if raising the butterflies was more fun for me or them, but definitely a memory we will all share! I’ve got some budding naturalists on my hands J A special thank you to my parents for taking on the role of Butterfly Farmer when I was away, even if they weren’t quite sure about my butterfly endeavors! And to my sister-in-law Vanessa for taking some great pictures! Fireflies: A magical scene that brings you back to childhood. Whether you grew up calling them Fireflies or Lightning Bugs, whenever you think of them, they evoke a wonderful memory. There is just something about them that makes them so magical and intriguing. There are 2,205 species of fireflies worldwide, 150 of those in North America, and we are lucky enough to have 12 different species in Minnesota. Although they have “fly” (firefly) or “bug” (lighting bug) in their name, they are actually a type of beetle. They are usually black with some yellow or orange on the body. There are many things that make these bioluminescent insects so intriguing; the first is that they light up! Fireflies glow because of a chemical reaction between luciferase (an enzyme), luciferin, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and oxygen. The firefly brings in oxygen, ATP converts energy and initiates the glow, Luciferase triggers the light emission, and Luciferin is heat resistant – letting a majority of the energy released show as light instead of being released as heat and burning the firefly. The light produced can be yellow, green, or even blue. That is the short and sweet version of the fairly complicated process that these fireflies make look so easy! Adult fireflies mainly use their light to attract mates, but it may also be used to defend their territory, or as a danger signal to those wanting to eat them. (Although, there are some frogs and toads that don’t care about the bad taste and will eat enough fireflies to make themselves glow!) Each species has their own unique blinking pattern to attract others of their kind, it is almost like Morse Code for insects. If you watch their blinks closely you may be able to identify different species. For most species of fireflies, only the males will light up to attract females. However, some females will blink back to show their interest in a mate. There is one species of fireflies where the female will mimic the blinks of other species and lure in the males to eat them! (Check out the infographic at the end of this post to help you identify fireflies by their blinking patterns.) Once the fireflies have mated, the female will lay eggs that hatch into larva in about a month. The larva glow and can be found in bark or burrowed underground where they will stay until turning into adults the following year. In the larva stage, fireflies will eat smaller insects, snails, slugs, and worms; injecting them with a numbing fluid before they eat them. Adult fireflies eat insects, pollen, and plants. The average lifespan of an adult is two months, but some may live for just a few days. Those that have a shorter lifespan may not even have mouthparts and therefore won’t eat during their adult stage. Fireflies prefer warm, humid environments - making our muggy June and early July days in Minnesota a great time to see them! Look for them near tall grass or bushes where they can find cover. They like areas near open water, and spots where forests or grassy fields meet water. Watch in your backyard, you may be surprised to see some around! Look high and low, too – I have been seeing them in the short grass, a few feet off the ground, and even way up in the tree tops. Wait until dusk to see their glowing and blinking, or look in the grass and vegetation during the day to spot them. Over the years, firefly populations have been declining for a number of reasons. A few of the main reasons for the decline are habitat loss, increase of pesticide and fertilizer use, and light pollution from urban sprawl. There are a few things you can do in your own yard to help the fireflies. Make your yard into ideal firefly habitat by having trees, bushes, and areas with long grass. Don’t use pesticides or fertilizers that can kill the eggs, larva, or adults, and turn off any exterior lights. Light from street lights, garages, sheds, outbuildings, and homes can make it too light outside and cause the fireflies to not see each other’s blinking, resulting in them not being able to find a mate. If you decide to catch any fireflies, place them in a glass jar with holes in the lid. Place a damp paper towel, grass, leaves, and twigs in the jar. Admire your fireflies and release them after a short time back into the wild so they have time to find a mate before their short lives are up. In Minnesota, peak firefly viewing is around the 4th of July. Before bed, head outside or to the window from inside a dark room and watch for the blinking of fireflies. Enjoy the magical scene that we get for only a short time each summer.
What is the number one Firefly pick-up line? You sure are flashy tonight! Visit www.Firefly.org for more information about these interesting creatures. Check out the infographic below to help you identify fireflies by their blinking patterns. Have you ever seen an insect fluttering about, and wondered was that a butterfly, or was that a moth? Butterflies and moths have a lot in common, but they also have some defining characteristics that will help you tell them apart. Let’s start with some of the similarities. Both butterflies and moths are part of the Lepidoptera order. Lepidoptera means “scale winged” which they were named because of the powdery scales on their wings. Both insects’ lifecycles start as eggs that hatch into hungry caterpillars; the caterpillars will then enter the pupa stage and emerge as adults. Adults eat flower nectar, fruit juice, and mineral-filled standing water. Both Butterflies and Moths
Now here are some of the differences...
Now when you see an insect fluttering about you'll be able to easily identify whether it is a butterfly or moth! Enjoy these warm summer days and the insects that share them with us!
With warmer temperatures and Spring on the way, it’s a good time of year to keep your eyes open for Snow Fleas! Wait, what? There’s fleas in the snow?! Have no fear, they are not actually fleas at all, but you do find them on the snow. Snow Fleas, sometimes called Springtails, look like pepper flakes or flecks of dirt sprinkled on the snow. They can be seen on warm winter days, usually around vegetation, or at the base of a tree where some of the snow has melted away. They are present year-round, but easier to see against the white snow than the brown ground of warmer seasons. They can be found where there is leaf litter, moist soil, in compost heaps, and on the surface of water and snow. They play a big role in nature’s recycling program, decomposing decaying organic matter and eating spores of mold and mildews. Snow fleas are not actually fleas, or even insects, they are hexapods. They get their name “Snow Flea” because they can jump like fleas; but unlike fleas, they can’t jump with their legs. They jump using a tail-like appendage, called a furcula, that they tuck under their abdomen. When the furcula unfolds, it flings the snow flea. They can’t control where they “jump” to, so they just land where ever. If you see snow fleas, take some time to watch and see them jumping around.
Since Snow Fleas are present and active year-round, how do they keep from freezing during our cold Minnesota winters? Snow Fleas have a glycine-rich antifreeze protein that binds to ice crystals when they begin to form preventing them from getting any bigger and preventing the Snow Flea from freezing. Research has even been done seeing if this protein could be used in the preservation of organs used for human transplants. Next time you’re out on a nice winter hike, look closely at the snow. You may be lucky enough to see some Snow Fleas! Thank you to my friend and blog reader, Art Schilling, for sending me pictures of Snow Fleas earlier this winter and requesting a blog post about them! Going on a walk through the prairie you’ll most likely come across one of these, which are easiest to spot once the leaves and grasses start to die down. You may have stopped to look and wondered: gall, what is this? Well, it’s an insect home! This gall is formed during the Goldenrod Gall Fly’s life cycle. Here’s a quick rundown of all that happens inside that little gall: Female Goldenrod Gall Flies lay an egg on the tip of an emerging Goldenrod in the spring. When the egg hatches, the larva burrows its way down to the inside of the stem. The action of chewing and saliva from the larva stimulates the plant to produce more growth hormones, and as a result the gall starts to form. This gall will then provide food and shelter for the growing larva throughout the summer, fall, and winter until it is ready to emerge in the spring. In fall, as temperature decrease, the larva will produce a glycerol, an anti-freeze. This allows a majority of the body tissue to freeze, but keeps the cells from freezing - even on chilly days like today! They spend the winter as little larva popsicles, just hanging out and waiting for spring to arrive. Something else they do in the fall in preparation for their escape from the gall in the spring is to dig an exit tunnel right up to the outer layer of “skin” on the gall. They leave this outer layer so that they will still have protection from the elements throughout the winter. Once spring finally rolls around, the warmer temperatures signal the larva to go into a pupa stage, and then finally transform into the adult fly. This is where things get interesting. In order to get out of the gall, the fly must break through the outer skin of the gall. The fly anchors itself at the end of the exit tunnel, then pumps a special part of its head full of body fluids, inflating it like a balloon. The “balloon” causes the outer skin of the gall to break open and then the fly can pull itself out. The fly will rest and give time for its wings to inflate and dry. Then it is off to find a mate and start the process over again. The adult flies live for only about two weeks and don't eat during that time. They are not very good fliers, and mostly walk as their mode of transportation. Who knew so much was going on inside of that little gall? This was even the condensed version! If you would like to learn more in depth about the galls, and the life cycle of a Goldenrod Gall Fly, take a look at this article, Bug-sicles in the Class Room: Demonstrating freeze tolerance with larvae of the Goldenrod Gall Fly! by Doug Collicutt. He even talks about an interesting little freezing and thawing experiment you can try with Gall Fly larva! The gall is a pretty safe place for the larva to hang out for almost a year of its life, but there are some dangers they can still endure. Some insects, like wasps, will lay their eggs in the gall and the wasp larva will eat the gall fly larva. There is a beetle that will burrow in the gall for a tasty treat. Black-capped Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, and some other small birds can peck into the gall to get a tasty little snack. I have also heard that the larva can be used for ice fishing bait, but I have yet to test that theory myself. Maybe they would be a good protein packed snack for humans, too..?!! You can try it and let me know how that goes! Next time you’re out for a hike in the prairie, keep your eyes open for galls. Check to see if any of them have been pecked at by birds, or if they’re still safely awaiting the arrival of spring. Goldenrod Gall Fly Galls are not the only galls out there. There are different kinds of galls that can look very different in size and shape because they are created by different species. Not only are they on Goldenrod plants, but they can be found on other plants too, including trees! Who knew that something so small could have something so complex going on inside of it? Little natural wonders like galls often get overlooked. So, go out and enjoy the Great Outdoors! See what you can discover! |
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