Crane Fly

This insect drifted across the driveway as I was waiting for the right butterfly to volunteer itself for the Butterfly House.  Its flight pattern was slow and almost random as it flew, its balance partially controlled by its halteres (see below) until it awkwardly landed on me.  After a brief visit to our refrigerator, it agreed to pose for pictures before it warmed up and flew back into the wild.


This is a crane fly, one of 4250 plus species in the family Tipulidae.  Its leg span was a good 2.5 inches, resembling a mosquito on steroids.  The blunt end of the abdomen suggests it is a male as the female's ovapositor is more pointed, easily mistaken for a stinger.  If you enlarge the picture and look carefully, you can make out thin halteres behind the wings resembling displaced antennae.  They are modifications of the second set of wings which most insects come equipped with.

Knobbed Halteres- Wikimedi

For those like me who were unaware of halteres, they occur in Diptera (flies, mosquitoes and gnats).  They flap rapidly in flight, serving as a type of gyroscope to stabilize the body in flight.  This fascinating mechanism is described further in Wikipedia.

"Halteres thus act as a balancing and guidance system, helping these insects to perform their fast aerobatics.   In addition to providing rapid feedback to the muscles steering the wings, they also play an important role in stabilizing the head during flight."

Compound eye of Crane Fly- Wikimedia

Looking carefully at the picture above, I noticed it had a bright green eye.  You can see a similar bright crane fly compound eye better in the picture from Wikimedia.

Adults for the most part do not feed, flying only to mate and breed.  Their larvae live in moist soil and rotting leaves where they feed on decomposing organic matter, helping in their very small way to build soil.  Some will feed on plant roots and some introduced species are considered lawn pests when  their larvae are present in large numbers.

The next time you see one of these awkward creatures stumbling around in the air or landing awkwardly on you, don't swat it.  Its larvae may some day fatten up your neighborhood Robin.

More pictures at http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/crane_fly.htm

Click Beetle

Janet Haworth sent me this picture of an eyed click beetle, Alaus oculatus, which was in her duck pool.  It is perched on her finger so she didn't get to see its acrobatics.  When placed upside down, it has a dramatic athletic move to right itself as demonstrated in this Youtube video.

They are able to "jump" up to four times their body length high while making their loud click.  This is a very effective evasive maneuver when they are threatened by a predator.  It has a spine tucked into a groove in its back poststernum.  When it flexes its back, the spine comes under tension, then pops out like you snap your fingers, creating both the click and the jump

This video demonstrates the "click," speed and flight characteristics.
The adult's food consists of plant juices and nectar.  It has prominent eye spots which are actually colored scales like on a butterfly wing.  Presumably these false eyes are threatening to some potential predators.

Larva- Daniel D. Dye II * bugguide

Most species of click beetle larvae are called "wireworms" and are notorious for their damage to the roots of cereal crops.  Eyed click beetle larvae however are voracious predators, devouring grubs and wood boring beetles.  They come equipped with powerful crab-like jaws, built for dismembering their prey.  They spend most of their life as larvae, from two to five years total.  Bad news for grubs but good news for gardeners.

More high quality pictures by Daniel D. Dye II are at pbase.com gallery and  floridabackyardspiders.com

Watershed Center Survey

Barb and Sue bag a plant

Master Naturalists coming out of training are expected to complete a "Capstone Project", a way of immediately jumping into hands-on activities.  One example is the Valley Water Mill plant survey led by Linda Ellis.  A group of Master Naturalists, both new and "used" are participating in the monthly survey.

We meet at the Watershed Center with our bags, magnifiers and resource books and start down the two mile trail, identifying every species of plant we encounter.  Occasionally even our guru Linda will be stumped (surely not!) and a specimen goes into the bag for further keying out.

Indian Strawberry- Duchesnea indica

Not all the plants are native, and this information is valuable as well.  Some are harmless exotics like the Indian Strawberry, a pretty little diversion, even if it doesn't technically belong in Missouri.  Some of these were imported deliberately and others hitched a ride in ocean going vessels over the last 500 years.

Japanese Honeysuckle

Other exotic species can be quite invasive, gradually shading out other less aggressive native species which provide biological diversity as well as specific niche connections with insects and pollinators.  The beautiful flowers of the Japanese Honeysuckle led to importing the vines for our gardens, a seemingly good idea at the time.  They have since been spread over the landscape by birds.  The individual plants then spread by rhizomes, taking over the neighborhood like a gang that smothers native species.  Their tight vines can actually girdle small trees, stunting or killing them as though they were wrapped with wire.



We plan to prepare a resource list for visitors hiking the trails.   On the Valley Water Mill trail, visitors can hike along wetlands, woodlands,  springs, and karst features.  With a resource list as a guide, they will be able to identify a wide variety of native plants in their natural setting.  They will also learn some of the invasive species that may be living in their neighborhood.

The island of Valley Water Mill

Valley Water Mill, like most parks and preserved land, is an island, surrounded by farm land, residential developments, golf courses and highways.  The smaller the island, the greater the risk to diversity of plants and animals.  Its exposure to exotic plants is increased by the short flight times of seed eating (and pooping) birds.  Preserving it will require the work of same type of biped hands which brought about the problem in the first place.

Mating Black Snakes

Mort Shurtz sent me these pictures of mating black snakes in a tree. "About twenty feet from our deck my son Jay noticed two blacksnakes in some form of endearment in a maple tree."  Like any dedicated Master Naturalist, he ran for a camera and soon had "five voyeurs gawking at these two mating snakes."

The Western Rat Snake, Pantherophis obsoletus, known locally as the Black Rat Snake goes by many different common names across the country.  Its official common name (if there can be such) was recently changed to Texas Rat Snake although they are predominately north and east of Texas (see my recent diatribe).

Black Rat Snakes are one of the largest native snakes in North America, growing up to 8 feet long.  They are talented climbers of trees, rocks and seemingly any structure.  We watched a five foot specimen scale the exterior wall of our Bull Mills house and crawl into a fissure that we couldn't even see from below.  We had evicted it twice before because of its unsanitary habits, such as leaving shed skins in the closet and dropping white powdery excreta on the living room floor.

Although young snakes are vulnerable to a number of predators such as foxes, skunks and raccoons, the adults are most threatened by humans, victims of either tires or fear.  They respond to danger by shaking their tail and spreading a foul musk, and they will give you a non-toxic bite if you try to pick one up.

They are constrictors, progressively tightening coils around their prey with each exhalation until the victim is smothered.  Their prime prey are rodents although they will eat other small mammals, birds and their eggs.  Mort's snakes probably met on a dinner date, headed to the bird house seen in the video below.


Males wait for females in a territory which they defend from other males.  They find females by benefit of pheromones, mating for minutes to hours with the male sometimes holding on to the female with his mouth so she won't get away.  The female later produces 6-24 eggs from which the young will emerge.  One of the significant threats to their eggs is the burying beetle, (Nirtophorous pustulatus).  "The adult beetles lay their eggs in the snake eggs and the beetle larvae feed on the developing snake embryos."*

*  From Pennsylvania State University,  which has a detailed account of their reproduction.

More Black Rat Snake pictures and video are at this site. 
Various rat snake species information is at Animal Diversity Web  

Disappearing Foods

John Tomanio- National Geographic

The accelerated loss of species of plants and animals in the last few hundred years has been labeled the "Sixth Extinction."  There are many factors, most of which have to do with the impact of humans on climate and the expanding footprint of growing populations.

A different loss of diversity is described in a new graphic, the loss of variety of foods that we grow to eat.  Over the last 80 years (1903 to 1983) we have lost 93% of the seed varieties of 10 some commonly eaten plants.  Fastcodesign.com graphically displays the results.

Of the 500 varieties of lettuce in 1903, only 36 remain.  Ditto for radishes, beets, peas, cabbage, squash, etc.  Even tomatoes, with their popularity of heirloom breeds, have lost 80% of their varieties.  OK, I can live with the loss of beets and Janet Haworth won't mourn the missing peas, but that is not the point.

Not only do we lose the chance for new and different tastes, we lose the genetic diversity which gives plants their resilience to disease and climate changes.  You don't have to look farther than the European grape industry to see the value in dipping back into to an older gene pool to find strains resistant to new diseases and predators.  Indeed, the Missouri grape vines saved Europe's wine industry.

Just think of the impact that a major disease attacking the corn crop could have.  Over three hundred varieties of sweet corn seeds in 1903 had dropped to 12 in 1983.  We not only have lost the breeding stock for new varieties but the seed bank that can help engineer disease resistance.

Loss of diversity not only hurts the planet- it hurts our diet.

Dragonfly Appreciation

Male Common White Tail

I brought these dragonflies to the WOLF School field trip to the Butterfly House.  These "fighter pilots" of the insect world, capable of speeds over 35 mph, are threatening to some as they zip through the air.

I wanted to get them some good press and have asked Tana Pulles of our chapter to educate us about these Common Whitetails - Plathemis lydia.


It is that time of year again when we begin to see the fanciful flight of odonates (o-doe-nate).  Dragonflies and damselflies belong to a class of insects of the order Odonata.  Odonata means "toothed jaws" alluding to their nature as ferocious predators. This is true for their role both as a nymph in water and adult in the air. They are harmless to humans however and truly are our friends as they consume incredible amounts of mosquitoes, biting flies and other insect pests.

At this time, the Common Whitetail is the abundant species seen at Bull Creek.  Bob has photos both of a mature male and female. The male is the one with the white (priunose) abdomen.

Female Common White Tail

This male began as an egg laid in water.  After hatching, the larva spent a lot of its life living under water.  Then it underwent a metamorphosis process transforming while still a nymph, moved to the surface of the water climbing a rock or plant stem and when the time was right, cracked open and flexed out of that larval skin. When development was complete he emerged as the aerial insect we think of.

He may have flown up to a half mile away from the water breeding habitat to feed. It has now been one to two weeks since he flew from the water of his emergence and he intentionally has selected the still and quiet water areas of Bull Creek. His color indicates he is an adult and sexually mature.

Barb and Bob now have the pleasure of watching these adult males select, patrol (fly back and forth) and defend their territories typically along the shoreline - seeking their mates. Common Whitetail males are very aggressive toward other Common Whitetail males that may enter their territory and will raise their abdomen to display their white color as a warning. Thus the chase and pursuits are endless.
===
These dragonflies were kept chilled as the students passed them around in ziplock bags.  Once we were through, they warmed up for a minute and then took off quickly in search of lunch around the Botanical Center.

As we watch Odonates darting around above the water, gobbling up mosquitoes, gnats and other flying fodder, we should give them our silent thanks for the service, as well as for the free air show.

George Sims (Ozarks Chapter of MN) and other passionate odontologists from the Midwest have created a Yahoo Group that you can follow for local news.  
Use odonatacentral.org to report a new finding. 

Frog Or Toad?

Spring Peeper

The News-Leader gave the lowly frogs and toads good press on Tuesday, a full page story full of interesting facts provided by Jeff Brigler of MDC.  It has a particularly succinct description of the differences between frogs and toads.

I have never been able to find a spring peeper.  This is frustrating as their sound seems to come from every pond or damp spot on a spring evening.  The location of their eyes on the top of their head means they are very hard to sneak up on.  This is similar to the "eyes in the back of their head" reported in mothers and 5th grade teachers.

I had never thought about the fact that they produce sounds like a harmonica player, with air going both in and out over their vocal cords.  They are even able to make sounds under water as the air moves back and forth while their mouth is closed.

"A male toad or frog produces its call by moving air rapidly back and forth over its vocal cords. When calling, the animal closes its mouth and nasal openings. Then it forces air from its lungs into the mouth cavity then back into the lungs, each time passing over the vocal cords."

Click on the "more" under the "Frog and Toad Facts" to learn about the differences between them.  Although it doesn't mention the Ozark legend of "fine as frog hair," it describes frog's tiny teeth on both jaws which are lacking on toads.

"What Warts?"

There is a health warning, something that no modern story is without.  "Be sure to wash your hands after handling a frog or toad. Although its skin secretions will not harm your skin, if any gets in your eyes, it will be extremely painful."  There is no mention of the reassuring fact that handling toads won't give you warts as your grandma insisted.  In this world of constant health threats, I find this very comforting.