Moth Wing Ant

During the summer we frequently leave the deck light on over the creek to photograph porchlight moths.  Many of the moths are near the end of their brief lives and occasionally end up on the deck.  This year I started to notice occasional ants collecting wings of dead moths and hauling them off.

Lifting the wing over the gap

The trip across our rustic deck isn't easy.  Between the gaps in the boards and the scattering of cedar leaves, the ants march with determination, driven by an unknown plan.  This video shows the arduous journey of one ant.  It is carrying a wing in its mouth that is 5 times the length of its body.  Most of the time it is out in front and frequently it uses the wing almost like a bridge across gaps in the deck flooring.

I needed some closeup pictures for ant identification but these busy critters never stood still for a second.  I put out peanut butter for bait and they bit.  Soon they were hauling mouthfuls larger than their heads back to their nest as seen in this video.  I sent the pictures to my favorite myrmecologist, Dr. James Trager, who identified them as Aphanogaster lamellidens, or AL to us.

"An easy way to recognize this ant, in addition to their woodland habitat and distinctive color pattern, is the complete lack of standing bristles on the mesosoma (thorax), especially well seen in your first photo." (below) James Trager

AL hauls off a peanut butter lunch

Antwiki.org  has great closeup photographs and more details on their life style.  Click these to enlarge the views.

Antwiki.org

Antwiki.org

"Aphaenogaster lamellidens is a common woodland species found in eastern North America, from New York south and west to Texas. They form large colonies (several thousand workers) and are ground nesting in open areas, under rocks or in or under rotten wood. Workers are general predators and scavengers, feeding on a range of living and dead insects and other arthropods."  Antwiki.org

Since this is a woodland species, we are at the western edge of their territory.   Like most ant species it is not a household pest although it might show up at your picnic, especially if you are serving peanut butter!  It is mostly found in oak hickory forests which fits with our location.  Antweb.org lists peanut butter as one method of collecting specimens.
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For another ant story check out this Smithsonian Daily on rodeo ants, from Texas of course.  These are ants that ride on the backs of another ant species' queen into the queen's nest where "they pilfer food from their perches and trick them into babysitting the rider’s eggs." 

Life in an Empty Walnut

Late winter is the season for Nature Mobiles at the WOLF School.  The students hang various found items from nature on threads and hang them from a stick to balance them. They then relate these elements to their role in nature, all of them signs of life.

Sweetgum balls and other seed pods can represent the source of new life, unlike on our lawn where they are @#$% to our bare feet and rakes.  Small found rocks with holes can be the remains of crinoid fossils, a sign of life millions of years ago when Missouri was covered by oceans.  Feathers can represent birds soaring for food and love while buckeyes are said to bring good luck.

 “Into every empty corner, into all forgotten things and nooks, Nature struggles to pour life, pouring life into the dead, life into life itself.” - Henry Beston

Pyralidae moth in the lower cavity

Last summer we collected walnut half-shells to be incorporated into nature mobiles this winter. They were already split open, dried and apparently empty when we put them in a ziplock bag. Now opening them we found brown grains and silk webbing filling the cavities.  As we stood over the kitchen sink picking out the detritis we found further unexpected evidence of life.


Under magnification the most common find was these 6mm (1/4") Pyralidae moths.  According to Bug Lady "Pyralidae (snout moths), is one of the largest moth families in the order Lepidoptera with 1,100 mainly plant-loving species in North America north of the Rio Grande."  Many species in the family that are familiar guests in our homes are called meal moths, found in our kitchens as we discussed in this blog.

Empty pupa case

In addition to lots of dead and dried moths there were the silk wrapped pupa cases from which they had emerged.  These were dusted with frass from the larvae before their pupation.  As we stood together happily cleaning the shells out at the kitchen sink, I knew I had married the perfect woman.  On the other hand we now have friends reading this who will never again come to dinner at our house.

Dermestid beetle larva -4mm

One final find was this little dermestid beetle larva.  Although I tend to associate them with the flesh consuming varieties that clean skulls for us, many species will eat their (dead) veggies including grain and even nuts.

All of this serves to remind me that there is a lot more life around us daily than we know or even care to think about.  Meal worms living in our flour and cereal were here long before we emerged from caves to create kitchens.

These little creatures live in a world of even smaller creatures, long before we get to bacteria.  These thoughts led me back to viewing the Chaos of Delight photographs of 0.1mm to 2mm mesofauna that live in the soil, a colorful subterranean safari for a cold dark winter day.

Compost Critters

My editor was turning our compost in the backyard bin when she discovered it was full of squiggly creatures.  She identified them as black fly larvae, Hermetia illucens.  While this was a new species to us, it is apparently a very common finding in compost piles that aren't turned frequently.  Not only are they our friends, in many countries they are an industry.

Mating occurs two days after the flies emerge.  The males will have a lekking site where they gather similar to prairie chickens and may attack competing males.  They then fly up to grasp a passing female for copulation.

Home "sweet" home

"The female black soldier fly deposits a mass of about 500 eggs in cracks and crevices near or in decaying matter such as dung, carrion, garbage, and other organic waste. The eggs hatch into larvae in about four days. Each oval shaped egg is about 1 mm in length." UFL Entomology

Final instar 22 mm - head on the left and "you know what" emerging on the right.

Small head with chewing mouthparts

The larva is a pale off white color with a small projecting head equipped with efficient chewing mouth parts.  The larva will gorge constantly over two weeks, splitting out of its skin six times.  The final instar is up to an inch long. When ready to pupate, it will climb out of the moist pile of  manure or decaying matter to find a dry surface.  There the skin (exoskeleton) darkens and a pupa develops within.  Inside it transforms into the fly over two weeks before emerging to repeat the cycle.

Pupa case

Another happy customer!

A very low tech operation can raise livestock food as well as convert animal and vegetation waste into a usable resource.  This 4 minute video shows the full process as done in Malaysia, producing both compost and livestock food seen at the right. One ton of organic waste is converted into over 400 pounds of compost plus 400 pounds of larvae for poultry.  Now that is a lot of chicken food!


This University of Florida Entomology website has a very thorough description of the fly and its life cycle as well as photos of the stages.

Update 5-26-2020
This Black Soldier Fly was on a leaf next to the compost bucket.  Its our baby!

A Different Tortoise

Clump of gravel - Mark Bower

Mark Bower showed his latest find from the bed of the little wet weather first order stream beside the cabin.  These were clusters of fine gravel, glued together like caddisfly cases but in tiny rounded ovals.  The stream flows for a day or two after a rain, trickles along in places before becoming a losing stream, disappearing several hundred yards from Bull Creek.

A village of caddisfly homes

Bottoms up - peeled off the rock

I didn't think this tiny stream could support caddisfly larvae.  Wrong!  Deb Finn immediately identified the photographs as cases of the caddisfly family Glossosomatidae, commonly known as the tortoise or saddle-case makers.  They are distributed around the globe and are "typically are found in fast flowing, cool mountain springs."  This description doesn't fit with the little trickle that depends on the last rain for a little flow but these larvae haven't read Wikipedia.

"Larvae of members of the family Glossosomatidae ... create dome-shaped enclosures of silk which enables them to graze on the periphyton, the biological film that grows on stones and other objects, while carrying their enclosure around like turtles." Wikiwand

Larva on the rocks

Like many other caddisflies, the tortoise larvae make a protective case, bits of gravel held together by silk.  The loose arrangement of the rocks allows water to flow through. Since they get oxygen through their "skin" (cuticle) rather than gills, cool water provides more concentrated oxygen.  Rapid flow and turbulence adds oxygen and they scrape up algae on the rocks for nutrition.

Tubular case of a Pycnopsyche caddisfly larva

Unlike many other caddisflies which make a tubular case that surrounds the larvae,  Glossosomatids make a turtle-shell shaped case of rocks which is open on the under surface and attached to the rock by silk around the edges.  Underneath it makes a sling of secretions which it rides "like a saddle".**

Glossosoma nigrior 4-5mm - RGH

Life may seem slow for the larva (a turtle's pace?) and not very exciting but there is a lot going on.  Each time it outgrows its case it has to build a new one out of bits of gravel.  The tortoises can live like this for months or years before they pupate.  Then they spin a brown, silken cocoon within their rock house.  This video shows one emerging from its abode.

Typical black caddisfly - John and Jane Balaban CC

After about a month they pupate, chew off the silk foundation of their rock house and float to the surface where they will emerge as an adult "fly." Their soft body now hardens (sclerotization) preparing the tortoise for flight.  Most adult species do not feed, flying mainly at night looking for mates.  The adult's common name is little black caddisfly, not a very catchy handle but apparently that doesn't turn off the males.  The female who is lucky in love will end up depositing a gelatinous mass of eggs in or around the water's edge.

Identification by species frequently requires detailed examination of the adult, beyond even the dedicate corps at Bugguide.  We will leave them in their anonymity with this photograph which best demonstrates their common name, tortoise case makers.

"I am a tortoise!  You have a problem with that?" - RGH

June 2020 update:
Some caddisfly species specialize in small streams like ours. This is from MSU's David Bowles whose dissertation included glossosomatids.

"The species in at your place are most likely are Agapetus illini, a species very common to our area. There are two other species of Agapetus known from our area (A. medicus from the Ouachitas, and A. artesus from Maramec Spring). The other glossosomatids in our area are Glossosoma intermedium, which is restricted to large springs, and several species of Protoptila. This latter genus is tiny and they generally prefer larger streams."

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*Thanks to Robert G. Hendricks for the photograph above.  His blog is Aquatic Insects of Central Virginia which is filled with detailed information and photographs.
** Troutnut.com

Horsetail

Critter trails through scouring rush on Bull Creek

This time of year when nature lacks color there is an evergreen that doesn't get much press.  It thrives permanently on several banks along Bull Creek but is easy to overlook.  It doesn't flower, has no seeds or leaves, and stands less than three feet tall.  It is an ancient species and definitely a "horse of a different color."   

Equisetum (horsetail) is as primitive as it looks, a genus of living fossils, the only surviving members of its class named Equisetopsida, members of the fern family.  Their heyday was the Paleozoic Era (360-250 million years ago) when they were the dominant plants.  There were many diverse species filling the under story of the forests, some growing 90 feet tall. Their remains have accumulated in the earth for millions of years, producing our coal beds.
 

Jointed stems of Equisetum - John Hilty at Illinoiswildflowers.info

Our species is Equisetum hyemale, a.k.a. scouring rush, so named because of the silica concentrations in its stem.  Native Americans used it for polishing and settlers scoured pans with it.  Modern day craftsmen still use it for fine polishing and clarinetists use it to polish their reeds.  Like almost any living plant, some have touted Equisetum as a medicinal or a wild food although the descriptions of preparation could also probably be applied to serving sandpaper for supper.  ASPCA sources describe its toxicity in horses.  Fortunately, it is a survivor and is likely to outlast these few uses.  It grows aggressively along the water and is considered an invasive species in South Africa and Australia.

 Multiple lateral cones - John Hilty

Spore-bearing cone - John Hilty

Equisetum reproduces primarily by rhizomes which are more numerous than their stems.  They can work their way down 6 feet into the soil and are therefore resistant to pulling.  They also reproduce sexually like ferns by producing spores from a cone at the tip or sometimes several lateral cones.  Once they release their spores in late spring or early summer the cones drop off, much like vascular plants shed their flowers. 

 Black teeth (leaves) - Illinoiswildflowers

It has another virtue appreciated by children.  You can pull them apart and slip them back together like joints on a fly rod.  Each stem is hollow for two-thirds of its diameter with joints every few inches.  The joints have fine longitudinal ridges and with magnification you can see 15 to 40 tiny black teeth on the upper rim that may break off with age.  These are actually leaves!  The stems contain the chlorophyll that produces it energy.

I find the best website for detailed information on Missouri plants is Illinoiswildflowers.  It also is rich in faunal associations and has great photographs, many of which are available to non-profit organizations like ours through their photo use policy.  A big thanks to webmaster John Hilty and his team.

Native Bees

Osmia aglaia- a metalic carpenter bee

Looking for color on a dreary January day?  I would suggest a digital stroll through the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab.  There is no charge and you won't even have to leave your screen.  I was introduced to this by Dr. Chris Barnhart who sent me a poster with 25 facts about native bees.

The European honeybee, Apis mellifera, gets all the press with its role in pollinating agricultural crops and of course the commercial production of honey.  Say "bees" and we immediately think of colony collapse disorder.  Bee keeping is also a major hobby.  After spreading across Europe and Africa 2-3 million years ago with the Pleistocene warming, they arrived in North America with the European settlers in the early 1600's.

The spread of A. Mellifera has been wonderful but it has caused us to overlook and undervalue all the 4,000 native bee species!  How does that compare to other species in North America?

• 4x more than bird species
• 6x more than butterflies
• 10x more than mammals

Perdita portalis  - USGS Bee Inventory

There are currently 634 species in the genus Perdita.  Some Perdita sp. found in the southwest measure 0.1 inch, smaller than Washington's nose on a quarter.   Many are brightly colored with yellow and white and iridescent metallic shades.  Most collect pollen from only a few specific plants.  All Perdita cannot sting.

Eastern carpenter bee - Xylocopa micans

At the other end of the spectrum there are giant carpenter bees, Xylocopa, which are over an inch long. The Eastern carpenter bee pictured here (X. micans) is a good neighbor, sticking mostly to the wood found in nature including hollow plant stems.  You can provide them shelter with a variety of native bee houses which will also attract potter bees that seal up the cracks and hollows of their individual nests with mud mortar.

The common Eastern carpenter bee, X. virginica is an exception in the carpenter and potter bee families.  It has developed too much familiarity with civilization and sometimes bores into wood of all kinds such as trees, porches, fences, decks, and (Boo!) cedar siding of our houses.  Painting or staining wood siding and repairing cracks discourages them.

Here are some of the facts that you can see in the 25 Slides in this USGA Presentation.

• Native bees don't make honey.....Boooo!
• Many cannot sting you.....Yeah!
• Carpenter bees have the largest insect eggs.
• Vast majority nest in the ground.
• Bees are vegetarian wasps!
• 20% of species don't gather pollen - the cuckoo bees sneak their eggs into other bees' nests and let them raise their young!
• Only 1% of our bees are non-native.
• Males do not help in raising their young.  (My wife says, "So what is new about that?)
• Over 35% collect pollen in only one plant species.
• Most nest only a few meters from their flowers.
• Many native bees pollinate our fruits and vegetables as well as all the other plants ignored by A. mellifera.

None of this is to demean the role of our beloved A. Mellifera, European honeybee.  We just need to recognize the role that all insects have in our world and the need to maintain native habitat to preserve these species.  All native lives matter.

To dive further into native bees I would suggest Bees in Your Backyard by Wilson and Carril.  
Want to "grow" some native bees in your yard?  Try 100 Plants to Feed the Bees.

The Ant and the Lacewing

As I was editing a series of photographs of acrobat ants (Crematogaster sp.) patrolling a stem of Verbesina virginica covered with aphids, I saw a small insect land on my Macbook screen and stay there.  I took several photographs of the screen and to identify it as a green lacewing.

Then as I enlarged the photograph the irony struck!  The lacewing was watching me edit pictures of an ant carrying off a decorated lacewing larva!  I could only imagine its horror in seeing the onscreen carnage of its kin.

Verbesina virginica or white crownbeard is a plant that covers the edges of our fields, filling in the untended areas between the rows of riparian walnut plantings.  Its other common name is frostweed, named for the delicate ice ribbons or "frost flowers" split out from the base of the stem with first winter freezing weather.  This will recur with each freezing night unless a prolonged cold spell freezes the roots.  This topic has led to multiple blogs on the subject, and here comes another one!



Back to the acrobat ants.  They patrol the 3-5 foot tall stems, protecting the aphids that cover the flower heads and upper stem of some of the plants.  Aphids suck out the plant sap and put out a sugary secretion called honeydew and many ant species will literally farm their ants like cattle, protecting them from harm by patrolling up and down the plant.  They get their sugar high from "milking" them in return for the protection.

Green lacewing larva sucking on aphids

Green lacewing larva also love aphids, but more for the "hamburger" than the milk.  Although they will also feed on caterpillars and some beetles, they are called "aphid lions" for good reason.   Grasping the tiny aphids in the tips of their large, curved, hollow mandibles, they suck out the body juices.  Once they become adults they will have chewing mouth parts.  The adults feed mostly on nectar, pollen, and honeydew but with some species the adults will feed on insects. 

Aphids are not only juicy and soft bodied but they usually occur in large numbers.  A lucky lacewing larva who encounters them will start sucking their juices like scattered liquid M and Ms.  This is where the acrobat ants come in.  These are not your gentle vegan ants described above.  The Crematogaster sp.  are predominately arboreal, climbing all over plants and trees, earning the name acrobat.  They are also called cocktail ants for the way they raise their abdomens when alarmed.

According to Wikipedia  "Acrobat ants acquire food largely through predation of other insects, like wasps.^[5] They use venom to stun their prey and a complex trail-laying process to lead comrades to food sources. Like many social insects, they reproduce in nuptial flights and the queen stores sperm as she starts a new nest."  Our specimen above had a tight grip on a larva with helpless mandibles flailing against the ant's thorax.

As a reformed scientist I try to not anthropomorphize or put into human terms the feelings of insects that we think are living at a much less cognizant level.  I suspect the green lacewing up on top was just looking for a place to rest on my laptop screen, but I can't help thinking, "What would it think if it could see the screen?"