I Like Galls

I enjoy tree galls.  Maybe it is their diversity of colors and shapes.  Maybe it is the mysterious way an insect's egg makes the tree produce the foreign nutrients and structures necessary to sustain their larva.
Frankly, I think part of it is their names.  I can't remember wildflower names, especially when there are multiple flowers with the same common name.  For instance, there are many plants called White Snakeroot.  This might seem to be a small annoyance, but not if it is White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima).   Drinking milk or eating meat from a cow which has been eating it can cause Milk Sickness, described in Wikipedia as the cause of Abraham Lincoln's mother's death.  It would be important to differentiate it from Snakeroot, White, Eupatorium rugosum, which is also poisonous.
For this reason, we rely on Latin genus and species names to keep them straight.  My memory of a year of high school Latin is of a tiny elderly lady teacher who cried when she saw someone had penciled in crossed eyes on her marble bust of Julius Caesar.   I do recall "e pluribus unum" which I believe translates to "lets all have a beer."  I think that the yellow composites should be named Gollithayall lukalika. 
Galls, on the other hand, have names that a guy can love.  Oak apple gall.  Cherry leaf gall.  Oak stem gall.  Oak apple rust gall.  These are guy names- short, simple English, descriptive and you can move on to "How about them Cubs."  (Editor's note: The writer is being sexist, as happens sometimes.  Gals love these names too.)
The Cherry leaf gall pictured above is a beautiful bright addition to the leaves.  It is caused by a Eriophyidae gall mite.  The gall mites are microscopic creatures, looking like a worm with two pair of legs.  The effect on the tree is cosmetic.  None of us are likely to see a gall mite but their effects can be seen on a number of plants.  A coconut gall mite in the same species can destroy up to 90% of coconut production in infested areas.
To see a wide variety of galls, check out http://www.hainaultforest.co.uk/3Oak%20galls.htm

Turkeys Gone Wild- Part I

I was attacked by a turkey while vacationing in Turkey.  Yes, I know that turkeys are native to North America.  No, I don't know how they got a large gobbler to their rural restaurant.  But I do recall how he ran at me, flew up several times with his spurs extended and chased me for 50 feet.  Now that was an invasive species!
Each year there are more news stories about aggressive turkey encounters with humans. This time of year is mating season and gobblers get very jealous of any one who seems to be a threat to their masculinity.   They try to establish dominance toward humans as well as other gobblers, using bluffs and outright fighting tactics.  In addition to a bad attitude, they have spurs which are sharpened by dragging them on the ground.
Turkeys have a pecking order, and if they are accustomed to humans they may treat you like another turkey.    The best defense according to the Illinois Extension is to be more dominant by making noise, waving your arms, and chasing them with a broom or an umbrella.  Running like I did is not considered the best approach, although it seemed like a very good idea at the time.  Next time I will carry my umbrella everywhere. (Editor's note:  I'm certain he won't be carrying a broom.)
USA Today just ran an amusing story on "turkeys gone wild."   It describes turkeys discovered in a house and a business, entering after they broke out a window.  Not being the sharpest fowl in the bird world, they have no sense of self, and attack their reflection in the window.  Weighing in at over 100 times the weight of the cardinal that routinely hammers our window, it is no surprise that they end up "breaking and entering".
I guess their attitude toward us is to be expected as we do have seasons dedicated to hunting them.  This raises a final question.  If turkeys are so slow and stupid, why do so many intelligent people who go into the woods in full camouflage, armed to the teeth, come back home empty handed?
More information is at the Minnesota Extension.
Stay tuned for Part II.

Information on handling an aggressive turkey is found here.

Cedar Apple Rust Gall

When I arrived home Sunday night, my neighbor Harry came over, anxious to once again play "Stump the Master Naturalist"  Another neighbor's cedar tree was covered with 40+ bright orange growths, visible from across the street.  As usual, Harry had done his homework.  Fortunately, I knew this one.

A spring rain, like in the last few, days typically produces the Cedar Apple Rust Gall.  In Missouri they are commonly seen on our Eastern Red "Cedar" trees (actually a Juniper-  Juniperus virginiana - there are no native cedars in North America.)  Unlike many other galls, these are due to a fungus infection which are caused by the fungus called, appropriately enough,  Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae.

Rust gall in first year

The two year life cycle of this fungus is complex, requiring it to attack cedar one year, apples the next and them back to cedars.  On the red cedar they form perennial galls on twigs that mature in two years.  When spring rains hit as we have seen this week, the pits of the gall swell and extrude multiple bright orange jelly-like horns.  They occasionally can cause significant damage to the junipers.  The spores these galls produce can only infect trees of the rose family, which include apple trees. 

When they spread to apple or crab apple trees, the leaves develop yellow spots.  If there are heavy rains such as this week, the leaves and buds can be severely attacked, affecting the health and production of the tree.  With dry weather, the tree may lose most of its leaves.  Later in the summer the leaves produce rust-colored spores that infect only a juniper host, completing the cycle.

See the Missouri Botanical Garden site for treatment options.
A more complete description including a graphic demonstration of the fungal life cycle is at this Wikipedia Site.

Rocky Barrens in the Rain

Mike Skinner of MDC graciously offered to lead a field trip to Rocky Barrens CA to look at the Missouri Bladderpod.  Glades were described in our training as a dry, rocky, desert-like environment.  Well, one out of three ain't bad.
Mike knows everything there is to know about glades and glade plants and fauna, but is not so strong in weather forecasting.  We all were expecting to cut the trip short because of the drizzle with intermittent rain, but the trip was so enjoyable we continued for over 2 hours.

It has been a bad year for seeing Bladderpod, with only 2 dozen found last weekend and two this trip.  The petals close up tight on cold cloudy days, an option that I envied as I dripped water while photographing them.  Mort, being smarter than I, remained zipped up and asked for a copy of the picture when I got home.  In 1835, Elias Barcroft, a government land surveyor, described the land as "rocky, barren, covered with limestone bedrock and unfit for cultivation", thus unknowingly naming the future CA.  Our own Merrill Dubach lived nearby around 1994, and found Missouri Bladderpod on the glade after seeing a picture of it in the Missouri Conservationist.  It is an endangered species, occuring in only 4 counties in Missouri

One of the highlights was finding two different aromatic sumac bushes.  Rhus aromatica var. aromatica on the right, and Rhus Aromatica var. serotina bloom at different times, so finding them  side by side in the same picture was a special treat.  More Rhus aromatica  pictures are at Missouri Plants.

While Bladderpod was the mission, we covered the history of the CA and surveying in the 1800's, glade plants, and why Mike believes you shouldn't reach under a rock in scorpion country.  Oh, and we learned a little bit about meteorology- always check the radar before getting dressed.

We found Tharp's Spiderwort on top of the glade.  Called the short stem Spiderwort, it is typically found in rocky prairies, open woodlands and glades in unglaciated prairie areas in six counties in the southwestern corner of the state.  When the spiderwort stems are cut, a viscous stem secretion is released which becomes thread-like and silky upon hardening (like a spider's web), hence the common name.  
This MDC site has good information on the Missouri Bladderpod.  Go to this site for Rocky Barrens Information.  And be sure to visit Rocky Barrens with Mike on a nice sunny spring day.
Survivors were Marlyss Simmons, Jennifer Ailor, Mort Shurtz, Barb and myself.

Tent Caterpillars

When we see a web like this in the crotch of a tree, we attack it with a stick to destroy the nest before the caterpillars strip the leaves from the tree.  After learning about the Eastern Tent Caterpillar's family life, I will always think twice (and then usually go ahead with the attack.)
Life started for this tent from the mass of eggs which were tightly glued to a small stem on this small wild plum tree.  Tent caterpillar host trees are in the Prunus (cherry, plum, peach, apricot, almond) and Malus (apple) family.  Eggs over winter in this hard wad and the larvae chew their way out as the trees bud out in the spring.
Since it was in a grove of multiple small plum trees near the house, I decided to watch the caterpillars develop.  The web was only two inches long at the start and there was no apparent activity.   The web grew daily as the leaves of the plum diminished.  There were now signs of caterpillars crawling over the web surface most of the day.

The Eastern Tent Caterpillar is the most social of the Missouri caterpillars.  Typically they move out to feed three times a day- before dawn, mid-afternoon and after sunset.  They leave a pheromone trail between the feeding site and the tent. When a caterpillar discovers a particularly good site, it leaves a stronger trail, sometimes recruiting the whole colony.
Although they would appear to be sitting ducks for predators, they have their defenses.  When attacked by a parasitic insect attempting to lay its eggs on a caterpillar, it starts thrashing about, followed rapidly by the whole colony, creating a confusing target.  Caterpillars feeding on cherry leaves acquire cyanide from them which they can regurgitate on predators.  Needless to say, few birds (except for the cuckoo) acquire a taste for them.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about them is their construction skills.  They daily crawl over the tent surface, laying down silk as they go.  As the silk dries, it shortens and pulls away from the underlying layer, creating a space.  A large tent is made up of multiple concentric layers which they can enter.  They are able to control their temperature this way.  A colony huddled together in the center of the web during a freeze emits metabolic heat and can maintain a temperature of 70-80 F.
The last of the six instars leaves its siblings to develop a cocoon on the ground.  The moth that emerges is ordinary.  Its only claim to fame is a faint resemblance to a gypsy moth.
Most of the trees which are denuded of leaves will leaf out again in a few weeks with no permanent harm.  For that reason, I could easily let all of them alone to complete my life cycle, except for one thing.  My wife will still rip down their tent with her accustomed violence.
Another view of the life of a different species of caterpillar is in this utterly fascinating 5 minute Video  of the life of a caterpillar which is parasitized by multiple wasp larvae.  Fantastic footage, so don't miss it, but don't watch it during dinner.
A good source of information is at the Henderson State site.
Trivia:  Ingestion of these caterpillars by horses can cause 
Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome'

Stone Fly

I had one of the creatures pictured here land on my lap last week.  When I tried to catch it, it ran away each time, and its only attempt to fly was an awkward flight of a few inches to my other leg.  Its shape and the distinctive antenna-like cerci sticking out from behind its abdomen defined it as a stonefly.   I had seen them as larva (nymphs) when working on stream teams, but never as adults.
They are sometimes referred to as winter stone flies as the adults are usually seen between winter and June.  The escape strategy it had employed is typical of these weak fliers which would rather run,  flying only inches away when forced.  They spend much of their adult life crawling around on stones in fresh water.  The females carry hundreds or even thousands of eggs in a ball which they then deposit in the water.
The adult only lives a few weeks and many don't have a even have a digestive system.  They live as adults only long enough to breed.
The nymphs may live in the stream for 1 to 4 years, going through 11 to 30+ molts before achieving maturity and taking to land.  They require well oxygenated water to survive, so finding them in a stream assessment is a sign of good quality water.
I couldn't find any source for identifying genus and species but the Wikipedia Article is a good resource for their life cycle.  There is a lot of geographical information and references at USGS Stoneflies of the United States.  Bugguide has more than enough photographs to satisfy anyone.

WOLF School

Our Master Naturalists have had three opportunities in the last week to make presentations to WOLF school students.
The name WOLF is perfect for the students who have a voracious appetite for wildlife information and already have answers to many of the questions we put before them.  Our group has made presentations on Native Americans and the Bison, Invasive Species, and The History of Southwest  Missouri before 1833, which relates the changes to the land as humans moved in.  Butterfly Life Cycle is scheduled next.
In a nutshell, the Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility (WOLF) is an innovative Springfield Public Schools program that accommodates two classes of 5th grade students.  Two WOLF teachers instruct students in the same core curriculum as other Springfield 5th graders. The difference is that all subjects are taught in the context of nature and conservation education.
Students attend WOLF each day school is in session. Their physical classroom is at the Wonders of Wildlife Educational Center, 720 W. Sunshine. However, they spend a substantial amount of time engaged in hands-on inquiry “in the field,” including the Wonders of Wildlife museum and field trips into the outdoors.  You can find a lot more information and pictures at the WOLF School web site.