A Botanical Year in the Ozarks

During the month of October 2015, Linda Ellis from our Master Naturalist chapter will be showing A Botanical Year in the Ozarks  at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center.  It will display 25 of her botanical watercolors with vignettes of the Ozarks native plants.  The species she has chosen span the Missouri growing season.

Linda has been a botanical illustrator since the early 1980s and has drawn for Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Botanical Garden, the U. S. Forest Service, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and University of Arkansas. She specializes in illustrations of new plant species which can be seen on her web site at www.lindasellis.com.

One of the watercolors is the royal catchfly (Silene regia) above.  It is a very showy prairie plant in the carnation family which gets its name from the heavy coat of sticky, glandular hairs which can trap insects.

Black Blister Beetle

Black blister beetle on goldenrod - REK

The black blister beetles, Epicauta pennsylvanica are back for their annual attack on the goldenrod in our warm season grass field.  They are competing for space with the Pennsylvania leatherwings as well as a variety of small bees.  They generally emerge in August in Missouri, gathering on goldenrods and asters where they eat the leaves and especially the flowers and pollen.

Larva and Pupa UCR.edu

Females lay their eggs in the soil and the long legged larvae emerge to search soil cracks for grasshopper egg masses.  They gobble up the underground omelet and then go through seven larval stages (instars) each with diminishing legs before turning into an immobile legless grub for the winter.  They will pupate the following summer before emerging as an adult beetle.  Large populations usually means an abundant grasshopper population the previous year.

There are 7,500 species of blister beetles world wide.  The "blister" in their name comes from their ability to excrete cantharidin from their joints when attacked.  While discouraging some predators, there are some bugs, beetles and flies that are immune to the toxin and will eat the blister beetle, dead or alive, acquiring the toxin for their own protection.  They are called "cantharidinophilous insects," but only on rare occasions by the most serious of entomologists.

Fortunately it was on the flower head and not the hand. - REK

Cantharidin can cause blisters on human skin when a beetle is handled.  It is a potent toxin if ingested in small amounts, with only 10 mg considered a lethal dose in humans comparable to cyanide and strychnine.  Horses occasionally die from eating feed contaminated with the beetles.  Extracts of cantharidin are used by dermatologists in dilute solutions to treat warts.  In the past it had several other medical uses including drawing out "toxins," a treatment applied to the neck of George Washington as he lay dying of a respiratory infection.

The male blister beetle has high levels of cantharidin in its blood and passes some to the female which makes it into her eggs.  This "sperm gift" doesn't sound very romantic but it is apparently effective as we have lots of beetles this year.
Detail at Cirrusimage.com

Milkweed Leaf Beetle

Southern Milkweed Leaf Beetle - Labidomera clivicollis - REK

While collecting wildflower seeds for the WOLF school, Barb spotted Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed planted nearby.  When the students came out to see them they discovered a variety of orange and black insects including these colorful beetles which look like lady beetles with a bad paint job.  They are actually Southern Milkweed Leaf Beetles, Labidomera clivicollis.

Adults and larvae feed exclusively on the milkweed family, Asclepiadaceae.  Milkweed contains a toxin that they will consume, serving to partially protect them from predators.  Even these beetles can take only so much toxin, so they will frequently cut the veins to reduce the sticky latex sap flow to the outer leaf they intend to feed on.


After mating, the females lay eggs on the underside of the milkweed leaves, attaching them with their own brand of glue.  The larvae will feed on the leaves, progressing through 4 instars before dropping to the ground to pupate.  The adults overwinter among the leaf litter before meeting at the nearest milkweed to mate in the spring.

Color variations of L. clivicollis - Photo by  Mike Quinn CC

L. clivicollis can display a wide variation in color shades of the basic orange and black.  A variety of insects with this coloration form what is called the "milkweed mimicry complex".  All of these species have evolved mechanisms to avoid the toxic effects of cardenolides while retaining them in their body fluids for protection.  The most famous example is the Monarch butterfly but the other species below also have developed this trick of metabolism.  

The shared warning coloration is called Müllerian mimicry, announcing that "I will make you sick like the others colored like me."  Examples include the Small and Large Milkweed Bugs, Milkweed Tussock Moth, Milkweed Assassin Bug and even the Milkweed Aphid.   A few other insects like the Viceroy butterfly benefit from the coloration without the toxins, called Batesian mimicry.

Milkweed Assassin Bug - peppersnack

Milkweed Beetle - Tetraopes tetraopthalmia -REK

Large Milkweed Bug - REK

Small Milkweed Bug - REK

Ready to from chrysalis

Milkweed Aphids -  REK

None of these cause significant competition for the Monarch caterpillar above whose main challenge is finding milkweed in the face of our monoculture agriculture which tends to crowd out native species.  The plants at the WOLF school made its coming transition possible.

You can do your part by planting milkweed and enjoying this colorful food web just outside your door.

Momma with no Papa?

Yellow-bellied water snake -
This 2015 photo provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation shows a female yellow-bellied water snake at the Cape Girardeau, Mo., Conservation Nature Center that for the second time in two years has given birth without any help from a male member of the species, conservationists say. The offspring did not survive this summer, but they did in 2014. It is believed to be the first documented cases in the species of parthenogenesis, or asexual reproduction. (Candice Davis/Missouri Department of Conservation via AP)

ST. LOUIS, MO --

For the second time in two years, a captive snake in southeast Missouri has given birth without any interaction with a member of the opposite sex.

Officials at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center say a female yellow-bellied water snake reproduced on her own in 2014 and again this summer. The snake has been living in captivity, without a male companion, for nearly eight years. An intern who cares for the snake found the freshly laid membranes in July.

This year's offspring didn't survive, but the two born last summer are on display at the nature center, about 100 miles south of St. Louis.

Conservation Department herpetologist Jeff Briggler said virgin births are rare but can occur in some species through a process called parthenogenesis. It occurs in some insects, fish, amphibians, birds and reptiles, including some snakes, but not mammals.

Parthenogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which offspring develop from unfertilized eggs, meaning there is no genetic contribution by a male. It's caused when cells known as polar bodies, which are produced with an animal's egg and usually die, behave like sperm and fuse with the egg, triggering cell division.

The conservation department said there are no other documented cases of parthenogenesis by a yellow-bellied water snake. Like other water snakes, this species gives birth to live young rather than eggs that hatch.

Robert Powell, a biology professor and snake expert at Avila University in Kansas City, said the Brahminy blind snake - a small burrowing animal native to southeast Asia commonly known as the flowerpot snake - has long been the only known snake that routinely reproduces without a male's contribution.

In the Missouri case, it's possible - but unlikely - that momma snake simply stored sperm from her time in the wild. But Michelle Randecker, a naturalist at the center, said eight years is too long. Powell agreed, saying a female snake usually can't store sperm for longer than a year, although there are accounts of successful storage as long as three years.

"Long-term storage is unusual. When you run into situations like this, you always wonder, 'Is that a possibility?'" he said. "If nothing else, it's an interesting phenomena. Whether this is long-term storage or parthenogenesis, it's cool. Just another sign that nature works in mysterious ways."

A.J. Hendershott, outreach and education regional supervisor for the conservation department, said there was some pride in having the first snake of its species reproduce through parthenogenesis.

"This is the way you make discoveries when you keep things in captivity," Hendershott said. "You learn things about what they're capable of."

Reprinted from the Springfield News-Leader, 9, 18,2015. 

The Yellow-bellied water snake, Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster, is found in Southeastern Missouri and along the Mississippi flood plain.  Details from MDC.

Eastern Red Bat

Like a leaf in the wind - Richard Hermann

From Richard Hermann, Springfield MN

"While taking a stroll past my pecan tree, a dead leaf caught my attention.  Upon closer scrutiny, it was not a dead leaf but a bat!  I took pictures and sent them to MDC.  It was identified as an Eastern Red Bat."

"Look Ma, one hand!" -  Anita Gould- CC

The Eastern Red Bat, Lasiurus borealis, is considered one of the most beautiful bats in North America.  Its dense rusty red fur may be tipped with white, giving it a frosted appearance.  The thick fur extends over its rounded ears.

Unlike many of our common bats, L. borealis hangs out in the forests and woodlands, roosting on branches among the leaves.  It usually hangs by one foot swinging in the breeze like a dead leaf as Richard described.  This helps it avoid predators during vulnerable times, especially when it is a female loaded with babies.  They usually have 2-4 babies which they nurse for 3-6 weeks until they are furred and take wing.

Patient mother and babies - Josh Henderson CC

They are common in the eastern US, a solitary bat until it begins migration southward in groups in the fall.  In southern regions some individuals may hibernate in hollow logs but rarely if ever in caves.  "They forage on a wide variety of insects including moths, flies, true bugs, beetles, cicadas, and even ground-dwelling crickets that are snapped up from the forest floor.  Females give birth to one to four pups during late May and early June."  eku.edu

Back to Richard:
"I often see bats flying above me but never have been able to take it up a notch to identify them.  My door to nature opened just a little more to the good-natured neighbors I share my farm with on dark evenings."

Birder to Moth-er

Black Witch moth - Jill Hays

Jill Hays is in our latest Master Naturalist training class and sent me this picture which she identified as a Black Witch, Ascalapha odorata.  Here is her story:

"Wednesday morning when I was on my way out to see neotropical migrants I opened the garage door and this moth flew in and landed on the wall! How cool!

I am an addicted birder and I think moths and others are calling me as well! I have some friends from St. Louis who came down this summer and set up a light and sheet to see and photograph moths at Steve and Debbie Martin's property. We were up until almost 3:00 am before we realized it, looking at all the moths. It was fabulous!"

Birders frequently become a mothers, which I will spell moth-ers to avoid a fear of pregnancy.  The ability to identify moths by shape and color comes naturally to birders and they don't have to learn the calls or songs.  Mothing is cheap, comparing a light and a sheet, or even just a porch light to the cost of binoculars and gas to drive around looking for birds.

The Black Witch is a particularly fascinating species.  It is a tropical species from Central America and the Caribbean that migrates in the summer northward as far as Canada.  It is reported throughout the US and Canada although it is rare in most locales.  The host plants for its caterpillars are in the legume (pea) family including our Kentucky Coffeetree.

In its native southern range it has a fearsome reputation in the local folklore.  It is considered a harbinger of death in Central America with many frightening local common names associated with death and dying.  In portions of Mexico, if one flies over your head, you will lose your hair!  When it gets to southern Texas, if it lands in your house you will supposedly win the lottery.  A garage in Missouri?  You get to start your own legend, maybe a new ATV?

Ailanthus moth - Jon Rapp

Moths are cool and under appreciated. Many of the tiny moths are nocturnal but will come to the deck light and remain for a while in the morning. Their beautiful colors are easy to overlook before the sun comes out, then they disappear, hiding in the daytime. One of my favorites which I commonly find by our deck light is the tiny Ailanthus moth, Atteva aurea.  This native of Florida developed a taste for Ailanthus, the "Tree of Heaven", an Asian invasive species, and the moth is now wide spread in the US.

Rapp at work - Click to enlarge

Jon and Nancy Rapp, friends from Columbia, came for a weekend at Bull Mills. He is a dedicated photographer and he collected over 70 species in these images in just one rainy night, huddled under our deck with just a light and a sheet. Most were tiny and dull at first glance.

Keep your eyes open and you too can become a moth-er. You can find moths almost anywhere, including at our swimming hole.

Polyphemus hanging out on the creek- REK

More on the Black Witch is at this website.