Winter Plums, Winter Wildlife: Part 3 (Vines and Other Pals)

Plums provide sturdy structures used by vines, lichen, and fungi. 

Winter reveals their presence!  

Here are the spiny pods of Wild Cucumber (Echinocystis lobata), a native annual: 

And here is Ivyleaf Morningglory (Ipomoea hederacea), an annual recently arrived from southern climes:

The hairiness is striking!

  

This one shocked me, when I saw it high up in the American Plums:

I was afraid it was Black Swallowwort, an invasive vining milkweed, native to Europe, hard to eradicate.   

But a close examination of the withered leaves showed it was Honeyvine Milkweed (Cynanchum laeve), a native milkweed, beloved of pollinators.  This perennial is related to the invader, as both are in the same genus. (Black Swallowwort is C. louiseae.)  We just have to hope Honeyvine Milkweed tells its European cousin to stay home! 

Here is Climbing False Buckwheat, aka  Polygonum scandens, a native perennial:

Aren't the seeds beautiful?

 And here are at least three kinds of Lichen:



The lichen are lively, despite the cold.  While plants are dormant, the fungi are creating reproductive structures (those hollow "tubes").  

Finally, here are Shelf Fungi, attached to a plum:

It's not what you know, it's who you know.  
Like vines and lichen, fungi attach themselves to plums, becoming bosom buddies.    

Indeed, otherwise lowly creatures are able to rise up in the world, thanks to plums.   
(All photos are by Margy Stewart and were taken in the Creek Field at Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge., late December 2019.)

Wildlife on Ice!

The cold weather setting in now reminds me of last year's frozen time--right around the new year, when the creek froze over.

Our trail cam caught a few wild creatures negotiating the ice.  Some were more sure-footed than others!

Wildlife on McDowell Creek during the Drought Summer of 2018

McDowell Creek was low and thin during the drought this past summer--but it was still there, still a source of life for so many creatures, as shown by this collage from our trail cam.  

Wildlife has always used the creek as a corridor but this summer it was especially important as a source of food, drink, and refreshment.  

Bless our upstream neighbors--Al, Jeff, and Brad--who manage their land for water quality, among other things.  Our stretch of McDowell Creek is cleaner and more wildlife-friendly because of them!

Cattail Caterpillars on Indian Grass in January

Acronicta insularis, Cattail Caterpillar,
larva of the Cattail Moth.  The larvae do
eat grasses as well as cattails.

 It was a strange sight to find Cattail Caterpillars on the dry stems of Indian Grass during my walk in the Creek Field in the early evening of January 6, 2020.  I spotted at least a dozen and used a flash to get a photo of one.

I went back the next morning to get photos by daylight.   
  


I found one resting on--what?  The sheath of the grass leaf?  Webbing?  A combination of the two?















I found another just emerging from between the sheath and the stem.




Except it wasn't "emerging."  



My first thought--that these healthy-looking caterpillars were alive--was just plain wrong.  When I posted the photos to bugguide.net, I received this reply:

These are all cadavers of Acronicta insularis, having been mined out some time ago (late summer or fall?) by the parasitoid mummy wasp Aleiodes stigmator (which has since eclosed, the exit holes not so obvious in your photos).  

Well, now I didn't have to worry about what they were going to eat. 

But if they had been parasitized by wasps, where were the exit holes?

I took several home where I could magnify the little "mummies."

I looked at them from different angles.

From the top:

                                                    

                                            From the side:

                                 
  From the side of the head:

I couldn't find anything that looked like exit holes.  So then I started wondering what else could have killed these caterpillars.     

However, a Google search for Aleiodes stigmator turned up a publication that brought me right back to the wasp track:

ALEIODES WASPS OF EASTERN FORESTS: A GUIDE TO PARASITOIDS AND ASSOCIATED MUMMIFIED CATERPILLARS 

Scott R. Shaw 

Professor of Entomology and Curator, University of Wyoming Insect Museum Department of Renewable Resources (3354) 

University of Wyoming 1000 East University Avenue Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA

This paper explained that the absence of exit holes probably means that the wasp larvae are still inside, as some wasps overwinter inside their mummies.    Dr. Shaw's essay recommended keeping the mummified caterpillars in a closed container at outside temperatures in a shed or garage and photographing the wasps when they do emerge.   

I had better follow his instructions immediately--lest the wasps hatch from the mummies lying on my desk and fly around the house! 

Many thanks to bugguide.net and to Dr. Shaw and all the experts who share their knowledge so generously and help people like me learn more about the invertebrates in our neighborhoods!   

Red Admirals: A Burst on McDowell Creek

So many Red Admirals in early spring here on McDowell Creek!   They were all over the apricot blossoms in late March/early April--and then all over the wild plum blossoms in mid-April.  

A Red Admiral enjoys the profuse blossoms
of a wild plum on April 15, 2019.
Riparian Buffer, Creek Field
Prairie Restoration, McDowell Creek

A Red Admiral rests on an elm trunk next to the apricot tree where
he and his species mates are nectaring.  Back yard orchard, 
McDowell Creek, April 8, 2019.


They did a good job of pollinating, because by the beginning of May the trees and shrubs were loaded with starter-fruit.

A Red Admiral nectars on Wild Plum on
April 15, 2019.  

And nettles were coming on strong too, providing lots of places for Red Admirals to lay their eggs and food plants for new Red Admiral caterpillars.

But then a hail storm came through on May 6, 2019, knocked most of the fruit to the ground, and flattened the new nettles against the earth.    

A few apricots and plums still cling to branches here and there.   Let's hope a few nettle plants will spring back up and some Red Admiral eggs and caterpillars will survive and grow.  

Shield Bugs on Common Buckeye

Shield Bugs on Buckeye
Riparian Buffer, McDowell Creek
Creek Field Prairie Restoration
April 15, 2019

 We have many Western Buckeye trees along McDowell Creek, on the edge of our Creek Field prairie restoration.  This spring, every cluster of Buckeye buds had a Shield Bug on it!   The wild plums, the Golden Currants, and the choke cherries were also budding, but no Shields for them!  This year these bugs were Buckeye lovers.   

Nice Shield!

Shield Bugs are also called "Stink Bugs"--but what an insulting name.  I didn't notice an aroma--the spring air was sweet all around--but I did notice their impressive "armor."  "Shield"--a much nicer name.    Their family is Pentatomidae, a division of True Bugs.  

Add caption

Buckeye Bistro--a great place to meet someone!   More Shield Bugs may be arriving soon....

Next year--will we see Shield Bugs on Buckeye again?  Or will any tree or wildflower do?  Why are they just on Buckeye this year?

Bugguide.net tells me spring is when Shield Bugs hatch and form larval aggregations.   Yet here on April 15, they were already into their adult forms and adult behavior.   So did these adults overwinter on Western Buckeyes?  Or were they early hatching eggs just a few weeks before?

Winter Visitors at Bird Runner!

We were so pleased to host artist Zhang Hongtu and videographer Fang Xin at Bird Runner in February! Winter storms came to greet them as well, along with Bobcat, Night Coyote, Raccoon, Deer, Rabbit, and Day Coyote.

               Bird Runner Trail Camera, West Side
                                   Looking West
                                  February 2019