All's Right with the World...

   

...when Guests find Hosts!    

Clouded Crimson Moth caterpillars need plants in the Primrose family.

Here is a member of that family, growing in a road ditch. 

Gaura mollis, aka Velvetweed, is
a native annual/biennial that can grow
over six feet tall.

And here is its little "guest!"  

A Clouded Crimson caterpillar
munches on its host plant,
Gaura mollis.

A Clouded Crimson growing larger on Gaura mollis

Buckwheats host Cobra Inchworms:  

Climbing Buckwheat (Fallopia scandens)
hosting a Cobra Inchworm (Timandra
amaturaria) 
August 21, 2020.  Bird Runner 
Wildlife Refuge.

  Paracantha fruit flies need thistles.   

Female fruit fly, Paracantha sp.
on Tall Thistle (Cirsium altissimum)
Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge
August 16, 2020.  

 Female Paracantha preparing to lay eggs on Tall Thistle.

Dogbane moths look for--guess what--Dogbane!  

Cycnia tenera--the Dogbane Tiger Moth--
enjoying his host plant, Indian Hemp
Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum)

Not all guests are well mannered.   The caterpillars of Saucrobotys futilalis, the Dogbane Saucrobotys, can eat their host out of house and home:

Dogbane Saucrobotys Moth caterpillars
on Indian Hemp Dogbane,  stripping
the leaves off the plant, August 4, 2020
Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge

And of course famously, Monarch caterpillars need milkweed:

Monarch larva on Common Milkweed
June 9, 2020.  Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge

Many insects are generalists and can live off of numerous species of plants.   But some are specialists, like the ones above.   If their host plants disappear, so do they.   And if insects disappear, so do birds, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and eventually--us.  Therefore, it's a special thrill to see  insects finding the plants they need.   It means in some ways anyway, all's right with the world!   

All can share in this thrill!  Just plant native plants.  Whether it's milkweed in a window box four stories up, a 1/8 acre plot at a church or school, or thousands of acres of former cropground next to a national park, it will all help to set the world to rights!

 

Neighbors at Night

 While we are asleep and dreaming, these guys are all about!!

Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge

January 2021

Flint Hills of Kansas

Sparrows in Winter on McDowell Creek

Cast: In Order of Appearance   

Song Sparrow (very stripy)

Song Sparrow Having a Bath

White-Crowned Sparrow (mature--black and white crown)

White-Crowned Sparrow (immature--brown and tan crown)

Harris Sparrow (black chin)

Harris Sparrow joined by Immature White-Crowned Sparrow and Both Splash Away

A second Harris Sparrow joins the fun

                    

 

In Praise of Asters!

 Hairy Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum) volunteer lushly in the Creek Field.   They bloom late in the season, providing food for creatures who need nectar and pollen long after other flowers have gone to seed.

Here are some of the butterflies and moths that came to Hairy Asters at the end of 2020:

Butterflies and moths aren't the only pollinators!  Here are some of the other important visitors to Hairy Asters:

Finally there are those who come to dine on the diners--the predators:

Hairy Asters weren't in our seed mix.  They are total volunteers!   Yet nothing could be more important to the food web than Hairy Asters.

Migrating Monarchs

 So many Monarch butterflies on McDowell Creek!   They have been drifting through by the hundreds this week, day after day.  The ones pictured here are newly eclosed--you can see how bright their colors are, how strong and whole their wings.   

The ones in this video are nectaring on Jerusalem Artichoke sunflowers by the creek and then on Maximillian sunflowers in the Creek Field.  

These newly emerged Monarchs have reproductive systems that have not yet matured.  They are not interested in mating but rather in gathering nectar to fuel the long flight ahead.  

They are headed for Mexico!  There they will cluster with thousands of others in a mountain fir forest.   This is where their great-grandparents started out, and they have never been there, but somehow they will find their way to this exact spot.   If they survive the winter, they will mature and head north a few hundred miles, where they will mate, lay eggs, and die.   It's their children who God willing will drift north through McDowell Creek next spring.  

Don't Underestimate the Lowly Thistle!

 The pink/magenta beauty of Tall Thistles (Cirsium altissimum) comes into full force at the end of summer.  Our native Tall Thistles should not be confused with non-native, noxious weeds, such as Musk Thistle.  Tall Thistles contribute energetically to the prairie ecosystem.   With their lavish production of nectar and pollen, they attract hungry visitors--hummingbirds, bees, moths, and butterflies:

Some insects specialize in thistles, such as the gorgeous Paracantha flies.   Here several members of the fruit-fly family meet and greet on Tall Thistles.   You can see some pairing up for the famous fruit-fly courting ritual, which involves "kissing": 

Mama Paracantha chooses a thistle bud and seeks out the parts that are at just the right stage to host her eggs.   When her young ones hatch, they will be surrounded by thistle blossom--the very food they need:  

Never disparage native thistles.   Plant them!   Ecologically, they are a treasure.

Prairie Walkingstick--but don't try to walk with it!

Prairie Walkingstick (Diapheromera velii),
probably female,  as males have a spine
on the femora of the 2nd & 3rd pairs of legs.   

September is a great month for Walking Sticks and Praying Mantises.

Here's a Prairie Walkingstick (Diapheromera velii), clinging to the back door.    

This mild-mannered plant-eater looks so delicate compared to the carnivorous praying mantis clinging to the screen (pictured below).  

Notice the mantis's huge front legs, just made for grabbing--something the vegetarian Walking Stick does not need.   

  Check out those "arms!"

Carolina Mantid (Stagmomantis carolina) perched on a
window screen.  He is probably a male, as females do not have such
long & fully developed wings.