Archives

DRAGONFLIES ARE BIG EATERS

Jun5

       Dragonflies are among the most voracious predators in the entire animal kingdom.  In an effort to satisfy their appetites they capture and devour a wide range of prey animals including bees, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies and other flying insects.

       The insatiable appetites of some species of dragonflies are legendary.  For example, a single dragonfly can eat literally hundreds of mosquitoes in a single day. 

       A scientist once tried to see if he could determine how many houseflies it would take to satisfy the hunger of dragonfly.  He held a dragonfly in place by tying down its wings.  He then proceeded to feed it houseflies one at a time.  Several hours later, the researcher gave up when the dragonfly showed no signs of having eaten its fill!

       Hmmm, this sounds like all homeowners should rejoice when the see dragonflies patrolling their backyards.

EVIDENCE 13-YEAR CIDADAS HAVE BEEN HERE

May26

      For some of us, the appearance of the XIX brood of 13-year cicadas is just about over.  I am now hearing just a few males singing.  Yesterday while mowing the lawn, I saw only three.  However, I am finding cicada wings and bodies scattered everywhere.  My wife Donna spotted something I overlooked.  She noticed that the leaves on the tips of several branches on a small oak tree growing in our front yard had turned brown.

       This was a clear indication that cicadas had successfully mated and deposited their eggs in those now displaying dead leaves.  This is because after mating, female 13-year cicadas lay their rice-shaped eggs in the very tips of branches.  In some cases, this causes the leaves to die.  However, this is rarely a detriment to the tree. Once the eggs hatch, cicada nymphs topple to the ground and burrow into the soil that will be their home for the next 13 years.

Dead leaves on oak tree; Photo credit: Donna Johnson

BACKYARD SECRET – RECIPES FOR FOLKS THAT EAT CICADAS

May12

      If you live within the range of the XIX brood of the 13-year cicada, during the past few weeks one of your main topics of conversation has been the emergence of literally millions of these large, noisy insects.  During this time, I am sure one topic has been, “do people eat cicadas?”  The answer is a resounding yes!

       If you have been a little too squeamish to try one yourself, perhaps it is because you do not know how to properly prepare them.  If this is indeed the case, the University of Georgia’s Department of Food Science and Technology has posted a wealth of information regarding how you can cook mouth-watering dishes using cicadas, their nutritive value, and much more. 

       If you are willing to expand your dining experiences to include cicadas, you owe it to yourself to check it out.  Keep in mind, if you don’t eat one of these odd insects this year, you will have to wait 13 years before you can pop one into your mouth.

       Here is the UGA link.  https://site.extension.uga.edu/foodscienceandtechnology/add-a-little-crunch-to-your-diet-with-cicadas-how-to-harvest-store-and-prepare-food-from-brood-xix-emergence-in-georgia/

 

 

13-YEAR CICADAS ARE NOW EMERGING IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF GEORGIA

Apr24

       For the next 4-6 weeks, the sounds and sights of 13-year cicadas will dominate many backyards throughout the northern half of Georgia; this is particularly true if you live near a hardwood forest. These insects are members of Brood XIX.

       During this time as soon as soon as you step outside you are likely to hear a sound that could easily pass for the sounds made by aliens in a science fiction movie.  The males generate these calls. They are so loud, and high-pitched they can reach noise levels of 90-100 decibels. Some say they are as high as the sound levels reached by a jet taking off, or rock concerts.  Although these deafening calls may seem like noise to us, to a female cicada they are love songs.

       These insects are named 13-year cicadas because they emerge every 13 years.  During the rest of their lives, they live beneath the surface on the ground burrowing, eating and growing.

       During the year they are scheduled to leave their subterranean home, they begin emerging when the soil temperature reaches 64º F.  Their exit holes are about ½-inch in diameter.  Sometimes they feature an earth turret.

       Once they reach the surface of the ground, they seek vertical structures.  This may be a tree, building, shrub, vine, or garden tool. Once they have found the right place they climb upward and shed their skin (exoskeleton) for the final time.  It is fascinating to watch one break free from its tough outer covering.  It somehow fits its entire body through a tiny slit located behind its head.

       When it breaks free, it is now white and features eyes that look like tiny rubies.  The insects must then wait 4-6 days before they are ready to fly.  During this time, they change color.  Their head and body become black and its transparent wings will be fringed in orange.

       After mating, the males die. The females die after they have laid their eggs on tree branches.  Upon hatching, the nymphs fall to the ground and burrow into the soil. They will subsequently not see the light of day for 13 years.

       While the adults are flying about they are eaten by a wide variety of wildlife including squirrels, moles, foxes, spiders, turtles, tanagers, wild turkeys, grackles, robins, woodpeckers and blue jays.

       Fortunately, the 13-year cicadas are not poisonous, nor do they bite or sting.  In addition, they rarely cause damage to the trees on which they lay their eggs. However, it is possible for them to damage young trees.  This can be prevented by draping netting over the saplings.

       The emergence of the 13-year cicada is one of Mother Nature’s strangest events. Throughout the range of Brood XIX, literally trillions of cicadas will emerge this year.  It is estimated that in some places their numbers will reach a million or more per acre. Dr. James Larsen, an entomologist and assistant professor at the University of Kentucky describes this amazing event as, “the most macabre Mardi Gras that you’ve ever seen.”

       If you would like to see if the XIX brood’s known range includes your county, download the free app called Cicada Safari.  If you find that it has not yet been recorded there, you can document the occurrence of the insects in that county.

      

        

      

ADVICE FROM A HUMMINGBIRD FANCIER

Feb28

      One of my responsibilities is to evaluate the applications for various categories in the Community Wildlife Project, sponsored by the Garden Club of Georgia, Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, and TERN (the division’s friends’ group).  Recently, one of the applications was seeking certification for a yard. The homeowner wanted to register as a Hummingbird Haven. This applicant went well beyond simply meeting the standards for certification.  In addition, to meeting the criteria with regards to providing hummingbirds with nectar-rich plants, cover, and feeders, she listed four additional actions that she employs to promote hummingbirds.  Below you will find a list of four simple things that each of us can do to promote hummingbirds in our yards too.  Perhaps they will give some to putting into practice some of these actions in your yard.  If you would like to receive an application for the certification for certifying your yard as a Hummingbird Haven, contact Melissa Hayes at Melissa.Hayes@dnr.ga.gov.

  1. We are sure to leave spider webs on plants and flowers so hummingbirds can use them for nests.

  2. We deadhead blooms to keep flowers blooming.

  3. We plant annuals at different times to assure constant blooms.

  4. We encourage friends and family to put out hummingbird feeders.

THE GRAPE LEAFFOLDER –- its NAME SAYS IT ALL

Jul10

       Unlike many animals, the grape leaffolder moth (Desimia funeralis) has a name that clearly relates to the critter.  The caterpillars of this moth commonly live on grape leaves.  In addition, they do fold grape leaves.

       The grape leaffolder lives in all of Georgia’s 159 counties. This moth flies during the daylight hours but you can also see it at night. Your best chance of seeing one is to spot one clinging to the outside wall of your home below a security light.

       Sometimes one will even show up inside your home.  Such was the case with the moth depicted in the accompanying photo.  My granddaughter recently found it on the wall of the hallway outside her bedroom. As she does each time she finds a plant or animal she is unfamiliar with, she sent me a picture of her discovery in hopes that I could identify it.

THE GRAPE LEAFFOLDER; PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Leverett

 Fortunately, the insect’s distinctive white blotches and black wings make it one it one of our most recognizable moths.  Consequently, I was able to identify it without any trouble.

       In addition to grapes, the grape leaffolder moth also uses redbud and evening primrose as host plants.  However, when it lays its eggs on grape leaves it can sometime become a pest.  For example, in states such as Oregon and California, grape leaffolders are pests that feed on grape leaves.

       Grape leaffolder caterpillars fold the edge the grape leaf that are feeding on over to create a safe haven from predators. Once folded, the leaf forms a tunnel where the caterpillar can safely feed throughout the day.  When the caterpillar has consumed as much as it wants within its safe haven, under the cloak of darkness, it moves on to another leaf and repeats the process. A large number of caterpillars feeding on the same vine can weaken the plant to the point where it is likely to produce fewer grapes the next year.

       Eventually, the leaves begin to dry out. When this occurs the caterpillar folds over the edges of the leaf on which it was living.  Eventually the leaf housing the caterpillar falls to the ground.  There the caterpillar pupates in preparation for winter.  At the end winter, it emerges as an adult.

       If you happen across a grape leaffolder, I hope you take the time to examine it. It is truly a handsome insect.  It demonstrates it is possible to find a vast array of amazing animals without having to leave your own backyards.

WHICH CAMOUFLAGE METHOD WORKS THE BEST?

May24

       A wildlife friendly backyard provides homeowners with the opportunity to study wildlife without having to leave home.  For example, our yards give us the opportunity to watch predators trying to capture prey as well as the techniques prey animals employ to avoid becoming a meal for a predator.  With that in mind, have you ever wondered which method works the best?

       In an effort to answer the age-old question, Joao Vitor de Alcantara Viana and his colleagues at Brazil’s State University of Campinas reviewed all of the scientific studies published between 1900 and 2022 that dealt with at least one concealment technique.

       After perusing all of reports, they found that predators spend almost 60 percent more time finding camouflaged prey than prey that is not camouflaged.  The researchers went on the say prey that mimic leaves, sticks and the like are less likely to be eaten by predators than those critters that simply blend into the background.

RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS HOARD INSECTS

Nov6

       I find the behavior known as hoarding fascinating.  Hoarding simply refers to an animal storing food for future use.  Fall is a great time to watch hoarding.   Over the years, I have enjoyed seeing blue jays, chipmunks, gray squirrels and red-bellied woodpeckers store caches of food in my yard.  However, I have never been lucky enough to see a red-headed woodpecker hoard food.  One of the main reasons I would like observe this behavior is that it hoards insects.

       Like the other hoarders that hoard feed throughout my yard, red-headed woodpeckers store a wide variety of nuts and other seeds.  They are, however, especially fond of beechnuts and acorns.  The birds stash these bits of food away in traditional places such as under the bark of trees, cracks in railroad ties, wooden fence posts, and dead trees.  However, on occasion, they will even slip food beneath the shingles on barns and houses.  One of their favorite places to hide food in the cracks found on the flat surfaces of tree stumps.  Interestingly, it is our only woodpecker that covers stored seeds with bits of bark or wood.

      However, what I find most interesting is the fact that they will store both live and dead insects.  They are especially fond caching grasshoppers and crickets.  Often live insects are crammed into holes and cracks so tight that it is impossible for them to escape.  I find that truly remarkable.

       Perhaps this will be the year that I will witness the seemingly unbelievable hoarding habits of this intriguing bird.

       In the meantime, if you have been lucky to witness red-headed woodpeckers hoarding food in your backyard, I would like to hear about it.

BACKYARD SECRET—YELLOW JACKETS ARE MOST APT TO STING IN FALL

Oct9

      Yellow jackets are common backyard residents.  Throughout the warmer months of the year, they actively hunt for food throughout our yards.  If we leave them alone, they rarely sting us.  However, if we are going to have a bad encounter with them it will most likely be in the fall.

       One reason that you are more likely to incur a painful yellow jacket sting in autumn is there are simply far more yellow jackets around at that time of the year.  All summer long yellow jacket numbers increase to the point that by the time autumn rolls around a colony may number anywhere from 2,000-4,000+ individuals.

       Another cause is during the fall yellow jackets change their diet.  During the spring and summer, their diet consists, in large part, of spiders, caterpillars, flies, and other invertebrates. Remarkably, yellow jackets are capable of capturing more than 2 pounds of insects and other invertebrates from a 2,000 square-foot garden plot.  The protein that they bring back to their nest benefits the young that continually hatch throughout the summer.    

       However, as they days get shorter, yellow jackets begin switching to a diet rich in carbohydrates. Yellow jackets locate these sweet foods in tree sap, nectar, and the juice of fruits and berries.  Much to our chagrin, they are also attracted to foods and beverages served at picnics and other outside gatherings.

       At this time of the year yellow jackets, become more aggressive toward one another as well as people and pets.  Consequently, they are more prone to sting without provocation.  Since this behavioral change coincides with a switching from a predominantly protein diet to one rich in carbohydrates, some researchers suggest this may be the main reason for their aggressive fall attitude.

       With that in mind, don’t go near yellow jacket nests in the fall.  In addition, if one does sting you, just remember that a painful sting might be a small price to pay for an insect that helps control insects pests that prey on the food an ornamental plant growing in your yard.

       I tried do take my own advice recently when I was the victim of an unprovoked yellow jacket that zeroed in on my arm.  I must admit immediately after I was stung, I was not harboring kind thoughts regarding yellow jackets.  However, as is often the case with many things, over time I got over it.

      

BUMBLEBEES HAVE BEEN FLYING ON COOL MORNINGS

Oct5

        I am sure you have recently been enjoying waking up to temperatures in the low 50s as much as I have.  On these special early fall mornings, I love stepping out on the deck and take in the sights and sounds that surround me.

       One thing that I have noticed is no butterflies are visiting the globe amaranth, zinnias, garden balsam, and scarlet sage growing in pots on the deck.  However, each day I have spotted small bumblebees visiting scarlet sage blossoms.

       Being able to begin feeding before butterflies and other pollinators arrive is a definite advantage to the hard-working bumblebees.

        Remarkably, bumblebees can fly when it dips down as low as 40º F. As such, since the temperatures in my neck of woods should not drop below 40º F for a few weeks, I will be able to enjoy a cup of coffee while watching bumblebees are hard at work for some time to come.