It is Raining Caterpillars and Acorns Instead of Water After the Drought

     In the past few weeks caterpillars have been falling from the tree tops. I would have thought that this year would have been a hard year for any organism, especially a plump insect on the bottom of the food chain. But it seems that the caterpillars are fat, happy, and raining from the tree tops. I hope that this means good things for butterflies, moths, and other pollinators.

     Earlier this year I took note of the size of some acorns outside my house in Fayetteville. The tiny acorns made me think that the summer's awful drought would have a devastating impact on the oak tree's acorn production.  This could have started a butterfly effect that would have rippled throughout the forests and made species big and small starve.
   
 However, this week was near Beaver Lake and found that the oak trees there were literally raining fat acorns. Upon further investigation I believe that white oak trees are producing a healthy crop of acorns while red oak trees seem to have tiny acorns. Perhaps this is because red oaks produce acorns biannually while white oaks produce acorns annually. But in that case I would have guess that the white oaks would be doing worst than the red. I am sure there are many factors that have contributed to the acorn production but I am curious if anyone else could comment on this matter.

 Are the oak trees around your home raining acorns? Are the acorns tiny or huge?

   

Ozark Area Community Congress Annual Event

The Ozark Area Community Congress, otherwise known as OACC, meets every year to share ideas, knowledge, and to celebrate the Ozarks. Though the event has taken place at the Ananda Kanan yoga retreat center for years, it used to be at a different location somewhere in the Ozark bioregion each time. It attracts environmentalists, healers, and friendly country folks from all corners of the Ozarks.

This year was their 32^nd annual meeting and I drove to Willow Springs Missouri to attend. As child my father took me to OACC just about every year. I didn’t appreciate the workshops and collective group that got together back then, I just wanted to play with Rose, a friend who I saw only once a year. As I became a teenager Rose and I kept in touch with letters but eventually we grew apart.

As an adult it is still partly about meeting with like-minded people and talking over breakfast or late into the night around the campfire. But it is also nice to attend workshops. In past years I have lead a workshop. Most workshops are organized and held by the people attending the event. As people arrive on Friday they write descriptions of workshops they want to teach on pieces of paper and stick them to the ever changing schedule board. The people who come to OACC make it what it is; therefore, it is different every year.

But this year was entirely different because I am a mother now. The weekend became keeping Zane happy in a strange environment with strange people. My son started out by getting car sick during our four hour long drive. When we arrived at the lovely Anana Kanan yoga retreat center, the opening circle event had just begun. We stood in a large circle outside the dining hall with a grand old white oak tree as a key member of the group. I tried hard to listen to the announcements but Zane was anxious to run and play. His anxiousness did not fade for dinner or bedtime. He ran around outside and through the dining hall giggling. Though most people thought it was cute, I found it to be exhausting.

The second day Zane was still disturbed by the strange event. He refused to eat the delicious vegetarian food in the dinning hall; it just wasn't like meal time at home. Though he was interested in the other children there, he just didn't have the social skills to play. Most of the day I spent following him up and down the stairs between the kid's playroom area and the dining hall.

I was only able to attend one workshop on primitive skills and edible plants. Bo Brown from the First Earth Wilderness Schoolin Springfield Missouri taught us how to knap flint, make stone tools, weave rope out of dogbane fibers, and how to make a fire using a bow drill successfully. The we went on a short plant lore walk in which everyone taught everyone else what they knew about the plants we came across. At was a great break from the kid.

When I returned to being a mom, I found Zane even more disturbed than before. I tried desperatly to feed him but he still didn't want to eat. He suddenly fell asleep while eating dinner and so let him snooze in my arms while I watched the annual open-mic talent show. Though there were many talented people, my favorite performance was singer/songwriter Stan, the Eco Troubadour. His songs were fun and geared towards kids but deep in meaning and full of information. During one of his songs, Zane woke up and immediately started clapping.  

As we got ready to go on Sunday, I realized I had missed out on many much of the weekend. It would have been easier if Zane had been older or if I had brought along a helper. But as it was, I had to stay in mom mode all weekend.

While I packed the car to go, a tattered butterfly landed on Zane and rested there. I coaxed it onto my finger. Two children came by and wanted to hold it as well. We all took turns letting the delicate creator rest on our fingers. It brought great delight to all involved. And I was reminded why I go to OACC every year. Moments like this is what it is all about!

Exposed Exoskeletons

I left the dirt dauber nest on the window sill. It rained. The mud structure melted away like ice cream on a hot day. The mummified spiders, however, did not. Their exoskeletons were left lying, exposed, in the muddy rubbled, like a pile of bones, revealed, once the flesh has rotted away.

Arachnid Mummies Daubed in my Wall

Yellow or Black Dirt Dauber Nest

We recently bought a house built in 1931 located on a quiet street at the edge of Fayetteville. The house was cheap and needed a lot of work. We started by ripping off the musty wallpaper and moldy carpet. Underneath, the walls told stories. One room was a hot pink template covered in teenage graffiti. The living room had old fake wood paneling on the walls, which we tore down just other day. The open cavities in between the studs were full of ancient spider webs and dirt dauber nests. I carefully took one dirt dauber nest out of the wall for examination.

Dirt or mud daubers are often feared a much as hornets or red wasps, but daubers lack aggression and rarely sting people, even though they build their nests in and around houses. Female dirt daubers construct clusters of chambers out of clay. She rolls clay into a ball and flies with it to the nest sight. Carefully she daubers the clay balls together one at a time until most of one chamber is built. Then she hunts for spiders while the male protects the nest from parasitic wasps looking for a place to their lay eggs.

When the female dauber finds a spider, the dirt dauber must fly down and sting the arachnid without getting stuck in its web. The poison in the dauber's sting does not kill its prey, instead the spider is paralyzed. The dauber collects these live spiders and packs them into the chamber. When it is full, she lays an egg inside and encloses the chamber with a bit more mud. When the egg hatches, the larva, a grub-like creature, eats the paralyzed spiders as it grows. Since the spiders are not dead, they don’t rot. Eventually the larva makes a cocoon, and transforms into an adult mud dauber which breaks out of the nest and searches for a mate to start the process again.

With careful precision, I cut open the ancient nest I had found encapsulated in the old wall. Inside spiders lay like mummies. The abdomens of many were hallowed out; they had been eaten alive. Looking at these arachnid skeletons, I saw spiders from a new perspective. Often I mistakenly assume these carnivorous creatures are at the top of the arthropod food chain. But alas, there is yet I higher bug. Don’t forget, there is always a higher bug!

Ancient paralyzed spiders in a dirt dauber nest

Food, Sex, and Cannibalism

A Black and Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia) eating a grasshopper

I had been away from Owl’s Knob for almost a month. Upon returning I found that my home was in the care of beneficial arthropods. The two that fascinated me most were the spider and praying mantis. These two species may appear to be quite different, but when it comes to the two most basic primordial instincts, food and sex, they have a lot in common.

Both arachnids and mantids are strictly carnivorous. They both wait for their prey to wander their way instead of hunting it down. Then they attack quickly and devour indiscriminately. The arachnid is on a liquid diet so it uses digestive venom to liquefy its meal before sucking the prey’s inners out. The mantis is the only arthropod that can turn its head 360 degrees. When it sees its prey it moves with extraordinary speed and viciously bites off its prey’s head with giant mandibles. As a gardener, I appreciate both of these arthropods because they eat my garden pests. But if I were an insect, I would fear these predators with every millimeter of my exoskeleton.       

Both of these arthropods identify themselves as predatory carnivores to such as extent that copulation is a problem. In the case of most species of spiders and mantids, the female eats the male either during or after sex. Though this act of sexual cannibalism is simulated by the arthropods’ intense instinct to devour anything that moves, it also has practical purposes for the species.

For arthropods that practice this sexual cannibalism, their short lives are almost over anyway. Once the male has had sex, his purpose in life has been fulfilled and he will die of old age in either a few hours or a few days. Therefore, from a logistical standpoint, it is only proper for his final good deed to be offering himself over as nutrients for his offspring.  Also, if the female eats the male’s head during copulation, the male’s dying body will inject more sperm quicker, which insures a better chance for fertilization.

Still, not every male is completely enthusiastic about becoming his partner’s meal. Many species of spiders have elaborate ways to avoid being eaten. Since spiders have very poor eyesight (even though they have, like, eight eyes), the first step is to be recognized as a male spider and not be mistaken for food. So some spiders do lovely eight legged dances. Others excrete pheromone laced silk to attract a mate. Many males play the strings of the female’s web like a harp and then she plays a rhythm back, creating a romantic song that gets everyone in the mood.

Once the female spider recognizes her mate, the male is not always safe. Some spiders will still play it cautiously by leaping on the famale and then back off before she can eat him. Others sneak under her and because they are so much smaller they can mate with her virtually unnoticed. One species uses his silk to lasso the female’s legs together so he can mate with her and safely escape with his life before she untangles herself.  

The praying mantis is even better known for sexual cannibalism than spiders; however, the wild praying mantis female rarely eats the male. The myth that the female praying mantis always eats the male started when scientist observed them in terrariums. Apparently, when in captivity the female almost always bites the head off her mate during copulation. This might be because she fears her food sources might be limited in her captive environment.

She might also worry more about the fertilization process since in captivity she sees no other available males. When a male praying mantis loses his head he also loses his brain and all inhibitions, while the ganglion in the male’s abdomen, which controls his basic motor functions, is still intact. Therefore, the male has a better chance of fertilizing the female’s eggs without his head because he copulates with wild abandon.

The feeding and sexual habits of arachnids and mantids are fascinating arthropods. Though I would not want to exist in their world, I enjoy their presence in mine. They are welcome guest in my garden and around my yard.

Preying mantises mating (and not she did not bite off his head).

Confused Producers in an Unforgettable Summer

Fiddle head on a Christmas Fern
(Polystichum acrostichoides)

      Fiddle heads usually uncoil in spring. But this year the erratic seasons have confused plants all over the Ozarks. In August and the north slopes of mountains, which usually retain moisture even in the dry months, are dusty and covered with dying plants. Ferns are the first to go since they are not drought tolerant. This summer has been so severe that we call 90 degrees cool and a summer shower a decent rain. The plants have reacted similarly. Only they did not get the memo that said it is still summer. After dying back, plants are emerging again as if it is spring. 

 

Hairy Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

        The Hairy Petunia is a beautiful wild flower that blooms from June until August most years. But June and July were so hot and dry that this flower refused to show its pretty head. Now that it is almost September, I am finding the flower all over my yard, among oak leaves that have fallen early as if it were autumn already. The seasons seem jumbled.

        Though I still feel like summer is upon us, in comparison it is cool and wet. Still, I was shocked to discover this orange mushroom growing in the crevices of rocks. August is no time for mushroom hunting. Normally a few summer showers won't bring out the fungi, but this year it may be their only chance. I found multiple puff ball mushrooms and then this brilliant orange mushroom that I have not been able to identify. If you think you know it, please comment!

New Peach Tree Leaves

 

        I have been worried about many trees, primarily the fruit trees in my yard. No fruit tree on my property produced any fruit this year, they were all conserving their energy. The peach trees looked like they were not going to make it through the summer earlier this month. Leaves fell as they do in autumn. The bare tree looked dead. However, just the other day I found it producing new leaves. I hope these new leaves will give the tree enough energy to make it through the winter. But I worry that the tree will exert too much energy creating these leaves only to shed them again in the aproaching season. Only time will tell.

Stunted White Oak Acorns

         Among trees the nonnative trees have had a harder time than most native trees. I've noticed sugar maples and northern pines, which are native to a cooler land to the north, have had a particularly hard time of it. Oaks are hardy and so well suited for the Ozarks that even a drastic change like we have seen this year has not been killing them off. However, they are not producing acorns like they should. Acorns, like leaves, have been dropping early. Even the ones that have hung on are not reaching even half of their normal size. This will certainly have serious repercussions for years to come. Acorns are a major food source for a wide variety of animals that are at the bottom of the food chain. When there is a food shortage at the producer level of the food chain, every living thing above it is effected. Even after the year has passed, we will see the ripples of this dreadful summer for years to come. Long after the heat subsides and the rains return, its effects will continue to be felt.

Naked Ladies Basking in the Hot Summer Sun



Ameryllis belladonna

     This time of year plants are retreating, not emerging. It has been a dry year, so untended gardens are failing. Any plant that is not drought tolerant is at risk this summer. Leaves are already starting to turn color and annuals are dying in the intense heat. But then, out of the dusty dirt, sprouts naked ladies or belladonna lilies.

     Their tall thin stems do not seem sufficient to hold up their cluster of large trumpet shaped flowers .They jump up so quickly you have to wonder if fairy folk poked them into yards all over town like plastic flamingos.  The flower, Ameryllis belladonna, has been cultivated since the 18th century and is native to South Africa. It sprouts from a large bulb with fleshy roots that thrive in rocky, dry soil. The sap of this plant is poisonous and can be an irritate to some people's skin, especially children's.  

     Among the withered leaves of lilacs and dying hydrangeas in my unattended flower garden, these beauties appeared. All over town I noticed them, even in the brownest of lawns. They remind me that even in the the hardest of times not all is lost; in fact, much remains and is even gained.

Could it be Climate Change?

Yellow leaves and fruits on the Ohio Buckeye Tree

The heat affects people in different ways. Some people love summer and thrive in the sunshine. Others prefer to be cold rather than hot. I fall in the later group. The heat steals my mind away, flips my stomach upside down, and makes me light headed. I do not sweat much, so my body can not cool itself well. Therefore, I have been cursing this terrible heat wave.
But I realize there is more to it than that...

Two feet of snow and cold

The past few weeks have been so sweltering that even people who enjoy mild heat have been hiding in the shade. With temperatures over 100 degrees every day since the endless rain stopped in June, who can appreciate summer? It has not rained a measurable amount since the flooding in May. Usually the Ozarks gets afternoon showers throughout July and sometimes into August. But this has not been a typical year.

Endless rain and a confused wren

In winter, we had record snow fall and negative temperatures that wouldn't budge. Then the spring brought record rain with flash flooding and a perfect storm of deadly tornadoes. There was no break between the chilly showers of May and the sweltering heat of June. Now we are experiencing record heat and drought conditions all throughout the region.  

Dry leaves and dry grass

The plants don't know how to react. All spring seeds were washed from garden beds and saplings drowned in the saturation. Along every river trees laid dying, drug down by the overflowing banks. And spring seemed to last forever, well beyond its welcome. Then overnight summer hit like mallet. The sun baked out any moisture and the clouds retreated. Now it is not even August and trees are changing color, dropping their leaves because they can not afford to loose any more moisture. Black berries are ripening before they get plump. The buck eye trees, like many others, are dropping small shriveled fruit that was suppose to hang on until autumn. Dogwoods and redbuds are drying out and look like death. I am honestly concerned for the dusty plants.

Looking out at the bewildered forests, I can't help but blame myself for climate change. These are transitional times. If you are awake and can hear me, you must also share in my fears. If you are sleeping and don't believe in climate change, than it is too late for you. I don't know if we can turn this thing around anymore. I just hope for a fresh beginning.

It looks like fall in summer

Each Moment, A Discovery



Curious

          Zane discovered a beetle crawling on the floor. He laid down close to it and examined it intently. The creature hobbled because it had lost a leg. Its yellow stripes were designed to mimic the stripes on a wasp so that predators would not know its true identity. To me this was obviously some type of long horned beetle. I researched it later and found it to be the redheaded ash borer. It lays its eggs in the cracks of tree bark, particularly in green ash trees. The larva eats the inner bark and eventually carves tunnels into the tree's core. It is destructive shad trees. However, to my son it was a new creature, flawless and without a history. To him it was nothing but beautiful. It could be dangerous like the wasp it mimics or it could be beneficial like the pollinators on the flowers outside. To a child, all life is as pure and amazing as he!

Redheaded Ash Borer

Raspberries for Zane

 
In the Ozarks we call wild raspberries wine berries. Like most wild berries, they are smaller but more flavorful. A patch if these wild red berries sprouted up among a carpet of poison ivy, near a broken down chicken hut. The sight does not seem ideal in any way. It is shaded, surrounded by competing vines, and amongst trash. Yet that is where the raspberries wanted to grow.

Then I found out that the patch was in the exact location of an old outhouse. After twenty years the human manure had enriched the soil like expensive fertilizer. I don't think these delicious berries as thriving off of shit as much as recycling in a closed loop. Really, it is a beautiful cycle. 

Every year the raspberry patch grows a few more sprigs and a bit more berried can be collected each day. This year was a plentiful year. I trudged through the ivy, avoiding its poisonous juice, to reach the sweet grove. In a matter of minutes I picked a cup of ripe red berries.

After popping a few in my mouth, I offered one to my son. He was taken aback at first, surprised by its intense and often sour taste. Then he dove in. He shoved handfuls of ripe berries into his mouth until his cheeks were full like a chipmunk's. Juice trickled off his chin and made a stream down his chest. He eyed me suspiciously, and hovered over the cup of fruit, guarding the treat. When they were gone, he asked me for more. I had no more. He fussed a bit. Then he waved bye-bye to the empty cup.

Parasites on Parasites...

Catalpa Tree

Catalpa trees were plagued by the catalpa sphinx caterpillars this year. I watched the beautiful heart shaped leaves disappear nibble by nibble. The sound of chewing and crunching leaves was not drowned out by traffic. On the ground all around the tree lay tiny pellets, apparently caterpillar poo!

Catalpa Sphinx Moths

Catalpa sphinx caterpillars are the larva of grey-brown sphinx moths. Their only food source is catalpa leaves. To keep these parasites from reaching their carrying capacity, are other parasites. Primarily braconid wasp larva feeds on the caterpillars. Adult wasps deposit their eggs inside the body of sphinx caterpillars. Because the caterpillar’s natural defense mechanisms would normally kill the wasp larva, the adult wasp also injects particles that scientist have identified as viral in nature. Therefore, the wasps seem to be actually raising viruses to use against the caterpillar which protects the survival of their larva. The wasp larva grows inside its host, feeding off its blood, and then forms tiny white cocoons on the caterpillar’s skin.

A caterpillar with parasitic wasp larva

While examining this relationship between the catalpa tree, the catalpa worms, and the parasitic wasps, I noticed one or two worms covered in wasp cocoons being attacked by ants. Upon further investigation it seemed that the ants were carrying off and apparently eating the wasp larva off the caterpillar.

Ants eating wasp larva off the caterpillar that is defoliating the tree

In my excitement over this unique series of relationships, I told John all about the science happening outside the backdoor. John became excited as well, but for an entirely different reason. Catalpa worms, as he calls them, are the best fish bait in the world. He retrieved a ladder and spent a good part of the day collecting fat caterpillars in a Ziploc bag which he put in the freezer for a good fishing day.

And the parasitic cycle grew another layer of symbiosis: the catalpa worms eat catalpa leaves, the parasitic wasps eat the caterpillars, then the ants eat the parasitic worms off the caterpillars, and finally the fisherman plucks the entire brood off the leaf to feed to a fish that will in turn feed the fisherman. 

In the end, many wasp cocoons died and many survived, the some catalpa worms died but most made their brown cocoons and will fly away as moths before the year ends.

The cocoon of a catalpa sphinx caterpillar

The tree will survive, but many of its branches are bare. The cycles and layers of symbiotic relationships go on and on. Who is to say which creature should live or which creature should go hungry?

The skeleton of a leaf eaten by catalpa worms

My Number One Gardening Tip!

Yellow Squash Flower, Green Leaves, Iridecent Beetle

I don't have much of a green thumb. In fact, I can't seem to keep a house plant alive to save my life. So every gardening tip I give is golden since they are so rare. This year I heavily mulched my garden, as some of you might have seen last month. Just after mulching, I watered it heavily once or twice, and then left it to fend for itself. A week turned into a month and rain refused to fall. I stayed in town and didn not even touch the garden at Owls' Knob. I admit that I had a neighbor water it occasionally, but the heat and sunshine has been intense. When I went out to see the garden this past week I expected the worst. I was pleasantly surprised.

A heavily mulched garden is a happy one.

The greens, mostly varieties of kale, are thriving. But kale is one of the easiest plants to grow. They love the sun but don't mind shade too, they withstand drought well, and nothing really likes to eat it. I guess that includes most people too. I have been asked what the heck to do with kale and I will try to post some kale recipes soon. It is a great survival food for the gardener without a green thumb!

Zucchini Squash Plant

These squash plants were planted under poles for climbing beans because squash likes shade,
however the bean sprouts were mostly eaten by deer this year.

The squash is also rocking. Again, squash grows well here in the Ozarks. However, getting fruit off of it is another story. The squash bugs usually show up about the time the flowers fall off. These little grey bugs are easy to squish but they arrive in such numbers that it seems impossible to execute them before they execute the plant.

Cherry Tomatoes ripe for the picking

Cherry tomatoes always ripen before larger tomatoes. Often tomatoes seem to rot on the vine in this humidity before they are ever red. I have learned to pick them when they are yellow, like shown in the picture above, and then let them finish ripening on the kitchen windowsill.

Sprouting Okra

The mulch not only protected all of these plants and kept the ground moist, but it even allowed these okra seeds to sprout. It takes an extra amount of moisture to get seeds to sprout but lightly mulching with hay over freshly planted and watered soil seemed to work.

Marigolds standing guard at the mouth of the garden

Marigolds are lovely yellow and orange flowers, seen in the bottom of the photograph above, that repel insects. I had heard about their repelling qualities but never had much faith in them until now. This garden bed has many marigolds around it and the plants seems less burdened than other beds.

Sunflowers devastated by deer and Japanese beetles

Japanese beetles on young sunflower plants

However, the sunflowers didn't make it. Their leaves are loved by deer and the Japaneses beetles finished them off. The best deer deterrent I've found is a guard dog. As for beetles, farm stores sell pheromone bags for these pest. They work too well. My neighbors used them last year and my Japanese beetles flew almost a mile over the hill to get caught in their bags.

Zane's Fig Tree

The figs trees are doing better than all the other plants. I am particularly excited that the figs have survived and are thriving. Not only do I love figs, but this tree was planted as a sapling above my son's placenta on his birthday. Therefore, this is Zane's fig tree.

A cucumber plant that is not doing great but is not dead yet

So above all, mulch, mulch mulch! Though there are many other gardening tips thoughout this post, I believe the main reason I still have a garden at all is because I heavily mulched this year. Hay mulch works well but wood chips, leave mulch, or lawn chipings might also do the trick.

Now it is your turn, what tips do you have? It does not take an expert gardener to share gardening tips. Anyone who likes to get their hands dirty has a few up their sleeve. Please share your comments!