Pests and Parasites

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Randy Tindall

A very effective agent of biological pest control, this tiny wasp in our backyard is preparing to lay an egg on (or in) the little green aphid.. When the egg hatches, it will live inside the aphid, munching happily away, until it emerges from the hollowed-out host as an adult wasp. The wasp is about the size of a fruit fly or smaller. The light colored husk next to the green aphid is another aphid that has already been parasitized.  Like the movie “Alien”.  But real!

There are many species of wasp that keep insect “pests” (meaning those that people don’t like) under control.  A very good reason not to bomb yards with insecticides.  You might get a mosquito-free evening, but it kills everything—including the good stuff.

Parasitic wasp aphid

Parasitic wasp prepares to lay egg on aphid

Below is another wasp trying to pass on the family genes, surrounded by parasitized aphids that are feeding the next generation of parasites.

Wasp apid parasitism

Wasp surrounded by parasitized aphids

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The Return of the Stinker

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Randy Tindall

Hard to believe but stuff’s coming up!  Not just the ubiquitous daffodils that pop up just in time to tease us about a yet-distant spring, but other stuff.  Like Wild Leeks.  Yeah, smelly old Allium tricoccum.

What is this plant and why should you care?  Inquiring minds will check it out in our native plants section here for the low-down, a recipe from Nadia, and links to other recipes and fun stuff.

Smelly.  But delicious.

Wild Leeks (Allium tricoccum)

Wild Leeks Coming Up in Late Winter
(Allium tricoccum)

Wild Leeks (Allium tricoccum)

Baby Wild Leek
(Allium tricoccum)

 

 

 

 

 

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Winter Rations

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Randy Tindall
Liquidambar styraciflua

Goldfinch Eating Sweet Gum Seeds (Liquidambar styraciflua)

I’ve often thought of our Sweet Gum tree as more of a Bitter-Sweet Gum tree, mainly when I rake up piles of the spiky little balls it sheds with great joy and abandon.  I think I am not alone in this.  But then I reflect on the fact that the universe really doesn’t revolve around me and my kind, despite our illusions to the contrary sometimes, and that this wonderful tree has lots of benefits.

Just ask the goldfinches when they flock into its branches and spend hours snacking on its seeds outside our window.  Even with feeders available nearby, our sweet gum is a popular stop for these birds, plus many others who like to nest in it.  It’s also a great shade tree, so I’m grateful for it in the end.

I’m also grateful that nobody reported someone suspiciously hanging out of our upstairs window with a camera pointed in the direction of the busy street, passersby, and our neighbors houses…..  I guess they’re just used to us by now.

I will try to add a page on the Sweet Gum to our native plants section in the near future, so stay tuned.

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To All Things a Season

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Randy Tindall
Walter Tindall on one of his tractors

Walter H. Tindall, 1934-2012.

He was a husband, father, grandfather, friend to many, veteran and farmer, like his father before him.  He loved the land and the work and the trappings of farming, and he loved his family.

Dad liked his nature tidy and kept his farm and fields manicured.  Ask anyone around town—they’ll tell you.  To this day, he is the only farmer I ever knew who would wash and wax his equipment, up to and including combines.  He had little time for things like milkweeds and other “weeds”, but he planted and nurtured hundreds of trees on the little acreage where we lived and loved watching the birds that thrived in them.  He watered those trees for uncounted hours with a tank pulled by one of his shiny tractors, and when he mowed, as he often did, he was known to get down and trim neatly around the trees with a pair of scissors.  Hundreds….of…..them.  Like I said, he liked things tidy.

And you know what?  Because of that and many other things he did, I’ll cut him all the slack he wants on the milkweeds.

We’ll miss you, Dad.

 

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Galls Galore

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Randy Tindall

Besides having some spectacular fall colors this year, another thing our drought didn’t seem to hurt was the prevalence of oak leaf galls.  I’m not sure why, but we seemed to have a bumper crop of them this year.

Oak Leaf Galls

Pin Oak Leaf Galls seemed to like the drought.  At least somebody did.

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Fall Medley #1

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Randy Tindall
Fall Leaves Medley

The severe drought hasn’t dimmed the autumn colors! All from our backyard!

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Hitting the Trifecta

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Randy Tindall

It’s not often—or ever before, to be honest—that I’ve had the chance to photograph several stages in an insect’s life journey in just a week or so, but I think I nailed it recently.

We’ve got some wild senna growing happily in our yard and one day Nadia and I noticed some caterpillars feeding on the flowers.  I took some pics and wandered over to my favorite caterpillar identification site and tentatively identified it as a Cloudless Sulfur caterpillar (in a somewhat roundabout way).

Cloudless Sulfur larvae

Caterpillar of the Cloudless Sulfur (Phoebis sennae)

Not many days later, we noticed a very busy yellowish butterfly flitting around the plants, pausing very briefly, then moving on, over and over.  I manage to get a quick snapshot. Having watched this sort of behavior before, I thought “I bet she’s laying eggs.”

Adult Cloudless Sulfur

Adult Cloudless Sulfur Butterfly Laying Eggs

Sure enough, I marked a spot where the little lady had just paused and went over for a closer look.  Guess what?

Cloudless Sulfur egg

Freshly deposited egg of a Cloudless Sulfur butterfly

I later moused over to Bug Guide and checked to see if the butterfly just might match the caterpillars.  It did!   When I realized that we had just seen one of our yard citizens go from egg to adult almost in front of our eyes, it almost brought a little tear to mine.  They just grow up so fast….sniff.

Nadia?  She just thought it was way cool.

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Note:  If anyone ever notices an incorrect identification in any of these posts, PLEASE let me know!  I would really appreciate it!

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Where have all the berries gone?

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Randy Tindall

This is what the fruiting head of Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) often looks like after the berries have matured.  What berries, you say?  Ask the birds that ate them all, especially the robins that love to gorge on them and leave colorful little patches of seed-containing excrement around the neighborhood.  The pokeweed and robins team up to make sure that the plant reproduces and the birds have a future supply of more berries.

Everybody’s happy (except maybe people who get annoyed at purple patches on their cars parked in unfortunate places and on their sidewalks and patios).

Hey, you can’t make everybody happy all the time….

Note:  The title should be sung to the tune of “Where have all the flowers gone?” by Peter, Paul and Mary.  But you knew that.

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There Be Giants Here!

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Randy Tindall
Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Newly hatched Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Found this in our backyard today, so new that it’s wings weren’t even fully expanded.  A big surprise, considering the dearth of butterflies this season, at least here.  We’ve never seen this one before, but I think we’ve seen its caterpillars.  They look like, well, bird poop.  I have some photos of the larvae somewhere, and when I find them I’ll post them.  I suspect that this magnificent butterfly was nurtured on our Wafer Ash, since they like citrus and this tree has some citrusy connections, Nadia tells me (plus I seem to remember finding those poopy caterpillars there).  I have read that this is the largest North American butterfly.  I can attest that it is certainly big, with a 4-5 inch wingspan.

It was a refreshing discovery in the middle of our severe drought and heat.  I wish it well.

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes). Front view.

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No Free Lunch: Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Randy Tindall

Have you got milkweeds around?  If not, why not?  Have you ever noticed how many insects they attract?  Finally, have you ever noticed some of these insects dangling lifelessly from the milkweed’s flowers?  Ever wonder why?  (I hadn’t, until recently….)

Bumblebee on Common Milkweed Flower

The bumblebee feeding on the Common Milkweed flower is fine.  But check out the smaller bee behind it.

Bee on Common Milkweed

This bee’s in trouble….or was. See story for details.

The sordid story is here, along with a lot of cool things about this plant (and why you should have some).

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