SOIL CENTIPEDE

Soil centipedes in the genus Geophilomorpha are commonly found hiding under rocks, logs, and may be dug out of the soil while digging holes for planting. There are over 1200 species within this genus and each are blind.....I supposed having eyes does you very little good when living underground. They have 27 or more pairs of legs, and will always have an odd number of pairs. Their coloring ranges from reddish-brown, tan, or brown. They have flattened heads and flexible bodies. They are able to flex, and bend themselves in half, which allows them to move around in tight quarters. 

Like all centipedes they are predators of other insects. These guys will feed on the larvae of other insects found in rotting wood, in the soil or under stones. They are especially fond of earthworms.  Sometimes the predator becomes the prey and this centipede will find itself dinner for a beetle, larger centipedes, birds, skinks and other small predators. 

Soil Centipede mid-moult

Centipede reproduction does not involve copulation. Males deposit a spermatophore for the female to take up. In one species, this spermatophore is deposited in a web, and the male undertakes a courtship dance to encourage the female to engulf his sperm. In other cases, the males just leave them for the females to find. In temperate areas egg laying occurs in spring and summer but in subtropical and tropical areas there appears to be little seasonality to centipede breeding. It is also notable that there are a few known species of parthenogenetic centipedes.

Females of Geophilomorpha show far more parental care, the eggs 15 to 60 in number are laid in a nest in the soil or in rotten wood, the female stays with the eggs, guarding and licking them to protect them from fungi. The female in some species stays with the young after they have hatched, guarding them until they are ready to leave. If disturbed the females tend to either abandon the eggs of their young or eat them; abandoned eggs tend to fall prey to fungi rapidly.

No need to fear these centipedes, as they will not bite humans, and have no toxic venom to harm us even if they could. I must correct my comment here. I recently led a trail hike with a group of kids. We flipped logs to see what we could find and one little boy found one of these centipedes. He picked it up to show me and it did indeed bite him. He said it felt like a hard pinch. He dropped it quickly and scurried away to safety. So apparently they can bite when provoked.
They prey on many harmful beetle larvae and help aerate the soil, much like earthworms do. Their rapid movements and subterranean habitat can make them a bit unnerving, but like all insects and their relatives, they have their purpose in the environment, and these guys are fun to watch!

Orange Assassin Bug

This gorgeous bug is the Orange Assassin bug (Pselliopus barberi) . My grandmother found it crawling on her sweater. My mother scooped it up and put it in a jar and brought it to me to identify. I knew it was an assassin bug, I just didn't know  which one. I photographed it and searched bugguide.net. There were numerous images that matched it and v.belov felt it is the barberi species in the genus Pselliopus . There are 22 known species within this genus. They range throughout the Eastern United States as far west as Kansas. This is a relatively small species at 3/8 of an inch in length. What makes it so remarkable is the color and pattern. They are tiger orange with black stripes....which makes me think Tiger Assassin would have been a better name. The legs and antennae are banded.

Assassin bugs typically feed on other insects and the Orange Assassin will feed on insects that are attracted to flowers. They use their beak-like mouth to inject their prey with an enzyme. The enzyme is designed to break down the tissue of the insect so that they can suck out the insect juices like an insect-slurpee. 

(Close-up of beak-like mouth)

The adults overwinter each  year and typically show up in early summer. The past few days have been sunny and warm, which probably woke this little bug up from its winter nap. Mating takes place in the spring, and the female will lay eggs in small clusters on the underside of leaves. The eggs hatch and the little nymphs feed on tiny insects. They will be adults by September. These new adults will overwinter in secluded areas, under leaf litter, bark of trees, or some species will even spend the winter in human dwellings (which is typical of this species). The cycle will begin again the following spring. 

Assassin bugs in this genus are being used as a form of biological control of harmful or invasive species of insects. They are neither beneficial or harmful. They feed on any insect they can catch including those that we would typically consider "good" bugs like bees, small butterflies and flower flies. 

Two-Lined Leather-Wing

This soldier beetle in the family Cantharidae is commonly called the Two-Lined Leather-Wing (Atalantycha bilineata). They range throughout the Eastern United States and into parts of Canada where they are typically associated with forests and forest edges. I photographed this one in the stand of timber behind my office. They are relatively small at less than 3/8 of an inch, but what they lack in size they  make up for in looks. They are strikingly marked in bright orange and black.

 This particular soldier beetle is one of the first to appear in the spring, where you will find them sitting on the surface of various plants. The adults like nectar from flowers, and the larvae feed on other insects. Most likely larval develop takes place in rotting wood. Mating between pairs typically lasts for hours, wherein the female will carry the smaller male around on her back. The male seems reluctant or possibly unable to disengage himself.
Spring is finally appearing here NW Missouri, with beautiful temperatures in the low 70's and sunshine. With this warmer weather, more and more insects are going to begin making an appearance, and I for one am excited.

Lessons on how to gross out a 9 year old!

Today Cindy and I had a program at one of the city ponds called Corby Pond. This pond is frequently fished by St. Joseph residents, and why is beyond me. It is a nasty, green water, cesspool with no frogs in sight. The absence of frogs speaks volumes as to the health of this little pond. I for one would not eat anything that came out of it.

Although the pond is icky, the geese use it and so do turtles and the walking trails behind it that lead into the timber are nice, if you can get past the litter that people leave behind.

The group that we met there are 8 and 9 year old students from a local grade school. They are gifted students and the teacher has them working on ecology. They are documenting the species of plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects that live in and around this pond. We divided the 12 students into teams and I was the leader for the insect team. We found numerous insects on the dandelions and wildflowers blooming around the pond and in the woods. I came to a wonderful rotting log and ripped a piece off of it to see what was living inside.....JACKPOT!

SLUG
MILLIPEDE OH MY!

Ok they aren't insects, but they are definitely living creatures! The three young kids that were with me completely grossed out! I could hear words like
"Disgusting"..."EWWWW"....and "SICK" I picked up a slug and tried to get them to do the same, but they weren't having any of it! No matter how hard I tried I could not convince them slugs were cool, although they did relent on the millipede and agreed it was pretty awesome. After placing the chunk of log back in place, we moved on.

About 100 yards further down on the trail I noticed a rove beetle, then I spotted numerous blow flies, this signals death. I knew something was dead and it was nearby, even if we couldn't smell it yet. I searched around in the vines and grasses and found it! A painted turtle shell. The meat of the turtle was gone and all that remained were some slimy juices of what was once a live turtle. Everything was going great until the scent of dead flesh wafted into the air....then I hear behind me "I'm going to be SICK!" ....."Oh How GROSS!"...."Miss Shelly this is stinky...can we go?" I pulled the shell out of the brush, and placed it on the trail and showed them all the insects inside that were working at breaking down the body of the turtle. We talked a little about decomposers and their role in the environment. Having this dead specimen to use as a teaching tool was perfect. Once the kid's senses adjusted to the onslaught of the smell of death, they admitted it was pretty awesome how Mother Nature works.

(Carrion Beetles mating inside the decomposing turtle)

(Carrion Beetle feeding inside the turtle shell)

The lessons these kids learned today will stay with them for a lifetime. They will always remember the scent of death, and the importance of the creatures who clean it up. It was fun for me to be able to show them that death is part of life and that all living creatures eventually die, and part of that process is decomposition. I was tickled by their initial responses and how at the end of the day they thought it was pretty cool! I still couldn't convince them to like the slugs though...!

Eastern Parson's Spider

This afternoon when I got home from work I noticed this little spider crawling around in front of the door to the house. I could tell right away it was different than any spider I'd seen before. It had approximately a 3/4 inch legspan, was all black with reddish colored legs, and beautiful white pattern on its abdomen. I photographed it and submitted the photo to spideridentification.org and received an answer very quickly from Lady Aracnophile who identified it as an Eastern Parsons Spider (Herpyllus ecclesiasticus). She even provided a link to bugguide.net where other images of this spider are located. Apparently they are almost identical to the Western Parsons Spider (H. propinquus). To adequately differentiate them you have to look closely at their reproductive organs. I was able to provide an image of the underside of this spider which hopefully helped in accurately identifying this spider.

(No spider was harmed in the taking of this photo)

They get their common name of Parsons Spider from the white markings on the abdomen which are said to resemble the cravat worn by parsons or ministers during the 1800's. This spider is harmless to humans and pets, in fact they are only harmful to the prey they actively hunt, which is commonly other spiders. They do not build webs like many other spiders, instead they are ground spiders that roam around to hunt for their food.  They are voracious eaters and chase their food down and overpower it. They are commonly found in houses, which is where this one was headed when I stopped it for a photo shoot then placed it in the garden.

They will spin silk to create hide-a-ways to retreat to during the day. Silk is also used by this spider to spin egg sacs, that the female will guard until the spiderlings emerge. 

I've been actively studying and photographing insects and spiders for 7 years and just when I think I can't possibly find anything I haven't previously seen, I am pleasantly surprised by creatures like this parsons spider. Just goes to show, when it come to the tiny majority, there is no end to the wonderful discoveries to be found.

Carabidae---Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle

This shiny beetle with the bright orange legs is a Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle (Chlaenius laticollis). Ground beetles are in the family Carabidae pronounced ca-RAB-bi-dee. Beetles within this family are generally nocturnal and prey on other insects species. Most are black, but some like this particular species are metallic in color. Often their elytra (wings) are ridged and their eyes are usually quite large. There are approximately 40,000 species within this family found worldwide and somewhere around 2,000 of those are found in North America. They can be found in habitats that contain dead or decaying trees, logs and other moist environs. They may also be found under rocks or in sandy habitats. They are not known to be in arid, dry,desert areas. They are particularly common in agricultural areas, which is in large part due to the abundance of prey insects associated with crops and livestock.

Most ground beetles are considered beneficial to humans because of their preference for eating other insects, some of which may be considered pests. 

After mating, most ground beetles lay their eggs on top of the soil. The eggs hatch in about a week. Many larvae lie in burrows or other sheltered areas and wait for unsuspecting prey while some actively hunt through the soil or vegetation seeking out the larvae of other insects. The vivid metallic ground beetles are found in the tribe Chlaeiini which contain 40 species. They are commonly found in the tropics, with a few species found in more temperate zones like Missouri. They typically measure up to 3/4 of an inch and are usually nasty-smelling when disturbed. These are third largest family of beetles, followed by Weevils and Rove beetles. These beetles are easy to find, and can be located simply by looking near pole lights at night. They are attracted to the lights because of the other insects that are attracted to the lights, this makes hunting for their food source easier.

Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetle---Easter Feast

Many of us are familiar with the ladybug pictured here, it is the Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis). These are the ladybugs that commonly invade homes and other human structures in the fall. They are looking for places to spend the winter months when their food is not available. They find our dwellings much to their liking, to the constant irritation of humans. They can and often do bite, although the bite is not particularly painful, just annoying. They give off a distasteful, musky odor when disturbed, and their feces stains carpets and other fabrics. Many thousands of these beetles many share our homes during the winter and keeping them out is an ongoing battle. While it is true that they are excellent at aphid control as well as the control of other soft bodied insects, they also feed on other insects like this unfortunate fly pictured here. The flies abdomen has a white furry appearance which makes me think that the fly was previously infested with a fungus of some sort. Had the beetle not consumed the fly, the fungus would have. Once the beetle got his fill he walked off and the image left behind is a bit morbid. The flies head is just hanging by a thread over the edge of the leaf. Makes a person glad you aren't a fly!

Warm weather=Happy Bees

Any beekeeper just starting out worries whether or not the bees will adapt to their new home and do what bees are supposed to do. After acquiring the bees, our temperatures turned colder and rainy....certainly not good weather to welcome our bees. I've been providing them sugar water to help them get started and provide nutrition for those times when they cannot get out and forage for nectar and pollen. We will continue to provide sugar water until they are not using it any longer. Tonight when I checked the bees (without opening the actual hive) I was so EXCITED to discover that the bees ARE doing the "bee thing" and gathering pollen and nectar. Look at the first picture...several bees have their pollen sacs full on their hind legs.  YAY!!!!

Pictured here is the sugar water feeder, I filled this pint jar the day before yesterday and they have already drank half of it. I am just so happy that things are looking good for the time being! "Keep working little bees"

Metallic Wood Boring Beetle

This coppery looking beetle is a metallic wood boring beetle in the family Buprestidae. According to the beetle expert Ted McRae of Beetles in the Bush this beetle is in the genus Dicerca, and may possibly be D. lurida or D. obscura. They occur throughout North America and typically breed in decaying hardwood trees. In spite of their metallic sheen they REALLY do blend in well with the trees they are known to hang out around.

They seem to prefer Hickory trees, but will also invade other newly damaged deciduous trees. Once the trees have reached the point of severe decay they do not meet the needs of the beetle and will most likely be passed by in favor of newer decaying trees. These are relatively small beetles that measure up to 1/2 inch in length. What they lack in size they more than make up for in beauty.

Packaging and Shipping Honey Bees

Several  individuals have expressed some interest in knowing more about how honey bees are  prepared for shipping. Most new beekeepers, like myself, chose to start out with package bees. These are the easiest bees to manage for beginners. Each package contains 3 lbs. of bees, which equals 10,000 to 12,000 honey bees. 

Honey Bee breeders rear bees based on several qualities, among those are honey production, temperament and resistance to certain diseases. In the spring, generally during March and April bees from these farms are prepared for shipping all across the United States as well as to Canada. It takes numerous individuals to take on this time consuming job, as thousands of packages of bees will be shipped. During peak foraging hours hired hands approach the hives and place a queen excluder on top of the brood box, and they smoke the remaining workers up into the supers (additional boxes), the older bees are out foraging for nectar and pollen. This queen excluder will hold the drones and queen into the bottom box, making it easier to remove the young bees that are left behind in the supers. A hired-hand will carry the super over to a shaking funnel and will shake 3 lbs of bees into a funnel, that will funnel the bees into packing crates. Each crate has already been supplied with a queen. Each package is then supplied with a can of sugar water or a candy board to feed them on their journey. Then the shipping boxes are sealed shut by stapling the edges of the crate.

This video shows how a queen is selected and packaged in her little container.

The worker bees that have been poured into the shipping container, are placed with an unknown queen. The queen is protected from being harmed due to the strange new bees by the separate container she is in. By the time the bees arrive to their designation, the queen now smells like the workers and they recognize her as their queen. Some suppliers plug the end of the queen cage with candy. When you receive your bees, you expose the candy plug to the workers then hang it in the hive. The workers will eat the candy and release the queen. Other suppliers simply require that you remove the queen after 3 or 4 days within the hive, which is what I had to do.

This video shows how the packages are readied for shipping.

The honey bees are stressed from being separated from their queen. Additional stresses come in the form of being poured into containers, and many hives contain up to 50,000 bees, so this means many are separated from their hive mates, since a package contains only 10,000 to 12,000 bees. Then further stresses of being shipped across country in shipping trucks, with a strange queen to new climates. It is a miracle any of them survive and remain in their new homes after going through such indignities.