Peony Perfume attracts many species

A true sign of spring is the appearance of the first Peony Buds. With these buds usually comes the ever present black ants and many other species, each taking advantage of the irresistible perfume of the peony flower. Today I spotted not only the black ants, but red ants, house flies, ladybugs and paper wasps. All vying for a bud to sample. I read somewhere that the relationship between the peony bud and the black ant is a symbiotic one. The flower buds release a sticky sweet substance that the ants find intoxicating. They come to the buds in droves, seeking this delicious substance. The ants crawl all over the buds which many stimulate them to open. A true working relationship with benefits to both.

Unexpected Camping visitor

This spider is one of two highly venomous spiders in Missouri. it is called the "Brown Recluse". While their bite is rarely fatal, it can cause necrosis to the skin cells and muscle tissue. This necrosis results in large lesions that are slow to heal and can leave scars. This would be an extreme response to a bite. Typically you will get nothing more than a small blister that will heal without any complications at all. Since none of us knows how our bodies will react to a bite from one of these spiders it is always best to err on the side of caution and avoid them. Sometimes this is hard to do. Their hunting habits often put them in contact with people. They are solitary hunters that do not build webs. Instead they roam and stalk their prey. This means they can be anywhere. They like areas that give them hiding spots, garages, basements, attics and sheds are all good places to find these spiders. Brown Recluse spiders are not large, in fact as far as spiders go they are rather small to medium sized spiders. Measuring about the size of a quarter legs and all. Their bodies are uniformly brown. There is really nothing special about their appearance...except the distinguishing mark on their cephalothorax. This is the characteristic fiddle marking. It is this marking that gives this species it's other common name of "Fiddler Spider". The one pictured came with us, quite univited I might add, on a camping trip we took last fall. We unfolded a camping chair to discover her hidden inside the chair guarding a small disc shaped web with tiny spiderlings underneath. These were her offspring. We captured her so I could use her for an upcoming insect event I was helping to host. Her babies were destroyed. This was the first encounter I had ever had with this spider. Later that night at the bathhouse we discovered two more in residence at the park we were staying at. They really are quite lovely to look at, if you can get past the fact that they are an 8 legged creature that can rot your skin with one bite. I believe these spiders are much more common than people realize. It is their somewhat secrative nature that keeps us from seeing them. An exterminator told us that they are near to impossible to destroy. Pesticides do not work on them as they do other spiders and insects. With these spiders you actually have to touch them with the chemical to kill them. They will not carry the bait or chemical back to other spiders to aide in spreading it around for a more effective kill rate. When I hear of people whose homes are infested with these spiders it makes me shiver to think of it. Fortunately for me the spider that showed up camping with us did not come from our home or our chair. It was my mothers. I heard that in Missouri at a barn 40 of these spiders were located in about an hour. This gives you an idea of how plentiful they really are. I will say that even though I get squeamish around spiders, after our insect event we did release this female to the woods to go about her business. I couldn't bring myself to destroy her.

Splendid Earth Boring Beetle

This gorgeous little beetle gave me a surprise while out mushroom hunting last night. My husband and I located a spot with some huge mushrooms, just as I found two right together and announced I'd found some, I noticed something bizarre about one of the mushrooms. It stood about 5 inches tall and approximately 2 inches of the mushroom was missing and something was moving inside the hole. Then this little beetle peeked out. I managed to get a couple of pictures of it. At first I thought it was a Rainbow Scarab beetle but have since found out it is the Splendid Earth Boring Beetle (Geotrupes splendidus). Sometimes they are referred to as dung beetles from their habit of living near cow lots and building underground tunnels right under the piles of dung. They supply these nests with dung and the female will lay eggs on individual piles of poo. The eggs hatch and the young grubs feed on the poo. YUM! Even though this sounds completely gross, it serves a great purpose. They clean up a ton of crap, and what is left over that the young grubs do not eat is left behind to fertilize the soil and plants. You will also find these beetles in timbered areas feeding on decaying vegetation and fungi (like my little friend here), they will even be found eating carrion. They can vary in color from green, blue, bronze, purple to black; but always with a metallic sheen that shimmers in the sunlight. It just goes to show you never know what you will find while mushroom hunting, but I could sure do without the poison ivy!!!!

Eastern Comma Butterfly

The Eastern Comma butterfly is found throughout Eastern North America. They are common in their range and are found in deciduous woodland and nearby edges. They can also be found near water such as wetland, marshes and swamps. This one was near some scrub timber we have on our property. I spotted it while we were mushroom hunting. Fortunately I had my camera with me as I've been trying for 2 years to get a picture of this species. They rarely sit still long enough to allow for a good photo. The adults of this species overwinter and come out of hiding in the spring and begin egg laying. I believe this one pictured is a male that was perching waiting for a female. This color form is the winter form. The summer form will have black hindwings. The females will lay eggs singly on elm or nettles. The young caterpillars feed at night and hide during the day in a self-constructed nest made of leaves and silk. These caterpillars will form cocoons and emerge as the summer form of adults sometime in June. These adults will mate and lay eggs sometime in late summer. These caterpillars will hatch and the adults emerge in September or October. This will be the winter form that will overwinter and hibernate until spring. These are small, but gorgeous butterflies. Long ago the pupae of these butterflies were used to determine the market value of Hops. If the pupae was gold the prices were higher, if silver the prices were lower.

This tiny grasshopper nymph was hiding on the moss in our timber. If he hadn't of moved I would have never seen it. It was so little, barely 3/8 of an inch. It had very cryptic colors, looked very much like moss or lichen. I managed to snap a few photos of him before he hopped away to be hidden from my sight. I never did find him again. Great camoflauge.

Goatweed Leafwing

This beautiful orange butterfly is the Goatweed Leafwing. They range throughout the eastern and southern Midwest states and Southwest portion of the United States, in New Mexico and Texas. The adults feed on sap flows, dung, bird droppings and rotting fruit. The caterpillars host plants are Goatweed, Texas croton, prairie tea and other plants in the spurge family. They have a very erratic rapid flight. This makes them very difficult to photograph (hence the poor quality of these photos) They land for a mere second then off they go as soon as you get anywhere within camera shot. It is like they do it on purpose. I was able to see this one (pictured) and its mate engaging in their mating behavior. I watched them for quite some time as they spiraled high into the sky together, then quickly plummet back to earth, and separate. Then they would find each other again and repeat the process. I never actually saw them mate, seems they saved that for a more private time when prying eyes weren't around. These butterflies are not commonly seen. I think it is their erratic flight, and the fact that when resting with their wings folded they look so much like a dead leaf it would be hard to see them unless they moved or flew. Their populations are secure throughout most of their range. They are lovely butterflies,and that orange color really is as vivid as it appears in the pictures. I will keep trying to get better pictures, apparently we have a host plant on our property where I took this picture because they never strayed far from the spot where I photographed this one. I will have to try and find the host plant and hopefully with it the caterpillars.

The Eyes Have it

These are some of the craziest looking beetles in the insect world. Those large "eyes" make them look so intimidating, or funny depending upon your point of view. The first time I ever spotted one of these it gave me a start, I'd never seen anything like it. I scooped it into a jar to show my nephew that was going to be visiting later in the day. I retrieved the jar to show him and discovered the beetle had died! I opened the lid and peered in at the beetle, it was at this exact moment this little faker decided to come back to life. When he flipped his body straight up, narrowly missing my nose that was still in the opening of the jar....I almost had cardiac arrest! Needless to say I screamed, nearly dropped the jar, which in turn made my nephew scream. This was my introduction to this beetle. I let the little trouble maker go, deciding I wanted nothing more to do with a beetle that could practically scare me out of my britches. The beetle pictured above is only the second of these beetles I've seen in my yard. For all I know it might be the same one from before. This one had hunkered down for the winter inside an old tree stump in our backyard. This one didn't escape the killing jar. He was added to a collection I am compiling for FFA. This particular insect happens to be on their list of insects that they need to be able to identify. I also know that these beetles bite. Last summer my brother-in-law captured one to bring me and it bit into his finger and would not let go. He shook his hand and it still clung to him ferociously. It ended up drawing blood before he finally dislodged it. So if the eyes don't scare u, the back flip will. If that doesn't work they will chew on you. The little brown click beetle pictured on the cone flower seems so different from his big mean bully of a cousin., but he is a click beetle. Much tinier and no distinctive eye spots, but he does have the long slender torpedo shape that is typical of click beetles. All click beetles have a special mechanism on their lower body that allows them to flip themselves over when being disturbed. It is an effective way to play dead. Once the potential danger has passed they flip themselves back over and away they go about their business. Look for the eyed click beetle near decaying wood. They use this as hiding places and to deposit eggs.

Missouri's State Insect

Honey Bees are Missouri's state insect and I can't think of a better insect to have represent our state. They are hard working, industrious, mild mannered and they aid in pollinating over 130 known plants. Including, many fruits, vegetables, grain crops, forage crops and more. With the recent controversy of the Colony Collapse Disorder, there has been much concern about the demise of the Honey Bee. Much research has been done to try and determine what has contributed this apparent mystery disease. Some headway has been made, with the discovery of a mite among many of the bees. Researchers feel this mite is responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder that has effected many hives throughout the country. With the threat of the disappearance of honey bees there has been much concern among many citizens. How would we overcome a crisis such as the loss of such a much needed resource as the Honey Bee? How would the crops we've come to enjoy or even depend upon get pollinated? What insect would be able to step up and take the place of the Honey Bee? These are questions deserving of much thought. Hopefully with the discovery of this mite it will put an end to Colony Collapse Disorder and the Honey Bee will be able to rebound to it's former numbers. In my yard there seems to be no shortage of these bees. I have a mystery bush blooming beside my house that is bringing them out in big numbers. My Bradford Pear is in full bloom and is equally covered in bees. I've found that they are extremely gentle when out foraging for nectar and pollen. I am able to get them to crawl onto my fingers with no fear of being stung. Near the hive would be a different story. When they have a Queen and honey stores to protect you can expect a different and much more aggressive personality to surface. Who can blame them? If someone showed up at my house and took my food and threatened my family I'd probably sting too (if I could). Last September my husband and I made a trip out to Happy Holler Conservation Area near my house. We discovered honey bees and bumble bees nectaring at the thistles and clover. What was so unique about this situation, not that they were nectaring but that the honey bees DID NOT want those bumble bees to be there. The honey bees we literally attacking the bumble bees. They were crawling all over them, biting and toe tapping them. It was actually kind of funny to see. The much larger bumble bee took no notice of them at all. It was as if a mere gnat was pestering them. They went about their business much to the aggravation of the honey bee. They were smart enough to not sting the bumble bees, obviously knowing this would be paying the ultimate price for their greed. No self respecting Honey Bee wants to die, which is exactly what happens when they sting. Their barbed stinger becomes embedded in the skin of their victim and detaches itself, pretty effectively ripping the guts right out of the poor ol' bee, who gives her life either to protect herself or her Queen. All bees found away from the hive gathering nectar and pollen will be female workers. They live about 4 to 6 weeks and work from sunup to sundown at a constant pace to provide for the hive. A Honey Bee's life is a hard one. No time for fun here. The drones or males are the loafers of the hive. They exist only to mate with females. They too pay a big price for their ardour. After mating, they will lose their sexual organs, which remains attached to the female. His guts are removed and he perishes. The drones do not have a stinger, therefore cannot sting. Late in the fall the remaining drones are forced out of the hive by the female workers. They have outlived their usefulness. Their loafing is only tolerated for just so long. They die in the cold while the females form a ball around their queen to guard her and keep her warm. They will rotate position, the bees on the outside moving to the inside of the "ball" to gain warmth, and the ones inside moving to the outside to take their turn where it is cooler. An average hive will need approximately 60 pounds of honey stores to survive the winter temperatures. Honey Bees are capable of flying at speeds of 15 mph, and beat their wings 11,400 times per minute which gives them that distinct "buzzing" sound. I am always so excited when these little gals show up in my yard. I am happy for the service they provide to my plants.

Topsy Turvy

I guess these bugs never had a momma to tell them it is rude to stand on your head while you eat. These quirky little insects went heads down for their food, either that or they are practicing for the next Insect Olympics. Insect gymnastics, the new national sport, you have to admire their technique.

Brown Lacewing

This little lacewing showed for her photo shoot, right on time.
She is quite lovely all decked out in her lace finery. And just look at those eyes, the camera loves her.
Seriously though, these are cool insects. Gardeners love them for the appetite of the offspring. The larva of these tiny little insects have a voracious hunger. They feed on aphids, thrips, leaf hopper eggs, tiny caterpillars and various other injurious insects. It is said that a single lacewing larvae could potentially consume up to 600 aphids in its youth. Earning them the name of "Aphid Lion". They spend approximately 3 weeks as a larvae, pupation occurs in the form of a tiny silken cocoon attached to a leaf. In about 2 weeks the adult will emerge. They are commonly seen at porch lights at night. The adults eat some nectar or possibly plant juices.
In this part of Missouri I typically see this species and one other, the Green Lacewing, which is a lovely shade of light lime green. They are a common sight and are often over looked because they are so ordinary. Look for them this summer, and consider yourself lucky that they are nearby helping rid your garden of all those nasty little pests bent on making a meal of your veggies and plants.