Spotted Lanternfly

Posted on February 2, 2024 by tspuckler

While visiting Bronxville, New York, I noticed several insects on the wall outside a sports outfitter store. The Spotted lanternfly is an invasive insect insect from Asia that primarily feeds on Trees of Heaven (Alianthus altissima) but can also eat a wide variety of plants, such as grapevine, hops, maple, walnut, and fruit trees.

The Spotted Lanternfly belongs to a family known as planthoppers – this name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment and that they often “hop” for quick transportation in a similar way to that of grasshoppers. However, planthoppers generally walk very slowly.

Like other True Bugs, planthoppers begin life as an egg and then, growing, undergo a number of immature stages (nymphs) before a final molt renders them a winged, sexually mature adult.

Adults begin to appear in July and are approximately 1 inch long and ½ inch wide at rest, with eye-catching wings. Their forewings are grayish with black spots. The lower portions of their hindwings are red with black spots and the upper portions are dark with a white stripe. They are laterally flattened and hold their broad wings vertically, in a tent-like fashion, concealing the sides of the body and part of the legs.

The Spotted Lanternfly is indigenous to parts of China and Vietnam. In addition to the United States, it has also spread invasively to Japan and South Korea. Planthoppers use their wings to assist these jumps rather than to make sustained flights. On September 29, 2014, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Game Commission first confirmed the presence of the Spotted Lanternfly in Berks County, Pennsylvania, northwest of Philadelphia.

Although it is an attractive-looking insect, a large potential range exists for the Spotted Lanternfly to become established in almost all of the eastern part of the United States, as well as critical wine- and hop-growing valleys of the Pacific coastal states.

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Leatherleaf

Posted on January 26, 2024 by tspuckler

While visiting a bog on Kent, Ohio, I came across this neat plant. It is a species characteristically found in sphagnum peat bogs. Leatherleaf provides cover for nesting mallards and some other ducks. It recovers quickly in peatlands that have been severely disturbed or mined for peat.

This plant has a distribution throughout the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere from eastern North America to bogs in Finland and Japan.

Leatherleaf is often the first woody plant to encroach on the open water of a kettle hole lake. It is a small, dense, mound-shaped shrub, growing to 5 feet high, often spreading to form thickets.

As its common names implies, Leatherleaf has thick, leathery leaves to minimize water loss from transpiration. To conserve nutrients and maximize photosynthesis, its brownish evergreen leaves persist for nearly two seasons and are gradually shed as new leaves become established.

It’s urn-shaped white flowers appear in early Spring, often while ice is still present.

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Canada Goose

Posted on January 19, 2024 by tspuckler

The big, black-necked Canada Goose with its signature white chinstrap marking is a familiar and widespread bird of fields and parks. Thousands of “honkers” migrate north and south each year, filling the sky with long V-formations. The size of this goose varies considerably – some are the size of a large duck and others are two to three times larger.

At least 11 subspecies of Canada Goose have been recognized, although only a couple are distinctive. In general, the geese get smaller as you move northward, and darker as you go westward. The four smallest forms are now considered a different species: the Cackling Goose.

Once rare in the Buckeye State due to overhunting, in 1956, the Ohio Division of Wildlife introduced 10 breeding pairs of Canada Geese to three state wetlands. That helped populations rebound. By 1979 the geese were nesting in half of Ohio’s 88 counties. Today, they’re nesting and breeding everywhere, with an estimated population of well over 100,000.

In recent years, Canada Goose populations in some areas have grown substantially, so much so that many consider them pests for their droppings, bacteria in their droppings, noise, and confrontational behavior. This problem is partially due to the removal of natural predators and an abundance of safe, human-made bodies of water near food sources.

Canada geese are protected under both the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Ohio state law. This protection extends to the geese, goslings, nests, and eggs.

Canada Geese are primarily herbivores, although they sometimes eat small insects and fish. Their diet includes green vegetation and grains. The Canada goose eats a variety of grasses when on land. It feeds by grasping a blade of grass with the bill, then tearing it with a jerk of the head.

These birds fly in a distinctive V-shaped flight formation, with an altitude of 3,000 feet for migration flight. The maximum flight ceiling of Canada geese is unknown, but they have been reported at 29,000 feet. Flying in the V formation has been the subject of study by researchers. The front position is rotated, since flying in front consumes the most energy.

During the second year of their lives, Canada geese find a mate. They are monogamous, and most couples stay together all of their lives. If one dies, the other may find a new mate. The female lays from two to nine eggs with an average of five, and both parents protect the nest while the eggs incubate, but the female spends more time at the nest than the male.

As soon as the goslings hatch, they are immediately capable of walking, swimming, and finding their own food (a diet similar to that of adult geese). Parents are often seen leading their goslings in a line, usually with one adult at the front and the other at the back. While they might appear short-tempered, snappy and threatening, Canada geese are really much like any doting parents — fiercely protective of their brood.

Nonmigratory Canada Goose populations have been on the rise. This species is frequently found on golf courses, parking lots, and urban parks, which would have previously hosted only migratory geese on rare occasions. Owing to its adaptability to human-altered areas, it has become one of the most common waterfowl species in North America.

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Camel Cricket

Posted on January 12, 2024 by tspuckler

Although it’s cold outside, the inner temperatures of caves is remarkablely stable. So some cool creatures can be found if a person is willing to do a little bit of exploring.

Camel Crickets get their common name from their humpbacked appearance, which is similar to that of a Camel. Also commonly known as Cave Crickets or Spider Crickets, this species can be found in caves, as well as damp, cool areas underneath damp leaves, stones and rotting logs.

These insects are widespread in the United States and in the world and have a lifespan of about one to two years. They do not possess sound producing organs, and therefore they do not chirp. Additionally, unlike other cricket species, the adults do not have wings.

Camel Cricket have very long antennae as well as long back legs, which enable them to jump several feet. They tend to be light tan to dark brown in color. These crickets are almost entirely nocturnal, so long antennae and other appendages allow them to feel their way around in the dark.

At the tip of the abdomen is a pair of long cerci (paired appendages on rearmost segment), and in females, an ovipositor (a tube-like organ used for laying of eggs) which is cylindrical, pointed, long and narrow, smooth and shiny.

Camel Crickets need to shed their exoskeleton periodically, a process known as molting. This is done as the insect grows, because the exoskeleton cannot expand.

These creatures are omnivores and eat what is readily available, from plants to carrion to fungi.

I enjoyed finding these unusual creatures as a kid and still like coming across them in the present day. I most often find them under rocks and fallen limbs in slightly damp locations. I usually come across them in the Autumn months while flipping logs, looking for salamanders.

Growing to about an inch long, there are about 150 species of Camel Crickets in the United States.

In 2023 this fine insect was named The 2023 USA Cave Animal of the Year: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/cave-cricket.htm

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Canadian Wild Ginger

Posted on January 5, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking in Carmel, Indiana, I can across this bit of greenery on the forest floor. It is a herbaceous, perennial plant which forms dense colonies in the understory of deciduous forests throughout its native range in eastern North America.

Canadian Wild Ginger is unrelated to commercially available ginger; however, it is named “wild ginger” because of the similar taste and smell of the roots. Early European settlers used to dry the rootstalk, grind it to a powder and use it as a spice.

The plant’s two velvety, heart-shaped leaves barely reach 12 inches in height. Its flowers bloom from the base of the plant, often hidden by its wide leaves.

Many a hiker has walked past the large colonies of this early Spring wildflower not realizing that it has an interesting and peculiar flower hidden underneath its canopy of foliage.

Canadian Wild Ginger evolved to attract small pollinating flies that emerge from the ground early in the Spring, looking for a thawing carcass of an animal that did not survive the winter. By being so close to the forest flower, it is readily found by the emerging flies.

Not only is this plant cool to see in the wild, it is often grown in gardens as groundcover in shady situations.

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Copperbelly Water Snake

Posted on December 29, 2023 by tspuckler

I often find this cool creature while visiting southern Illinois. Copperbelly Water Snakes have a solid, dark (usually black) back with a bright orange-red underside that is visible from a side view. Adults range from three to five feet in length.

The snake’s habitat is permanent, vegetated, shallow-edged wetlands mixed with continuous swamp-forest and woodlots. Copperbelly Water Snakes usually are active between April and late October or early November. After emergence from their hibernacula sometime in April or early May, these snakes migrate through forested or vegetated corridors to shallow ponds, lakes, shrub swamps and other shallow wetlands.

Copperbelly Water Snakes require large landscape complexes comprised of diverse suitable wetland habitats and surrounding upland habitats. They are considered one of the most terrestrial water snakes, spending considerable amounts of time away from water.

These snakes are found in two distinct population segments in the United States – the north and south. The northern population is federally listed as “threatened,” and its range includes southern Michigan, northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana. Another population of these snakes lives in southwestern Indiana and adjacent Illinois and Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. That population is not listed as threatened by the USFWS.

Frogs and tadpoles are the Copperbelly Water Snake’s main prey. This species hunts on land and in shallow water and favors seasonal wetlands where frogs, toads and salamanders lay their eggs. In addition to a large number of prey items, the gradual drying of these wetlands provides excellent feeding conditions as tadpoles become stranded.

Copperbelly Water Snakes give birth to live offspring. Newborns are about six inches in total length, and in a year are about 18 inches in total length. They are patterned with two-toned, reddish-brown, saddle-like crossbanding with reddish-orange chins and lips. Their bellies are light orange. Babies are cryptic, camouflaged, secretive, and hardly ever seen.

This snake is always a fun find for me when visiting southern Illinois.

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Great Spangled Fritillary

Posted on December 22, 2023 by tspuckler

While walking along railroad tracks in southern Illinois, I observed an example of this fine butterfly, which I also see in my home state of Ohio on occasion.

This beautiful insect is named for the orange and black fritillary pattern on the upper side of the wings and the silvery spangled areas on the underside of the wings. The sexes are colored differently, with females being more pale with a dark blackish color on the rear half of their wings. This pattern is not seen as distinctly in males.

The species is long-lived and many individuals that are found in late August and September (and in this case early October) are often very worn, with frayed and even missing parts of their wings.

The wingspan of the Great Spangled Fritillary is 3 to 4 inches. As mature butterflies, due to their large size, prefer large flowers including Common Milkweed, Thistle and Joe-Pye-Weed.

Similar to many other butterflies, they have chemoreceptors on the bottom surfaces of their four walking legs. These allow butterflies to find nectar with their feet.

Their caterpillars eat the leaves of different types of violets. They eat at night. During the day, the caterpillars hides under leaves. Unlike most butterfly larvae, which molt five times, they molt six times, becoming bigger each time that they molt until they they reach the final larval stage.

Great Spangled Fritillaries live mostly in temperate climates, but can be found in extremes from the arctic to the subtropical. They can be found in both open woodlands and prairies, preferring to be in moist habitats. Look for this butterfly in open, damp places including fields, valleys, pastures, meadows, open woodland, and prairies.

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European Black Pine

Posted on December 15, 2023 by tspuckler

While exploring a sand prairie in Missouri, I came across a couple examples of this tree. European Black Pine (also called Austrian Pine) was one of the early tree introductions into the United States, first reported in cultivation in 1759. Today, it is one of the most common introduced ornamentals in the United States.

This is a large coniferous evergreen tree, growing to 65–180 feet high at maturity and spreading 20 to 40 feet wide. The bark is gray to yellow-brown, and is widely split by flaking fissures into scaly plates, becoming increasingly fissured with age.

At maturity, its brown cones are about three inches long, and have small prickles on the backside of their scales. They spread their scales to release their seeds, and remain on the tree for up to several years.

European Black Pine is a tree of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. The majority of its range is in Turkey. It needs full sun to grow well, is intolerant of shade, and is resistant to snow and ice damage.

In the United States and Canada, it is planted as a street tree, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and parks. Its value as a street tree is largely due to its resistance to salt spray (from road de-icing salt) and various industrial pollutants.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, when demand for natural trees was extremely high, its rapid growth, deep green color and low cost made it briefly a popular Christmas tree, but the extreme length of the needles (making it very difficult to decorate) soon led to its fall from favor.

Although not native, this tree has a long and interesting history in the United States.

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False Map Turtle

Posted on December 8, 2023 by tspuckler

While out and about in southern Illinois, I saw a few examples of this turtle basking along waterways. It is a medium-sized species with a prominent keel along the center of the upper shell and thin yellow lines on the head, neck, and limbs. A yellow marking behind each eye extends upward and then backward, approximately forming a right angle or “L” shape. However, these yellow markings can vary among individuals.

Large rivers and their backwaters are the preferred aquatic habitat for Northern False Map Turtles. The species also occurs in river sloughs, oxbow lakes, lakes, and reservoirs. On the Mississippi River, False Map Turtles particularly prefer the main channel of the river, especially around wing dikes. A muddy bottom, some aquatic vegetation, and numerous basking sites are important habitat requirements.

Map Turtles of all species are avid baskers, spending many hours during the day in the sun. When with other turtles, they also are very communal, sharing space and using each other for predator-watching, increasing the odds of surviving an attack. In this photo, one was basking on top of a Red-eared Slider.

False Map Turtles will overwinter at the bottom of lakes and sloughs, in muskrat dens, or under rocks and logs. Mating occurs in the water during the Spring. Females dig nests in open, sandy areas and deposit between 8-22 eggs per clutch during the summer; females can lay 2-3 clutches. The young emerge after 69-75 days.

Females are twice the size of males with ranges of 5 to 10 inches and 3 to 5 inches, respectively.

Map Turtles get their name due to the patterning on their shells, especially in young individuals, where the concentric yellow lines look like a topographic map. This reptile is also know as a “Sawback Turtle,” due to the projections on its upper shell.

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Texas Brown Tarantula

Posted on December 1, 2023 by tspuckler

While herping in a glades habitat in Missouri, we came across this awesome arachnid. It is one of the most common species of tarantula living in the southern United States.

The Texas Brown Tarantula is a stocky, hairy species and is Missouri’s largest spider. The body and legs are uniformly dark chocolate brown, with reddish hairs on its back.

This species is commonly found in grasslands, in underground burrows, or using logs, stones, or other small animals’ abandoned dens as their homes and feeding grounds.

Like many hunting spiders, tarantulas are nocturnal, pursuing insects such as crickets and beetles. Like other spiders, they have fangs that deliver a venom that both subdues their prey and helps digest it. They are not dangerous to humans and tarantulas prefer areas seldom frequented by people.

Texas Brown Tarantulas use their spinnerets to line the entrance of their shelters with webbing to detect passing prey. In this photo the spider’s shed exoskelton is outside of its burrow entrance.

Though it is not aggressive, like any frightened animal, it will defend itself if it feels threatened. Running for cover is its usual response after being spotted.

This is a relatively long-lived creature. Most males do not live for more than a year, however some females can survive up to three decades. This Texas Brown Tarantula was the first adult example I’ve ever encountered and was a welcome find on our herping trip.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Spotted Lanternfly

Leatherleaf

Canada Goose

Camel Cricket

Canadian Wild Ginger

Copperbelly Water Snake

Great Spangled Fritillary

European Black Pine

False Map Turtle

Texas Brown Tarantula