Author: Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

The Color Red

There is a challenge this week to post things RED. A challenge sent out by the Digital Photography School.

Brilliant, strong colors come to the top of my list of favorite things, so I thought I’d post a few of my photographs of red things here. I hope you enjoy the quick trip through the world of the color red in my life.

A Midge causes these strange growths. They are called Grape Tube Gallmakers (Cedidomyia viticola). They build these galls on various species of the grape vine genus, Vitis.

1957 Ford Thunderbird.

Early winter. Seedling leaf. Redbud (Cercis canadensis).

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea). Zion National Park.

Okay, end of the very short tour of red. I’ve got much, much more. Maybe I’ll continue some other time. Color makes my world go ’round.

A Member Of The Soldier Beetle Family

Another Beetle that looks a bit like a Lightning Bug. Scientific name, Podabrus tomentosus. A species of the Soldier Beetle family, Cantharidae. There are approximately 3,500 species in this family. The Podabrus tomentosus is a species of Soldier Beetle that the Internet has neglected. It has no common name and in my search I found no more information about it, other than the scientific name and its family. But for the sake of helping this little fellow, whose length is .5 inch, feel included, I’m going to tell you a bit about it’s family which should give it some pride.

Soldier Beetles are indeed generally about .5 inch long, feed on pollen and nectar and also eat aphids and caterpillars. A great insect to have around to help out with those soft-bodied insects in the garden. They will wait on brightly colored flowers, such as Goldenrod, Zinnias, or Marigold, for their prey to come by but do no damage to those flowers.

An excellent pollinator to have in your garden, and that predatory work is appreciated as well.

Margined Blister Beetle

It looks a bit like a Lightning Bug but don’t be fooled. This is a Margined Blister Beetle (Epicauta funebris), which can be found in North America east of the Great Plains.  There are three color forms of this beetle, black, ash-gray, and margined as seen here.

They exude a substance called cantharidin if disturbed, which causes blisters when in contact with skin or mucous membranes. Cantharidin is highly toxic when consumed by chickens and horses, even in small amounts, and can cause death.

In the vegetable garden they can be a pest, causing damage to flowers and leaves of eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, and beets.

_______________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Cardinal Flower Revisited

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), an intense scarlet flower that is native to southeastern Canada south through the eastern and southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America to northern Colombia. The same color as my pickup truck, Chevy’s Victory Red.

With a tubular flower it’s the perfect shape for hummingbirds which love the blooms. Butterflies are frequent visitors too.

Cardinal Flower is a plant that enjoys moist areas. Here at my cabin they’re blooming, and down at the bottom of the mountain there are some that bloom every year in the ditches at the side of the road. They have managed to escape in an area that has not been “tidied up.”

Interested in reading more about Cardinal Flower? Check out another post I’ve written about them at: brendaclem.com/cardinal-flower/. More photos, more information.

Sleepy Orange Butterfly

Another orange (or is it actually yellow?) butterfly. Sleepy Orange Butterfly (Eurema nicippe). It is not enough to know that the butterfly you’ve seen is yellow/orange. You must pay attention to the details. In this case there is a diagonal dark smudge on the lower ventral wing which can be consistently seen.

And if you get a rare look at the dorsal side of the wings, you will see a small black dash in the middle in the upper forewing. That is where this butterfly gets its common name, “Sleepy.” I suppose it is thought this gives the butterfly a sleepy look, but its actions are anything but sleepy-like, their wings, with a span of 1.375″ to 2.25″, flutter in a very energetic way.

Sleepy Oranges’ native range is the southern third of the United States, clear down to Brazil. There are several host plants for this butterfly including plants in the Pea family. Adult butterflies enjoy flower nectar during its short life.

Watch for these beauties. They’re around just waiting to be noticed. But notice those little details.

Orange Sulphur Butterfly

Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme). A butterfly that flitters about with a wingspan of 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It has a large range, found from southern Canada to central Mexico. Being a generalist, its host plant is often vetch, clover, alfalfa, and other pea family plants. Eggs are laid on the host plant and hatch 4 to 5 days later.

The lifespan of the adult Orange Sulphur is 2 to 4 weeks and during their short life they consume the nectar of alfalfa, clover, milkweeds, plants in the sunflower (aster) family and many others.

Difficult to capture, the dorsal side of the wings. In this photo I’ve recorded the information, a rich yellow-orange. Not just a yellow butterfly, but an Orange Sulphur Butterfly.

*August 10, 2022. Last night, after putting together another blog post on these yellow/orange butterflies, I’ve realized that the butterfly in the above image is actually a Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe). This had been identified as an Orange Sulphur Butterfly in my post titled:  Orange Sulphur Butterflies. The telltale marking, the thin black line at the top of the forward dorsal wing is what convinces me.

Shaggy Mane Mushroom

Shaggy Mane Mushroom (Coprinus comatus) commonly seen in North America and Europe, though in my years of looking for fungi, I’ve only seen these which I’ve captured in pixels, down the dirt road, on my mountain. They grow in man-made habitats such as lawns, along dirt roads, beside hiking trails, in neglected areas, or even pushing up through the gravel of a parking lot. Showing up in groups, long rambling lines, or fairy rings. Another of the saprobic fungi which obtains its nutrients from decaying organic matter.

Starting out as egg shaped, they sometimes become columns up to 6 inches tall and 1 to 2 inches thick. With a stem that is white, sometimes up to 12 inches high, a bit less than 1 inch thick.

The Shaggy Mane has a method of spore dispersal that seems to me is purely magical. In a matter of just a day this fungus can go from being a white, egg shaped column to looking like a partially opened umbrella, turning black and dripping black liquid containing spores in a process called deliquescence. In chemistry the definition of deliquescence is, a process by which a substance absorbs moisture from the atmosphere until it dissolves in the absorbed water and forms a solution. Or in my terminology, magic.

I’m only sorry that in my photographs I didn’t capture the ultimate view of deliquescence. Those partially opened umbrella looking caps, literally dripping with an inky black liquid.

This blog gives no information about the edibility or toxicity of any of the mushrooms that are written about.

_______________________________________________________________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

Stalked Scarlet Cup

Another of the saprobic fungi. Stalked Scarlet Cup (Sarcoscypha occidentalis) lives as a network of root-like mycelium within dead branches, stems and other pieces of dead wood, on the moist forest floor. The mycelium, working within the dead wood gets nourishment by digesting the wood. They’re important decomposers in the forest.

Stalked Scarlet Cup favors Oak, Maple, Basswood and Shagbark Hickory.

Found in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, Central America, the Caribbean, and Asia.

These are the fruit bodies of the fungi. No larger than .8 inch wide. They emerge from late spring to early autumn. Mighty small, but easy to spot thanks to the rich, bright color.

Beefsteak Plant

Beefsteak Plant (Perilla frutescens)

Native to eastern Asia. Here in North America it is a exotic invasive. On the road coming up my mountain it is a common sight. Like other members of the Lamiaceae or mint family it has a square stem. The plants that grow in full sun have leaves that are dark purply-red resembling raw beef, which reflects its common name of “Beefsteak” Plant. Growing in the shade produces a green plant. Leaves are opposite, on long petioles, coarsley toothed, the upper surfaces have sunken veins, the lower surfaces, prominent veins.

Beefsteak Plant is poisonous to cattle, horses, goats, and other ruminants, and can cause death.

I went out this afternoon, right after it rained, and got this picture of many Beefsteak Plants. Look what it’s growing with, Japanese Stiltgrass, another exotic invasive. I wonder which will win the contest to block the native plants. Actually, here, I think they both have won. No natives in sight.