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.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). It was while I was eating lunch. October 4th. The last one came through. I still waited. I left the last feeder out thinking there might be one more straggler. One more late little clown coming through. But it didn’t happen. At least not that I know. The feeders are all taken down now. No more hummingbird syrup to watch. Be sure it’s fresh. Be sure there’s enough. No more until next April. Next April will bring the cheery little rays of sunshine. Replacing the joy of snowflakes with the hilarity of jousting mini feathered creatures.
Yellow Bear Caterpillar (Spilosoma virginica). This is the larval stage of the Virginian Tiger Moth. These caterpillars are covered in tufts, or small tubercles, which contain many hairs of different lengths. Varying in color from caterpillar to caterpillar from snow white, soft yellow, brown-yellow, to orange-red.
The Yellow Bear Caterpillar is not poisonous but folks with sensitive skin could end up with an allergic reaction to these hairs. If you happen to have one come to rest on you, carefully remove it with a leaf.
When fully grown as a caterpillar, the Yellow Bears will be 2 inches long. They live across all of North America feeding, as generalists, upon their host plants of many vegetable, fruit, flower, weed, tree species as well as field crops. Vegetable gardens provide hosts to them with carrot, corn, cauliflower, potato and pumpkin. Also targeted are grasses and clovers. As they eat they skeletonize leaves. These caterpillars should be of no concern until the summer into fall group arrives on the scene. Until then there are not enough caterpillars to do any real damage to plants and trees.
Eggs of Yellow Bear Caterpillars are laid, 20 to 100 in a single layer on the undersides of host plants’ leaves. The eggs will hatch in about a week. The young caterpillars at this early stage are gregarious, feeding together on the leaves where they hatched. As they mature they will feed on their own.
After about 4 weeks, going from gregarious to independent, they are fully grown and seek secluded places to pupate. You’ll see mature caterpillars May through November. To pupate, caterpillars spin cocoons and spend the next 1 to 2 weeks transforming into moths.
The adult Virginia Tiger Moth is nearly all snow white except for one or two minuscule black spots on each wing. Their fuzzy legs are the same snow white with a few black spots. The midsection of the body shows bright yellow near the head and black dots along either side. Its wingspan is 1 to 2 inches.
And the award for the best costume goes to the Camouflaged Looper (Synchlora aerata). A little inch worm which generally is no larger than 1/2 inch in length. The challenge of the Camouflaged Looper being an inch worm is that inch worms are a favorite food of many birds. And this challenge is met with an extremely clever costume.
This amazing effort of the Camouflaged Looper to blend in with its surroundings is called “crypsis.” Much like another word – crypt – which comes from the Greek word “apokruphos” meaning secretive or to hide.
Their clever costume is created by selecting snippets of plants they are wandering through. Snippets that are fastened to their body with bits of silk in hopes that birds will not recognize them as dinner.
This costume is replaced nearly everyday keeping those snippets, the petals or leaves or seeds which constitute its disguise fresh and able to blend in with the plant that the Camouflaged Looper is nibbling on.
When the remarkably shrewd inch worm pupates, it transforms into a Wavy Lined Emerald Moth which is a small, soft shade of green, moth, found through much of eastern North America. Being nocturnal the adults can be found fluttering around your porch light at night. If you happen to find one of these Camouflaged Loopers costumed in your garden, savor its ability, enjoy its cleverness. They don’t show up in large numbers. They are no threat to your garden plants. Simply admire them.
Imperial Moth Caterpillar (Eacles imperialis). One of our largest caterpillars. The last instar, or larval stage, can grow to be 5.5 inches long. As an adult the Imperial Moth is mighty big too. Its wingspan ranges from 3 to 7 inches.
They’re found from Quebec and Ontario to as far south as Argentina, from the Atlantic coast, to the Rocky Mountains. These caterpillars eat the leaves of Oaks, Maples, Sassafras, Sweetgum, Bald Cypress, Hickory, Cedar. And these are just their favorites. They can be found nibbling the leaves of many other trees. Fortunately for the trees, these caterpillars don’t show up in large numbers and don’t present a threat to any of the trees they dine on.
See all those hairs on these caterpillars? They can irritate skin. There are also barbs that can cause a rash. It’s my policy to leave caterpillars be. I don’t pick them up, just to be safe. Not just the Imperial Moth Caterpillar but all caterpillars. I think they’re happier that way too.
What are drupes? In botany a drupe is a plump fruit which does not split open when ripe, with a thin skin and a central shell containing a single seed. Examples are Almond, Cherry, Peach, Elderberry, Olive, Coffee, and Coconut. And of course Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) seen in the picture above.
Right now in the mountains there are many Blackhaw bushes or small trees with loads of drupes ripening from a pinkish red color to blue-black, sometimes with a white bloom. The drupes, if they last long enough, will dry and take on a raisin appearance. There is a long list of birds that enjoy the drupes including many of my favorites. A few of them: the Hermit Thrush, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, and Red-eyed Vireo. Autumn brings changes in the color of the leaves too, on these deciduous bushes. They really get into the spirit of the season with leaves turning many shades of red, purple, yellow and orange.
Honey Bee (Apis), surrounded by autumnal color in the center of a Gaillardia, collecting both nectar and pollen. Honey Bees need nectar and pollen for their colony. As they collect the pollen it is unwittingly distributed among other flowers, providing a helping hand, pollinating those flowers. The pollen provides nutrients including protein, which is used mostly for their larvae. The nectar provides the bees energy. Honey Bees are not a single species. Historically 7 to 11 species are acknowledged. A small number, compared to the 20,000 known bee species of the world.
Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). A poisonous, herbaceous, perennial plant with red stalks that can grow to be 3 to 10 feet tall. And under perfect conditions can reach more than 20 feet tall. It’s native to eastern North America, the Midwest, the South, through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to the West Coast. All parts of the plant are highly toxic resulting in a variety of symptoms including death in rare cases. The berries are especially poisonous. If you must handle pokeweed, use protective gloves.
But Pokeweed does have a good side. The attractive green to dark purple berries are a good food source for many songbirds and other bird species. Small mammals, impervious to the toxins, also benefit from the berries. Pokeweed multiplies exclusively by seed which birds help to distribute. Those little seeds have an incredible viability of up to 40 years in the seed bank.
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Beautiful and exceptionally intelligent birds. They’re mimics. Included in their repertoire, are the calls of many hawks, particularly the Red-shouldered Hawk, and some owls. Predators that Blue Jays will avoid.
Males and females are alike except that males are a bit larger. They are monogamous, staying together for life. Both participate in nest building and raising their young, and have strong family bonds.
At your backyard feeder Blue Jays will eat most anything that you’ll put out for all the birds with the exception of Nyjer seed. I haven’t had my feeders out since late spring and plan to put them out tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing the Blue Jays that I’ve been hearing in the woods.
Sycamore Tree (Platanus occidentalis). In fall, a speckled symphony of autumnal color.
A tree seeming to have a marble trunk.
A tree that enjoys a riparian life. Streams become easy to spot. Marbled trunks meandering through the woods following the stream.
A bark that drops off in patches. Patches that might be perfect for writing a letter if one were to have no paper. Write your note, add a stamp and drop it in the mailbox.
Seeds in balls. Appear in November. Dropping to the ground in late spring.
A leaf of the Sycamore tree. One speck, part of a symphony of autumnal color.
Stopping by for a meal on the way south. A Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens) enjoys the seeds of Purple Coneflowers that I’ve left for the travelers. My gardens may look untidy, but they are a way of welcoming these birds as they pass through. Birds that are migrating long distances during the dark of night. Aiming for the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, the Caribbean coast of Mexico and Central America.
The Black-throated Blue Warbler is 5 inches in length, with a wingspan of 7.5 to 8 inches. In comparison to other birds, they are larger than a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and smaller than a Hermit Thrush. I wish them well on their way to their winter home.
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