Eggs – Tendrils

Pipevine Swallowtail

Brand new! This Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) has just emerged from its chrysalis.

A couple years ago I decided that if I wanted to see Pipevine Swallowtails, I should get a plant that would engage them. Their host plants are in the genus Aristolochia. One of them, Woolly Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia tomentosa) filled the bill since it’s native to the eastern US and southeastern Canada. Perfect. I put up a trellis, planted it and let it grow.

And nature did its magic. Pipevine Swallowtails came and deposited eggs on the leaves. Those eggs became caterpillars. Many caterpillars.

I was beside myself with glee.

The little caterpillars ate the leaves of the vine, getting larger and larger until it was time for each of them to create a chrysalis. Much to my surprise one of the plump black and orange dotted creatures decided to present me with a gift. The gift of perfect location. It built its chrysalis right next to my front door at the perfect height for me to watch its progress. The perfect height for my camera to capture happenings.

The chrysalis was attached to the cedar siding with two little silken threads, one at the back and the other near the front. And it hung there day after day. Glowing with its incredible coloring. Glowing yellow creating the illusion of warm candlelight coming from within.

As time passed the chrysalis turned more and more paper bag brown. But still it seemed to glow from within with that warm candlelight yellow.

Then at about day 17, the chrysalis looked as if there was something inside, not just candlelight but something resembling a butterfly eager to get out. I thought about manning a station. Sitting, watching constantly to see the miraculous moment when the butterfly emerged. But I didn’t.

My next observation just a short time later, the chrysalis was just an empty shell. The incredible NEW butterfly was hanging onto the siding, pumping its butterfly “blood” into its wings. Getting ready to fly away to begin its extremely short life of just 6 to 14 days.

What an extraordinary thing to witness. I’m so very glad I planted that Wooly Dutchman’s Pipe.

Larger Elm Leaf Beetle

Quite a pretty beetle with its colorful iridescence, the Larger Elm Leaf Beetle can be found in the eastern and southeastern US, from Florida west to Kansas and north to Pennsylvania. Elm is a favorite tree that this beetle feeds on, but it also skeletonizes the leaves of Hawthorn, Hazelnut, Flowering Dogwood, River Birch, Pecan and Plum. It’s most often spotted in hardwood forests and woodlands that have a lot of elm trees.

**The larvae of Larger Elm Leaf Beetles start out just after emerging from their eggs at 1/8 inch long and greenish-yellow to 3/4 inch long and looking like this photo.**

Adult Larger Elm Leaf Beetles chew holes in leaves and lay their eggs on the leaves. The larvae aren’t shy though and don’t hold back, they consume everything but the veins of leaves as they feed.

**A view from below. Looking up at the larvae of Larger Elm Leaf Beetles**

The Tachinid Fly, and parasitic wasps use Larger Elm Leaf Beetles as their hosts controlling to some extend their population.

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Tiger Bee Fly

Nothing to worry about, though it reminds me of a Horsefly. Actually something to cheer about. This is a Tiger Bee Fly (Xenox tigrinus). It doesn’t show any aggression toward humans. No stinging. No biting.

Measuring in at one-half to three-quarter inch long, the Tiger Bee Fly is an insect of the family Bombyliidae (bee flies), which is native to the eastern United States and southern Ontario. It’s a wonderful pollinator in our gardens with an extra SUPER benefit that is brought to our homes and yards. The female Tiger Bee Fly lays her eggs near the entrance to Carpenter Bee nests. As her larvae hatch they enter the Carpenter Bee nests and eat those larvae. A parasite of Carpenter Bees! I must put out a sign saying, “Welcome Tiger Bee Flies!”

Silvery Checkerspot

Warm sunlight shining through a tiny butterfly wing. Capturing this view of the wings was a challenge. A view that this little critter didn’t want to share. But seeing this, the underside of the wings, makes identification easy. Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) on Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens). In this view the hindwing is pale with a large white crescent at the margin. That is a key to identification.

Another Silvery Checkerspot with that same ventral view of the wing. Again the telltale white crescent at the margin.

Adult Silvery Checkerspots seek nectar at many species of flowers including Black-eyed Susan, Apple Mint, Common Milkweed, Red Clover, and Dogbane.

Females lay eggs often a bit more than one hundred at a time on larval host plant leaves that include asters, coneflowers, and sunflowers. In their early larval stages they stay together consuming those leaves. Though they can totally skeletonize those leaves I won’t panic since I know that they’ll turn into precious little butterflies.

Great Spangled Fritillary

One of many species of Fritillary that depend on native violets as their host plant, Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele). They’re seen in the central and northern United States and southern Canada sporting a wingspan of about three inches.

Many adult butterflies have a very short life. In contrast, adult Great Spangled Fritillaries live from June to September. In early September they will mate. Females will lay their eggs near or on native violet plants.

Right after hatching the larvae will tunnel into the soil seeking a place to spend the winter in a state of diapause or “hibernation.” Come spring they’re close to where those native violets will be growing, ready to provide nourishment for the caterpillars. Keep in mind violets, that pop up in your garden, grow in your lawn, the Fritillaries depend on them.

Carolina Wrens

Over the years I’ve had many Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) nests built here at my cabin. At least one out by the vegetable garden in a bird house.

Another in a five-pointed star bird house on the porch.

And in what seems to be a favorite spot, in an antique graniteware coffeepot hanging from the porch ceiling. That coffee pot was found here, down by the very old, pre-1905 cabin. My seven year old granddaughter says the coffeepot looks like a white and black cow, with its spots. I think that’s an apt description. The coffeepot is not only their favorite nesting spot but also a favorite spot for snuggling in at night, no matter whether it’s the coldest cold of winter or the warmest of summer nights.

Nesting activities are taking place right now. In very early May a pair of wrens were going hither and yon, gathering and placing just the perfect bits, using a basket that is also hanging from the porch ceiling as a landing spot. A spot to jump from, into the coffeepot.

Endless trips back and forth bringing all sorts of stuff, from pine needles to leaves to a bit of aluminum foil from the grill.

Now, add a bit of a complication. Our porch is getting a repair job. Work on the repair had not started when the nest construction began. But once the new lumber arrived along with hammers and saws, well you can just imagine the sounds. The pounding, the sawing, more pounding. So much commotion. But still the little wrens continued.

And then the time I had dreaded arrived. Moving day. The coffeepot was hanging from the ceiling at a spot where it would be absolutely in the way. Time to move it where it and the residents would be safe. AND when the coffeepot was brought down from the ceiling, a joyous revelation. Four tiny eggs. Seven-tenths of an inch long. Six-tenths of an inch wide. That tiny. Moved to a spot that will be away from the action, within fifteen feet of where the coffeepot had been.

I watched with great apprehension and finally one of the parents showed up where the coffeepot had been but within less than a minute the coffeepot was spotted and accepted. That tense time was twelve days ago. Mom has been sitting on her eggs nearly all the time now. Carolina Wren Moms do leave the nest occasionally. And now when will the eggs hatch? In twelve to sixteen or twelve to seventeen days, depending on which source you want to depend on. That means soon! I can hardly wait!

First Wood Frogs of Spring

As the evening was coming to a close last night I was so pleased to hear a sound I’ve grown fond of. “Clack, clack, clack!” An odd sound not heard since LAST spring. Today my pond has been REALLY active.

The sound of Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). They’ve left their winter hibernating spots. Perhaps under a rock, beneath a log, or snug under leaf litter, they come out in search of a pool of water to join others for breeding. They’ll breed in lakes and slow flowing streams, but more often seek out vernal pools which won’t have predators that would eat their eggs or tadpoles.

During the day into the evening males call to attract females making quite a hullabaloo.

Within just a couple days there will be MANY eggs in the pond. The eggs laid in the water, as a male clasps a female, releasing sperm into the water to fertilize the eggs. Often those eggs are hatched within a week. And by late June or early July there will be more Wood Frogs here in the woods.