Mosquito Larvae & Adults

Our school year is in full swing now. (I'll post our "first day" pics sometime.) We started out our nature studies this year with mosquitos. For some of our nature study we're following the Outdoor Hour Blog. There's some really great resources on that site.

We captured some larvae (and a pupa, though we didn't know it at the time) and an adult at my parents' house. We stuck the adult in the fridge to let her go to sleep so we could look at her.

Here are some really cool things we learned about mosquitos.
--The larvae have two tubes at the end of their tails -- a breathing tube and a swimming organ.
--Their head is hairy and those little hairs create a small current so to sort of "wave" the food in.
--Only females bite.
--Only females buzz/ sing.
--The males have very big and hairy antennae so as to hear the females' songs.
--The females tap blood to help nurture the eggs.
--The females lay their eggs in a big formation called an egg raft.

And here are some pics & video we took with our Zorb microscope.






And our adult:




And, since these guys are pests, my plan was for us to poor the water out, thereby leaving the larva to die; however, Emelye insisted that we not kill "baby mosquitos." So, we're waiting for them all to mature to adults . . .

Spring is in the air!!

I wanted to start this post talking about how much I dislike winter. The cold. The dreariness. The gray skies. The cold. The naked trees. And, yes, the cold. And then I thought about how going without something often brings us to a point of longing for that which we love. Then I also considered how colder winters have a tendency to reduce the number of summertime mosquitos and other pests. So, I guess, in the long run, maybe having winter is beneficial.

BUT . . .

I still can't wait until it's over. Every year I eagerly await the first signs of life. The buds on the trees. A bee buzzing by, warming up from the cold winter. Forsythia buds. And, my personal favorite litmus test for new spring life -- the buttercup. I purposely have buttercups in my flower beds so I can have a daily check of new growth. (They are normally the very first signs of springtime that I see.)

And, of course, what is springtime without nest building, courtship, and little ducklings? My mom's duck, Hoppy, is spending a month or so here with Puddle to hopefully make that happen. Puddle has never seen another duck. I honestly believe she thinks that we are her flock. We brought Hoppy to meet our Puddle today. If she had a jaw I think it would have dropped when magnificent Hoppy stumbled out of his box. For a split second she was a little wary. Then she proceeded to march toward him and follow him around the yard and he checked out his new place.

Feeling a little insecure about his new surroundings, he quickly found some safety in a coop that we no longer use. (He's used to being in one at his home.) Puddle would go in to stay for a bit and then back out to get a drink from the turtle sandbox turned duck pond.

We are excited about the signs of new life around our yard and the possibility of new ducklings. I took a few pics of early springI hope you enjoy them!








First cherry blossom

Our Moths Have Emerged!

So in my last post, I mentioned something about finding some white caterpillars around the b'fly garden & identifying them as Virginia Tiger Moth caterpillars. Well, the first one emerged a few days ago & I wanted to share some pics.

Emelye put him outside to "be with his family" once he emerged.


Smile!

Our Butterfly Garden -- updated

Well, the lovely little bordered patch caterpillars have thoroughly destroyed Mr. Sunflower. His head even lies in repose.



Most of the caterpillars have moved on to greener pastures, but there are a few hanging around still.


We also have found some of these guys around:


They are Virginia Tiger Moth caterpillars. They eat just about anything we've found. I found them on the sunflower, the coreopsis, and some weeds. We "adopted" one. (Emelye named him/ her Fuzzy.) A few days ago, s/he spun his cocoon:


We'll see how long he needs before he emerges (and if I've correctly identified him as a caterpillar!)

Our Butterfly Garden

This year we took an active effort in planting an actual garden to attract butterflies. We planted some host plants (for caterpillars) & nectar plants (for the adults). The plan was to have a fun zone for all members of the butterfly family-- something for everyone! Well, the flood drowned much of our seedling plants. And some just didn't grow.

Still, we have a sunflower going strong, a verbena, lots of zinnias, some cosmos, butterfly bushes, and something from my mom's garden (can't remember the name). Oh, and I even got a few milkweed plants from my parents' land. (They always mow them down because the cows shouldn't eat them.)

And then . . . today . . . I spotted the first "batch" of caterpillars under one of our sunflower leaves.



And then, I discovered 3 more "groups" of caterpillars on different sunflower leaves.



Front of leaf:


So the big question then -- what are they?

Answer: Bordered Patch Butterfly Caterpillars

After doing a little reading I discovered that they will probably mark the end to our sunflower. I asked Emelye if she would rather us kill the caterpillars or let them kill the sunflower. (She worked hard to have both after all.) She decided having caterpillars/ butterflies was a bigger pay off to her than having a big sunflower.

Now we wait to see how long Mr. Sunflower will last. Well, maybe. I also read about how Mockingbirds just love to munch on these little caterpillars. Since our yard birds are Robins, Mockingbirds, & Sparrows, the game is on! Who will win -- caterpillars or sunflowers/ birds?!?!!? I watch too much reality tv . . .

MY very own nature walk

Read about MY nature walk on my photography blog! We took another nature walk on Friday (I'll post sometime), and I clearly understood that these nature walks are for the kids' enjoyment & education. So, that means I take my own walks sometimes. Check it out to see what I found & help me identify a few items.