Tag: nature journaling

Manduca sexta

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Here’s something interesting: hornworms’ hemolymph (blood) is blue, coloured by a protein called insecticyanin. The foliage they eat contains carotenoids, which are primarily yellow in hue. The resulting combination (blue + yellow) gives them their green colouring. If fed a wheatgerm-based diet in a lab, these caterpillars are turquoise due to the lack of carotenoids in their diet.

Both tobacco hornworms and the very similar tomato hornworms are big fans of Solanaceae (nightshades like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, tobacco), but they also eat crucifers, legumes, eucalyptus, ficus, and other plants.

Lithobates catesbeianus

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I’ve heard bullfrogs a couple of times recently (at Malibu Creek and the pond at Rocky Oaks), so got curious about them. This amphibian is invasive here, as well as in South America, Western Europe, China, Japan, and southeast Asia.

Bullfrogs are voracious, opportunistic, ambush predators. Their stomachs have been found to contain rodents, small lizards and snakes (including the young of the California endemic giant garter snake, a threatened species), other frogs and toads, amphibians, crayfish, other crustaceans, small birds, scorpions, tarantulas and bats, as well as the many types of invertebrates, such as snails, worms and insects.

Earlier this year, the Utah Department of Natural Resources began tweeting tips on how to catch and cook bullfrogs in an effort to encourage residents to help control the growing population by catching the invasive frogs for food. Bullfrogs are also used for dissection in science classes, but this demand is never going to outstrip the supply!

Would you ever eat bullfrog?

Sketched from a Creative Commons photo by Carl D. Howe

stipule

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I learned a new word, and botanical term. Stipule. If something has stipules, it is stipulate (adjective).

The verb stipulate, meaning to make an agreement or covenant to do or forbear anything; to contract; to settle terms; to bargain, comes from the Latin stipulus meaning firm, which also has roots in stipes, a trunk.

So ultimately both uses of stipulate come from the same trunk, but have very different meanings. I love etymology.

baby acorns

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Since the oaks finished flowering, I’ve been checking on the baby acorns at every opportunity. The valley oaks have the lead at this point; they will eventually be much larger than the coast live oak acorns so that’s not surprising. It’s fun to peek among the leaves and see what I can spot — not every oak produces flowers/acorns every year so it’s a bit of a treasure hunt.

Uta stansburiana

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K was exercising in the living room, when he suddenly yelped. It seemed he had somehow squashed a side-blotched lizard. Sad for the lizard, but good for me! If I get the opportunity to closely examine a critter, I’ll take it.

This little guy is named for the dark blue smear behind the front legs. More impressive is the iridescent turquoise speckling on the back.

Augochlora pura

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Augochlora pura is a solitary sweat bee found primarily in the Eastern United States. Its Latin name means “pure golden green“, a lovely description of its metallic green hue. It nests in rotting logs, and can produce up to three generations per year. Both males and females have been observed licking sweat from human skin, most likely seeking salt.

If you are being “foraged” by sweat bees, be careful to brush them from your elbow and knee joints before bending your limbs, or you may be inadvertently stung.

Anemopsis californica

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While visiting the lagoon, I was stopped in my tracks by these pretty flowers, and had to learn more about this striking plant.

Yerba Mansa, also known as Lizard Tail, is a perennial native to southwestern US. It prefers wet locations, especially alkaline or saline marshy places below 2000 metres.

The leaves and stems are covered in soft hairs. On the upper side of the leaves, the hairs follow the veins; on the underside they cover the whole surface.

What appears to be a single bloom is actually a dense cluster of individual small flowers borne in a conical inflorescence with five to ten large white bracts beneath it. The conical structure develops into a single, tough fruit with tiny, pepper-like seeds.

The root can be consumed raw or cooked; it has a peppery flavour. Pulverized seeds can be used to make bread or added into other dishes. The root and rhizome have been used to treat the common cold, influenza, pain, wounds, burns, gastrointestinal upsets and many other conditions, but, according to WebMD, there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses. 

Peritoma arborea

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I should try to get bladderpod established on our block. It’s apparently easy to grow from seed (and readily self-seeds). It‘s drought-tolerant and fire-retardant, and it attracts native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. And deer don’t eat it.

The only downside is that it hosts the harlequin beetle which can be a serious pest on brassicas, which I do like to grow in the veggie garden. I wonder how far apart that two kinds of plants would have to be, for this to not be a problem? Hmm, this warrants some further research.