Long Trail

What: Last week Brian and I led a three-day backpacking trip for 11 & 12 year olds. We started at Lincoln Gap and finished at Appalachian Gap. We hiked about 14 miles total and stayed at Battell Shelter our first night and Glen Ellen the second night. The video shows some of the scenery and inside of Glen Ellen Shelter.

What else: This blog is primarily run by me, but we also have guest contributors and this fall we'll have students from Crow's Path programs updating it. We volunteer our time because we love sharing the natural world with others. If y'all enjoy it and learn a thing or two about the world around you, it'd be awesome if you could make a small donation by using the link to the right. 100% of donations support our programs directly through buying tools and gear or providing scholarships for kids. Any amount helps.

Ecological notes: On our last day, as one of the kids and I were walking down from Mt Ellen to the parking lot at Appalachian Gap, David asked how far we had to go. He remembered the parking lot at Lincoln Gap is at 2428', and suggested the Appalachian Gap was probably the same (he was right, it's 2375'). To answer his question, I just looked around me. The ridge line (about 3800'-4100' in elevation) smells so pristine with the scents of moss and spruce mixing in the updrafts blowing off the lake. As we descended, I pointed out a new plant that had started to appear, hobblebush. As we looked at the flowers, I told him that it won't grow much above 3000', so just 600' to go to the parking lot. I told him that we'd start seeing beech trees at about 2700' in elevation. I described the smooth gray (gray in America, grey in England) bark, which can look like an elephants foot, and the stiff papery leaves with perfectly straight veins. He spotted the first one, and I told him to keep his eyes peeled for more - 300' to go. The light broke open in the now overwhelmingly deciduous canopy and he started running towards the parking lot.

Where: Lincoln Gap to Appalachian Gap along the Long Trail.

Other notes: I just got back from a 30 mile paddle along the Winooski and saw some amazing things, including a roost of about 25 turkey vultures! I'll post on that in a couple of days.

The Monarch Grows Older

I went out yesterday looking for the monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus, see notes below for the sordid story behind the latin binomial). It wasn't where it hatched so I set out to find it. I spotted the feeding marks on a leaf which made it a lot easier. The shadowy figure taking respite from the heat was actually a moth. When I flipped over the leaf and I was pleasantly surprised with not one but three critters (one is not pictured.

I watched the caterpillar chew an outline into the leaf (you can see it in the above photo) and when I came back the section of leaf had been entirely removed. With a voracious appetite, the little caterpillar is about 4x as big as it was last Wednesday. It's also taken on the typical coloration of monarch caterpillars. I wonder if in their first instar (each molt of the exoskeleton is called an instar) they don't have any warning colors because they haven't ingested any toxin from the milkweed yet. What's interesting is that two other species that depend on milkweed in their life history also have bright colors - milkweed or oleander aphids (Aphis nerii) and small and large milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus and Lygaeus kalmii, respectively). Neither of these have appeared on the milkweed yet this year, but were present last year - maybe they'll show up later in the summer.

When I went back out today the monarch caterpillar had move up to the top of the plant and was gnawing on the flower buds. You can see a chewed bud at 9 o'clock in the above photo, which is actually what drew my attention in and I spotted the monarch second (the caterpillar is kitty-corner at 3 o'clock). I went back a few hours later and took the shot below. It had moved on to another bud and was gnawing on the stem of the bud. An hour later the bud was still detached but the sagging over. The caterpillar is bigger than it was yesterday!

Etymology notes: Danaus comes from the Greek mythological figure who had 50 daughters (monarchs have multiple generations in a year). He was the twin brother of the more well known Aegyptus (they were descendents of Io, the woman the ever-womanizing Zeus turned into a heifer to hide from the ever-jealous and vengeful Hera). Aegyptus went on to become the king of Egypt and sired a convenient 50 sons, all of whom - save one - were killed by the Danaids (the collective name for Danaus's 50 daughters, like a flock of crows is a murder, buzzards a wake, coyotes a band, and house cats a clowder - more here). 

While there are several Plexippuses found in Greek mythology, it's not difficult to narrow down the namesake to the Plexippus that was one of Aegyptus's sons. The sons drew straws (well, sort of) to marry one of the daughters. Danaus had no interest in letting his daughters marry his twin brothers sons so they 51 of them fled to Argos. The Aegyptus and his 50 jilted sons tracked them down. Danaus readily submitted, not wanting harm to fall upon Argos, but told his daughters to kill their husbands on the first night of their marriage. Plexippus married - and was murdered by -Amphicomone

One daughter, Hypermnestra, spared her husband, Lynceus, as he alone respected his wife's desire to remain a virgin. As you can imagine, he was pretty irate at the fate of his brothers and killed Danaus. He and Hypermnestra remained wedded and started the lineage of rulers of Argos (which includes such notables as Perseus). The other daughters chose new husbands by holding footraces.

Other milkweeds or tigers (the common name for members of the Danaus genus) have specific epithets (the second part of the latin name) that derive from other sons of Aegyptus (like chrysippus).

Monarch butterfly

What: The milkweed has certainly got my attention this time of year. I spotted a monarch near the milkweed in the front of my house and my heart immediately skipped a beat with the anticipation that it might lay an egg on one of the stalks. Sure enough it did!! I told my mom I'd get her a monarch chrysalis for her birthday, so hopefully these little caterpillars will make it to the pupal stage. The eggs hatch in about 4-5 days, so and I took the above photo on Saturday. Yesterday when I went out in the evening I took the photo below:

In about 2 weeks the caterpillar will begin the process of metamorphosis, and 10 days later it will emerge a beautiful butterfly (and die 2-6 weeks later after giving birth to the next generation). Given the timing of this hatch, this should be the 2nd or 3rd generation of the year. The 4th generation is born in the fall and migrates down towards Mexico. This generation will live around 6 months.

I tried to catch a video of the monarch laying its egg, but I didn't have much success. They only land on the leaf for a couple of seconds and then they're off flying in crazy, unpredictable patterns (possibly to make it harder for birds to catch them on the wing?). She would lay an egg, then flap around for a few minutes before returning to lay another egg (one at a time, I watched her lay about 2 dozen in 20 minutes). The eggs were all on the under side of the leaf and always on milkweed. A couple of times she landed on a nearby Jerusalem artichoke or a beggars tick, but far more often than not it was on milkweed.

Ecological notes: I was impressed with the number of other insects making use of the milkweed. There were more tortoise beetles, some ants, an ear wig, a cabbage moth, a spider eating what looked like a June bug, and lots of long-legged flies (Dolichopodidae).

Where: Milkweed patch in my front yard.

Other notes: More cicadas singing, plus a pair of mourning doves making a nest in the boxelder across the street. I'll post more on that soon.

Puerto Rico II: Herptiles!

This is your second "guest lecture" from the tiny mountain town of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico (soon to be sister-city of Burlington, Vermont!)

 Sounds of the early evening - the coquís singing. 

Cane Toad - Bufo marinus

Cane Toad - Bufo marinus

Unidentified lizard

Common Coquí (Eleutherodactylus coqui)

Common Coquí (Eleutherodactylus coqui)

What: The Common Coquí (Eleutherodactylus coqui) is hands-down the national symbol of Puerto Rico. I am serenaded by them every evening from my urban apartment - I can only imagine that their ko-KEE call would be deafening in the forest. I also discovered a large Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) in the small man-made pool outside my house. I am still not abel to identify this Unknown Lizard ("largato" en español), which is one of many I see scurrying about the open areas all day long - I still have yet to actually catch one - they are fast!


Ecological notes: I've learned that the Common Coquí is native to Puerto Rico, but has become something of a nuisance in other tropical environments into which it has been introduced. The Eleutherodactylus genus (name coming from the Greek for "free-toed" - nearly all have unwebbed feet) is the largest genus of vertebrates in the world with about 700 species (but now, as with many re-classification schemes, the genus is being divided into several more distinct sub-genera). The coquí is assuredly a tree frog - hence its webbed feet. The Eleutherodactylus are one of the few frog genera wherein all the frogs go through what is called "direct development," meaning that they skip a tadpole stage, and are born as very very tiny frogs (full size female common coquís are only about 40mm, or 1.5in). The Cane Toad is an exotic species, coming originally from Oceania, and now seen all over the island of Puerto Rico, in addition to the only other toad (which is native), the Puerto Rican Crested Toad. There are about 40 different types of lizards on the island of Puerto Rico, depending on how you count (some people draw distinctions between iguanas and skinks when talking about "lizards").


Where: Once again, all in my backyard right here in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico - in the Central Cordillera mountain range of Puerto Rico. Elevation about 1,600 ft. 

Tortoise beetles

What: A few years ago I was looking through Audobon's guide to insects and I came across a photo of a tortoise beetle. They're hilariously improbable looking animals, somehow a cross between a lady beetle and an adorable, cartoonish turtle, and I immediately wanted to find one. I had to wait, and it wasn't until last year that my patience was rewarded. When I spotted it I dashed inside to grab my camera and when I came back it had vanished. Last week I was out at Rock Point at the marching band meadow, which is just full of milkweed, and I spotted an amazing type of tortoise beetle. It was a metallic silver, not very camouflaged on the underside of the milkweed leaf. As soon as I got close it popped off. I spotted a few more and the same thing happened every time.

I've been transplanting milkweed (Asclepias sp.) and intermediate dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum, apo=away from, cynum=dog, like canine, in reference to its toxicity to dogs and cannabinum in reference to its similarity to hemp for use in making cordage) to my front yard for a couple of years now (it's my fiber garden). Yesterday while hanging out on my front yard I spotted a mottled tortoise beetle (Deloyala guttata) on our morning glory vines. Mottled tortoise beetles are common on morning glories (Ipomoea purpurea, in the same genus as sweet potato) and its relatives (in the family Convolvulaceae). I grabbed my camera and took some shots and the below video of the little guy taking flight. 

A couple minutes later I was showing Zac the milkweed seedlings when I spotted another!! tortoise beetle. This one, a golden tortoise beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata), quietly deposited a chunk of frass (the entomologists delicate word for bug poop), and after a minute flew off. 

Ecological notes: Tortoise beetles are part of the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae). On the whole this group superficially resembles lady beetles. They're strict vegetarians, both as larvae and adults, and are often host specific to their food of choice. They over winter as adults, and as I noted above, when disturbed will just drop off the plant. I've seen this repeatedly with the simple and charismatic milkweed leaf beetle (Labidomera clivicollis), a common leaf beetle that feeds on the toxic sap of milkweed and has the exact same coloration as a monarch butterfly; if it shows up in my fiber garden I'll be sure to post a photo. Larvae will cover themselves in fecal matter to hide from would-be predators - not sure I'd go hunting for piles of poop.

Where: My frontyard.