INSECTS IN THE GARDEN

Checking in on the school garden this week brought some very cool surprises. First, Urban Nature Club member and student gardener, Iory, found an odd looking caterpillar in the grass. I didn't know what it was, so when I went home I did a little research and learned that it was the larva of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. I thought that was a little strange since the larva's host plant (the plants eaten by this particular caterpillar) are mostly tree leaves, like Tulip tree, Magnolia, Wild Cherry, Sassafras. The larva usually live high up in these trees in silky nests. Apparently this one fell and found it's way to our garden. Lucky us!

Iory holding the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Chrysalis

By the way, the caterpillar is usually green and only turns brown when its near to pupating. And the yellow-rimmed "eyes" are not eyes at all. They are "eye spots" used to scare away predators. 

The night of the day that Iory found the caterpillar was a night of wonderful transformation. The caterpillar turned into a chrysalis. And that's how it remains as of today. Within a week or so, it will change into a gorgeous Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Stay tuned!

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This afternoon I visited the garden to do some watering. It's been sooooo hot and I was worried about the plants. When I was watering the McDonald Avenue side garden, I took a look at my recently sowed dill and found two Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies. I recognized them because in previous years I had found them in the herb bed. The caterpillars really like to chew on our dill and parsley. I plucked them off so they don't damage our herbs and are now raising them at home. It's very important that I keep them fed with lots of fresh dill and parsley.

Then I walked over to the raspberry patch, which didn't have much to harvest, but then I noticed a chubby caterpillar on the milkweed in that bed and instantly knew it was a Monarch caterpillar. Milkweed is the only plant a Monarch caterpillar will eat. I also took the caterpillar home and am feeding it as well, since I have lots of milkweed in my home garden. You can see in the photo below just how quickly these guys eat! Since it's so big and fat, it's probably going to pupa soon, so in the morning I will set it up with a little branch to hang on. Again, stay tuned!

The large caterpillar is a Monarch larva. The two smaller larvae are Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly

URBAN NATURE CLUB SUMMER TRIP!

On July 3, 3013, some members of the Urban Nature Club joined me and Ms. Rubens for a nature walk at the Salt Marsh Nature Center in Brooklyn.

We had an amazing time discovering nature and enjoying the great outdoors.

Hamza holds a fiddler crab. He also spotted the diamondback terrapin

 Iory checks out some of the marsh's native plants

Ms. Seitz holding the diamondback terrapin

Saiful really loved the native salt hay

Danny took a dip in the creek

We even splashed a little in Gerritsen Creek and got a special, personal tour of the closed nature center with Park Ranger Gabe Herrera, a Park Slope native.

The 21-year-old ranger is attending Skidmore College, where he is studying anthropology and sociology. He told us about the many free activities, including canoeing, offered at the salt marsh.

Ranger Herrera schooled the boys on box turtles, among other things

Tell your parents about this place and head out there for some free, summer fun! Just click on http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/marinepark/facilities/naturecenters. Another great resources for free, fun nature activities, including camping is http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/urbanparkrangers. They have a great calendar of events all year long! So get OUTSIDE!

NEW DISCOVERIES!

BUNCHBERRY

I love learning new things. And every time I go out into nature, I come back with another little bit of knowledge. For example, I just got back from the Adirondacks in way up north New York. While there, I came upon a beautiful plant way up high on Little Whiteface Mountain. So I snapped a photo and tried to identify it when I returned home. Turns out the plant is bunchberry and it's a pretty unusual plant!

DOGWOOD TREE

Bunchberry is sometimes called dwarf dogwood, because the bunchberry "flower" looks a lot like a dogwood flower. (We have a dogwood in the McDonald Avenue side school garden; it blooms in spring.) But dogwoods are trees and bunchberries are plants. Also, the white "petals" of the bunchberry are not petals at all; they are leaves. The plant's teeny, tiny flowers are actually inside the middle of the four white leaves.

Another cool thing about bunchberry is that it shoots its pollen projectile-style. The little flowers have hair triggers, so when a bee or other insect brushes by the hairs, the pollen shoots out in a puff and covers the unsuspecting bee, who then carries the pollen off to another bunchberry plant. Now that's an amazing ADAPTATION!