Nature watch

Here in Norman, we have had the perfect weather bring out all the summer bugs!  If you haven't noticed already, ticks are beyond abundant this year.  Be sure to check yourself and your pets after every time you leave a tall grass or wooded area.  Double check your pets too!  My dog Ginger has been treated to prevent ticks, but she still carries them into the house (and they end up on me!).  I've noticed a lot of rabbits in my back yard, which means that the ticks have plenty to feed on.  I expect the ticks to thrive under these conditions.

All the moisture and humidity we have had the last few days is the perfect weather for insects to get busy with their life cycle.  All we need is a bit of sustained heat, which I expect will come in a few days, and we ought to be seeing quite a lot of activity.  You might have already noticed that insects are starting to be attracted to the lights on your porch, but expect this activity to increase over the next few days as it warms up.  It's simple to prevent these bugs from getting in - just turn off your porch light - OR you can leave it on and watch what comes to visit!  I like to leave mine on and I have been seeing some interesting longhorned beetles, moths, stinkbugs, and planthoppers.  What happens is that these insects normally use the moon as a navigation point while they move about at night.  Once they get close enough to the porch light, it appears brighter than the moon, and this disorients their navigation.  This is generally why you see June Bugs awkwardly flying about a light and banging into just about everything!

I just bought a house with a bit of land, and I'm leaving a few acres to grow into tall grass and wild flowers.  Right now the tallest plant is a thistle - these are common weeds in Ohio and everyone works to eradicate these on sight (think about that plant with stickers that got you when you ran around barefoot as a kid).  This thistle turns out to grow some really spectacular flowers, and these flowers attract a variety of pollinators.  I took a close look at the action on this plant and I was shocked by what I found - I saw something with the body of a beetle, but the mouthparts of a true bug!  I couldn't believe my eyes as I watched this beetle use its specialized mouthparts to drink nectar as if it were using a straw.

Here is a picture of the flower with the beetle on it:

Here is a picture of the beetle's mouthparts:

Here is a picture where I manipulated the mouthparts in order to show you its length:

 

For the most part, beetles have chewing mouthparts and True bugs have a straw-like stylet to pierce plant or animal tissue and then sip the fluids.  This beetle still has chewing mouthparts but has modified maxillae.  Maxillae normally work like your cheeks do to keep food in your mouth and to move food around within your mouth.  This beetle has two elongate maxillae that come together as a pair, and they reach 9mm in length!  The whole insect is about 15mm, so this mouthpart is over half the length of the entire body!  Imagine if your cheeks stretched out to over half your height!  Mine would be almost 3 feet long!  These long, specialized mouthparts certainly helps this beetle reach the nectar hidden deep within the flowers!  

Well, next time you see a blooming thistle, take a careful look to see if this beetle is nearby.  Also, now is a great time to experience wildlife in general, so be sure to spend some time outside!  Here is a picture of a turtle my dog Ginger found going through my back yard:

Just before we found the turtle, this bunny let me get close enough for a good photo:

 All the best!

-Andy