Tree Of The Week: Let Us Take A Look

  This week let us do some sleuthing. I came upon this tree yesterday in Orrville, Ohio in the Smucker’s Fitness Walk path. The leaf told me something, but first, let us look at the tell-tale terminal buds: clustered. 

  This is typical of oaks, the genus Quercus.  

  And the leaves obviously suggest oak-hood, in this case with rounded lobes without a bristle tip, thus the…

  White oak group

  Oaks in the white oak group tend to hybridize freely, unlike with the black or red oak group (pin oaks, black oaks, scarlet...

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Jim Chatfield

Shrub of the Week: David's Mountainlaurel

{This post was written and images provided by Joe Cochran, curator of OSU’s Secrest Arboretum at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center at Wooster; end note from Jim Chatfield}

  Sophora davidii, David’s mountainlaurel or David’s pagoda tree, formerly known as  S. viciifolia, is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub from the Sichuan region of China. It was discovered by the Jesuit missionary, Jean Pierre Armand David (1826-1900). Among his many plant discoveries, Père David is also known for introducing to the West, the giant panda. It was in this same...

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Jim Chatfield

What is the Threat from Stinging Caterpillars?

The vast majority of lepidopteron (moths and butterflies) caterpillars, even many with hairs, do not present a threat.  However, there are some with hairs that are modified for defense.  These are collectively called urticating hairs from the Latin urtica meaning "nettle."  Indeed, the hairs on stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), which are called trichomes; provide a good model for the venom injecting mechanism used by some of the more serious urticating hairs found on caterpillars.

 

...

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Joe Boggs

Beneficial of the Week: THe Dull Roar Effect

  The importance of beneficial insects and mites is often missed.  Until they are missed. We learned this years ago when “cover sprays” that included multiple pesticides in a “cocktail” were used repeatedly in hopes of controlling a range of pests, but had the unintended consequence of reducing or eliminating beneficial insect, mite, and spider species. 

Without these beneficials, we created monsters such as spider mite infestations on burningbush euonymus, that were much worse when cover sprays reduced beneficials.  We lost the “dull roar” effect of these beneficials that, while...

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Jim Chatfield
Joe Boggs

The Reddened Rose of Texas

“Rose rosette is an epidemic, and North Texas is the epicenter,” said David Forehand of the Dallas Arboretum: “This is a game changer for roses, I’m sad to say.” This was in a July article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Sara Bahari, reflecting the anguish felt by Texans regarding the demise of so many of their beloved rose gardens.
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Jim Chatfield

Beneficial Insects: Wool Carder Bees

Wool carder bees in the genus Anthidium are a beneficial pollinator that may be less familiar to pollinator-promoters than honeybees or bumblebees, but they are well-worth knowing!

 

This little bee is full of determination.  Female wool carder bees collect wooly material to line their nests.  To do this, she uses her mandibles to scrape fuzzy trichomes from pubescent leaves, especially lambs ear.  This scraping motion is reminiscent of a time when wool would be combed or "carded" to straighten the fibers.  While she toils away collecting soft, fuzzy things for her...

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Ashley Kulhanek

Perennial of the Week: Rattlesnake Master

No snake charmers here, just a native perennial that is worth a try in a garden as a tall statement piece for pollinators!

 

Rattlesnake Master is full of surprises.  It looks like it belongs in a desert, but it is actually a native prairie plant that grows well in the midwest.  While its basal foliage resembles that of a yucca (lily family), it is actually a member of the carrot family, Apiaceae.  It's flowers are a pollinator dream and its height adds something unique to the garden.  

 

The plant begins with prickly, stiff basal foliage.  The bluish-green...

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Ashley Kulhanek

Great Golden Digger Wasp: The Other Soil Burrower

Great Golden Digger Wasps (Sphex ichneumoneus) rival Cicada Killer Wasps (Sphecius speciosus) in size, soil excavating capacity, and heavy lifting.  In fact, research on the foraging capacity of the Golden Digger showed this wasp's heavy lifting capacity exceeded that of the Cicada Killer; it was significantly higher than 15 other hymenopteran heavy lifters.*  Yet, when most people think of big wasp bombers, they think of the Cicada Killer.  That's because Cicada Killers occur in larger numbers and their nesting habits often place them in conflict with people.  Golden...

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Joe Boggs

Ailanthus Webworm Nests

Ailanthus Webworms (Atteva aurea) feed exclusively on the non-native, highly invasive, misleadingly named Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima).  They are the larval (caterpillar) stage of a beautiful ermine moth (Family Yponomeutidae).  In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful moths found in Ohio.  Multiple overlapping generations occur each season so it is common to find both moths and caterpillars active at the same time.  Indeed, I took pictures posted with this report of the moth on stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida) the same day that I took shots of...

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Joe Boggs

Robbers are on the Wing!

One of my favorite insects is the Red-Footed Cannibalfly (Promachus rufipes) which is a type of robber fly (family Asilidae).  Few carnivorous insects can match the amazing acrobatics and predatory proficiency of robber flies in their pursuit of prey.  Adults of all species are predators and they will attack a variety of insects; even "armed" prey and insects much larger than their own body size.  One of the appropriately named Hanging Thief Robber Flies (Diogmites spp.) pictured below is chowing down on a yellowjacket.  There are over a thousand species of robber flies...

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Joe Boggs