Do you recall our “Photo of the Day” from seven months ago…
Here’s something to look forward to in the new year. The good citizens of East Donegal Township in Lancaster County have partnered with Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to establish an extensive wildflower meadow on what had been a mowed field of turf grass at Riverside Park in the Susquehanna floodplain near Marietta. As the photo shows, the lawn plants have been eliminated in preparation for seeding with a diverse assortment of native grasses and wildflowers to provide habitat for birds and pollinators including butterflies, bees, and other insects. Once established, the meadow’s extensive vegetative growth will help reduce stormwater runoff by better infiltrating rainfall to recharge the aquifer. During flood events, the plantings will provide soil stabilization and increase the ability of the acreage to uptake nutrients, thus reducing the negative impact of major storms on the quality of water in the river and in Chesapeake Bay. Check the project’s progress by stopping by from time to time in 2024!
Well, here’s what that site looks like today…
The wildflowers, thousands of them, are now in bloom!Black-eyed Susan and Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) dominate the assortment currently in flower.
And there are pollinating insects galore, most notably butterflies…
A Cabbage White collecting nectar on Blue Vervain.A Clouded or Orange Sulphur among the grasses in the meadow.A Silver-spotted Skipper.The Least Skipper is our tiniest butterfly.The Little Glassywing (Vernia verna), this one feeding on vervain nectar, deposits its eggs on Purpletop grass, which then functions as the host plant for this butterfly’s larvae.A Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) feeding on the nectar of a Black-eyed Susan.A Common Buckeye on a “Gloriosa Daisy”, a showy, large-flowered cultivar of Black-eyed Susan.A Red-winged Blackbird with a caterpillar found among the meadow’s lush growth.An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Blue Vervain. Nearby Yellow (Tulip) Poplars and other trees serve as host plants for this butterfly’s larvae.The black morph of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail shows subdued shading in the wings that closely resembles the brilliant color patterns of the more familiar yellow form.The Sachem, this one visiting a Black-eyed Susan, is a variable species with a range that normally lies south of the 40th parallel, the line of latitude that intersects the Susquehanna in the area of the Conejohela Flats at Washington Boro.A Sachem visiting the blooms of Oxeye sunflower. During recent weeks, scorching winds from the south and southwest have transported an abundance of these vagrant skippers into the lower Susquehanna valley and beyond.A male Sachem approaching the bloom of a “Gloriosa Daisy”. Miles north of the 40th parallel, wandering Sachems are currently the most numerous of the butterflies at the Riverfront Park wildflower meadow.Here and there among the meadow’s plantings we noticed one of our favorites starting to flower, the Partridge Pea.Partridge Pea happens to be a host plant for another vagrant from the south, the big, lime-yellow Cloudless Sulphur. We saw at least half a dozen patrolling the meadow.The stars of the show are the Zebra Swallowtails, gorgeous butterflies that rely on stands of native Common Paw-paw trees in the river floodplain to host their eggs and larvae.The red-white-and-blue underside of a Zebra Swallowtail.WOW!
Why on earth would anyone waste their time, energy, and money mowing grass when they could have this? Won’t you please consider committing graminicide this fall? That’s right, kill that lawn—at least the majority of it. Then visit the Ernst Seed website, buy some “Native Northeast Wildlflower Mix” and/or other blends, and get your meadow planted in time for the 2025 growing season. Just think of all the new kinds of native plants and animals you’ll be seeing. It could change your life as well as theirs.
A Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis), more commonly known as a hummingbird moth, visits the flowers of Blue Vervain in the Riverfront Park wildflower meadow.
A special message from your local Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis).
Hey you! Yes, you. I pray you’re paying attention to what’s flying around out there, otherwise it’ll all pass you by.
This summer’s hot humid breezes from the south have not only carried swarms of dragonflies into the lower Susquehanna valley, but butterflies too.
So check out these extravagant visitors from south of the Mason-Dixon Line—before my appetite gets the better of me.
In some years, the Sachem, a vagrant from the south, can become the most frequently observed orange skipper in the Susquehanna valley, far outnumbering faltering populations of resident species around lawns, gardens, meadows, and roadsides. 2020 appears to be one of those years.The Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) sometimes strays north along the lower Susquehanna River in late summer. This one was photographed recently at Conewago Falls.The Cloudless Sulphur is a large fast-flying brilliant yellow butterfly. Here in the Susquehanna valley, it is usually seen singly, though colonizers will breed in patches of Partridge Pea, Wild Senna (Senna hebecarpa), and Maryland Senna (Senna marilandica). Cloudless Sulphurs are really widespread this year. In areas where intensive farming practices are in use, your chances of seeing one of these wandering around right now might be just as good as your chances of seeing one of the diminished flights of the resident Clouded Sulphurs (Colias philodice) and Orange Sulphurs (Colias eurytheme).The Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) is the least conspicuous of the stray butterflies shown here. This beauty was photographed several days ago along the edge of an oak forest in northern Lancaster County, PA.
There you have it. Get out there and have a look around. These species won’t be active much longer. In just a matter of weeks, our migratory butterflies, including Monarchs, will be heading south and our visiting strays will either follow their lead or risk succumbing to frosty weather.
For more photographs of butterflies, be sure to click the “Butterflies” tab at the top of the page. We’re adding more as we get them.
With autumn coming to a close, let’s have a look at some of the fascinating insects (and a spider) that put on a show during some mild afternoons in the late months of 2019.
Bush Katydids (Scudderia species) are found in brushy habitats and along rural roadsides. Their green summer color fades to brown, maroon, and gold to match the autumn foliage where they hide. Bush katydids often remain active until a hard freeze finally does them in.The Eastern Buck Moth (Hemileuca maia) is fuzzy, appearing to wear a warm coat for its autumn expeditions. Adults emerge in October and may fly as late as December. Females deposit their eggs on the twigs of Bear Oak (Quercus ilicifolia), Blackjack Oak (Q. marilandica), or Chestnut Oak (Q. montana), trees that, in our region, seem most favorable for the moth’s use when growing on burned barrens and mountain slopes. The spiny caterpillars are known to feed only on the foliage of these few trees. In the lower Susquehanna valley, the Eastern Buck Moth is rare because its specialized habitat is in short supply, and it’s all Smokey The Bear’s fault.The Sachem (Atalopedes campestris) wanders north from the Atlantic Coastal Plain into the Susquehanna valley each summer. In some years they become the most numerous small orange butterfly of all, particularly around home gardens. The larvae will feed on Crabgrass (Digitaria species), but have not found success overwintering this far north. By November, adults begin to look pretty drab.From 1978 through 1982, the Asian Multicolored Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis) was introduced into the eastern states by the United States Department of Agriculture. It has become a nuisance in many areas where it swarms, sometimes bites, and often overwinters in large smelly masses within homes and other warm buildings. As you may have guessed, it’s possibly displacing some of the less aggressive native lady beetle species.On a chilly afternoon, a sun-warmed Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) pounced and dispatched this sluggish worker Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) that was trying to gather pollen from a late-season Purple Coneflower bloom. This spider is bold indeed.Under bridges, inside bird nest boxes, and sometimes beneath porches, the female Pipe Organ Mud Dauber (Trypoxylon politum), a predatory wasp, builds these elaborate nests composed of long rows (pipes) of nursery cells. Into each cell one or more paralyzed spiders is deposited along with one of the female’s eggs. When hatched, each larva will feed upon the paralyzed spider(s) inside its cell, then pupate. The pupae overwinter, then emerge from their cells as adults during the following spring. In the autumn, males often stand guard at an entrance to the nest to prevent parasitic species, including some flies (look at the fifth pipe from the right), from laying eggs on the pupae. These wasps are not aggressive toward humans.A Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) observes a neighboring nest of Common Paper Wasps (Polistes exclamans). The Common Paper Wasp, a species also known as the Guinea Paper Wasp, is a native of the southern United States. It is currently expanding its range into the lower Susquehanna valley from the Atlantic Coastal Plain. These two wasp species and the Pipe Organ Mud Dauber are known to regularly coexist. All three will take advantage of man-made structures for their nest sites. People using the picnic tables beneath this pavilion roof never noticed the hundreds of docile wasps above.Those moody Eastern Yellowjackets (Vespula maculifrons) can get very temperamental during warm autumn days. These wasps may appear to have no enemies, but away from areas impacted by man’s everyday activities, they do. The Robber Fly (Promachus species) hunts like a flycatcher or other woodland bird, waiting on a perch along the forest’s edge for prey to pass by, then ambushing it, yellowjackets included.The invasive Spotted Lanternfly, a native of eastern Asia, continues to spread destruction. It established itself throughout much of the east side of the lower Susquehanna River during the summer and fall of 2019. Their route of travel across the farmlands of the region intersects with plenty of vineyards to obliterate and few, if any, natural enemies. Expect them to begin colonizing the west shore en masse during 2020.In 2020, plan to roll a few Spotted Lanternflies over, enjoy the view, and wait for the crimson tide to pass. With any luck, they’ll peak in a year or two.
SOURCES
Eaton, Eric R., and Kenn Kaufman. 2007. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, NY.
