Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve

Kind of gives you that feel of the tropics doesn't it? That's to be expected when you are underneath the magnificent Magnolias of Lake Katherine. I joined Rick Gardner, Andrew Gibson, Steve McKee, Dave Minney, Jim Mason, and several others for an in depth tour of the preserve.

This is the Umbrella Magnolia, Magnolia tripetala. Notice how the leaves taper down to a fine point at the base.

The leaves of Big-leaf Magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla, come to a more abrupt end at the base. They are lobed or cordate at the bottom. They are also white underneath.

It was too late to catch either in bloom, but here's what you're missing. Big-leaf Magnolia can have showy flowers 8-12 inches wide. It's extremely rare in Ohio to find both species growing side by side.

I arrived before anyone else, but sitting next to the parking lot to greet me was this Banded Hairstreak, Satyrium calanus.

You wouldn't expect the group to stop and look at any ordinary clover, and ordinary it is not. This is Running Buffalo Clover, Trifolium stoloniferum. When you think of clover, you probably picture Red, White, Alsike, Sweet White, Sweet Yellow, and so on. These are alien species introduced for greening purposes, reclamation, soil enrichment, honey production, etc. Running Buffalo is native.

Being June, we've already missed the blooming time. I'm posting it anyway because it's a new species for me. The flower is white. If they are pink, you may have the even rarer Buffalo Clover, T. reflexum. Running Buffalo Clover is rare to endangered throughout its range.  We are starting to find more and more of it in Ohio, but make no mistake, it's still rare. Studies show it may actually benefit from disturbed habitats. We certainly have plenty of that in Ohio. Look for it on the edge of clearings, on logging roads, and hiking trails.

Poke  Milkweed, Asclepias exaltata. It may not be as showy as some of the other Milkweeds, but it stands tall in deciduous forests. So look for it in woodlands, not open fields. The large leaves are opposite and numerous along the plant, with an almost Pawpaw or Pokeweed look to them.

A terminal umbrella like cluster of flowers droop downward, (an umbel). This is a two colored species. The back reflexed petals are green, and the front hood petals are white.

Wild Onion, Allium canadense, another species that was past its peak blooming time.

Honewort, Cryptotaenia canadensis. This is a species of wet to mesic soil sites. The small white flowers may look a bit like Aniseroot or Sweet Cicely, but the leaflets are in threes. Honewort is a member of the Wild Carrot family. Things don't have to be big and showy like a Magnolia to catch my eye.

Speaking of small, there were plenty of invertebrates grabbing my attention as well. While traveling through a sedge swamp, this little inchworm called the 3-spotted Filip, Heterophleps triguttaria, was quite abundant.

Lots of moths were flying in the swamp. This is one of the Deltoid Noctuids. They are called that because of their triangular shape when at rest. This group of owlet moths also have large upturned palps on the face. I tell people to recognize the group by looking for the 'poodle outline' on the wings. Getting them to species is another story. This is Chytolita petrealis, the Stone-winged Owlet. Notice how distinct the lines and spots are. On a similar looking species, the Morbid Owlet, all the markings are faint.

None of these moths posed long enough for more than one shot. Hmm, I seem to say that a lot. You'll notice the same poodle outline in the wings. What's missing are the rows of dots. That makes this a close relative in the genus Zanclognatha. This moth is too worn for me to go further with a name. Still, like I said, I don't just go after the bright and showy. These brown moths are the ones that most people just ignore.

While this is common everywhere I go, you just don't see many purple damselfly species. Look for the Violet Dancer, Argia fumipennis, along any open water area.

I first saw this at Gallagher Fen last year, and here it is at Lake Katherine. This is the blue form female of the Blue-tipped Dancer, Argia tibialis. Most female damselflies are not this brightly colored.

I continue to shoot Harvestmen or Daddy Long-legs in hopes of putting names to them all. The more I learn, the more I realize you can't do them by photos. They require dissection, ugh! I don't mind that at all, just not sure I want to go that in depth. Here is a dead one being enveloped by fungi. I may have to go back and put this one on my zombie post.

While exploring some sandstone overhangs, I noticed a couple of these "liquid drops" hanging from a web. Not liquid at all, but a spider egg case suspended on a silk thread.

Searching the web to see who they belonged to, there was an Orchard Spider, Leucauge venusta. These white, green, and yellow spiders are common in most woodlands. Turns out, there was a second web behind that belonged to the egg layer, not the Orchard Spider. Richard Bradley said it is indeed Theridiosoma gemmosum. Jim was right.

Thanks to those with a flashlight, or I never would have spotted this guy. Sitting on the sandstone conglomerate was this beetle. The thorax and elytra are covered in bumps, and it looks like a moving rock when it walks. This Tenebrionid is known as the Forked Fungus Beetle, Bolitotherus cornutus. It feeds on fungus and carries spores from one mushroom to another. The two horn like projections make this a male. These beetles may be brown or black.

Feeding on bracken fungi was this large showy beetle. Once again, the second I approached, off he went. The camera and I must be a bit intimidating. When you are hiking with a group that is on the move, you don't have time to sneak up and wait. Get it while you can, and catch up to the crowd. This is a Pleasing Fungus Beetle. There are two species with the same orange black pattern. Since there are no rows of small pin-point punctures on the wings, this is Megalodacne heros.

Finally, a critter that cooperated! This little micro is called an Ermine Moth, Yponomeuta multipunctella. The family is named for this genus, and multipunctella means 'many spots'. Look at the top of the moth (which is really the wing bottoms.) There are two rows of parallel black dots. Use this to separate it from other similar ermine moths. These  also look like Ethmia moths. Those species have black streaks in their wings, not just dots. Ethmia moths hold their antennae down, Ermine moths hold their antennae up in the air.

Climbing through, and feeding on the False Nettle, Boehmeria cylindrica, was this brightly marked spiny caterpillar. False Nettle, as well as Stinging Nettle are the food plants for the Red Admiral Butterfly, Vanessa atalanta.

Always on the lookout for new galls, these fuzz balls on the back of a Grape leaf have me stumped. I think they are Phylloxera insects, aphid relatives. We'll see if I can get that confirmed.

After close to 5 hours of hiking, I was getting pretty wiped out. As we rested around the dam, insects started seeking us out. Pararchytas decisus is a type of Tachinid Fly. Tachinids can be recognized by the spiny pin cushion butt. These and several species of Flesh Flies will commonly land on you. Both groups are caterpillar parasites, so they won't bite like Deer Flies. They are slow moving upon landing, so you can just pick it up and move it off you if such things make you squeamish.

When you're hot it's not unusual for butterflies to land on your skin. Here is a Great Spangled Fritillary looking to suck a little salt from your sweat.

These small creeping plants growing among the true mosses are commonly called Spikemoss. They have scale like leaves, and produce spores. This one is Selaginella opoda, the Meadow Spikemoss. Considered fern allies, they are taxonomically closer to Lycopodium and Club Mosses.

There were some interesting ferns as well. A new one for me was Narrow-leaved Spleenwort, Diplazium pycnocarpon. This was down in the mesic to wet portions of the woods. For some reason it reminded me of a chain fern without the center wings or lobes. Up close it does resemble Christmas Fern. The pinna are entire, and lack the raised portion that Christmas fern has near the base.

Growing on the rock faces was another new one for me, the Mountain Spleenwort, Asplenium montanum. While there is a slight resemblance to Fragile Fern, the leaves of this species remind me of Parsley.

Growing alongside the Mountain Spleenworts were these young Lobed Spleenworts, Asplenium pinnatifidum. While I have illustrated this before in my fern posts, I learned something new about these two species.

When you get Mountain and Lobed growing together, this is often the result. This is Trudell's Spleenwort, Asplenium x trudelli, a hybrid between the previous two species. Believe me, had it not been pointed out to me, I would have never been able to tell.

When on a hike with Rick, you know darn well we will do sedges. Here is a taste of some of them. I mentioned in my last post that we did 33 at Wahkeena. Today we did, um, well... I lost count! I did pick up more new ones. Before summer is over I should have up at least three posts on sedges. That means I'll lock myself away for days on end trying to figure out how to describe them all. This picture shows some of the showier species. In my Carex world, showy simply means easier ones.

For those who can't wait and just have to know right now, here they are from left to right.
louisianica, grayii, lurida, intumescens, typhina, squarrosa, alubatescens, vesicaria, tuckermanii, crinita, debilis.

Hiking Wahkeena

I recently had the opportunity to get out in the field with Rick Gardner to survey the Carex Sedges of Wahkeena Nature Preserve. In a couple hours we found 33 species, and my brain turned to mush! I have 50 different ones photographed now, more than enough for a post. It seems like a lot, but that's not even one third of all the Ohio species. That sedge post will have to wait awhile. Not wait till I get more, but to figure out how to tell them all apart!!

On the way to Wahkeena, I wanted to stop and get some shots from a patch of Bristly Locust, Robinia hispida. Sometimes called Rose Acacia, it is native to the southern states. It looks similar to our Black Locust, R. pseudoacacia, but the flowers are pink, the twigs are covered in red hairs, and the plant is a shrub.

Bristly Locust is planted as an ornamental in Ohio. It has a tendency to spread rapidly in open areas, and could become invasive. One way to prevent that is to graft the branches to the root stock of Black Locust.

Arrowwood, Viburnum dentatum, one of the most common plants seen along the Wahkeena boardwalk.

A giant Ichneumon Wasp boring into the base of a Beech tree. As I tried to get closer, it immediately removed the ovipositor and flew away. I hate when I get only one shot. This is probably Megarhyssa greenei. M. macrurus looks identical to this species, except that one has more dark markings in the wings.

Also not sitting still for more than one shot was this red and black insect that at first looked like another Ichneumon Wasp. Turns out it is a giant Crane Fly, Ctenophora dorsalis. Even in this blurry picture, you can see it only has two wings. The red thorax is just one of many color forms for this species.

While hiking around I was able to put this black Click Beetle into someones hands, and watch it somersault right side up. Judging by the size, you'd think I could get a species name on this, but I've had no luck. The punctured elytra makes me think it survived a recent attack by something.

Moneywort,  Lysimachia nummularia. Essentially it's a prostrate growing species of Loosestrife. It is non native, and was brought over for its medicinal properties. Look for it in wetlands.

Some unusual Red Maple leaves, Acer rubrum. White leaves can be caused by a number of things. Herbicide use can kill chlorophyl, but there has been no spraying here. Iron deficiency can result in leaves like this, but then why are all the others fine? Hard to say what caused it, but if they can't photosynthesize, they'll soon fall off.

The best find of the day was this dragonfly. I had never seen one in the wild. This is the Gray Petaltail, Tachopteryx thoreyi.

Petaltails are some of the oldest and most primitive of dragonflies. Its only other family relative is found on the west coast. While this was shot on the last day of May, most records in Ohio peak in June and July. So far they've only been located in about 25% of Ohio counties. They are large, and our only black and gray dragonfly. Look how it blends in with the tree bark. The eyes are widely separated in this species.

The Gray Petaltail, especially males, prefer openings in the canopy of mature forests. Here they can patrol a territory and seek out females. This species of dragonfly doesn't need rivers, streams, ponds, or lakes. It lays its eggs in mud or wet soils where springs and seeps can be found. If you wear light colored clothing, don't be surprised to see one land on you.

And what would a trip to Wahkeena be without adding another Orchid. Large Twayblade, Liparis liliifolia, is one of those orchids you can easily miss if you are walking too fast. The two broad basal leaves may be noticed before the flowers. The flower stems are bright purple, and the sepals are green. The thin purple threads are the side petals. The main wide lip can vary from brown to purple.

More Spring Hiking

Before leaving the house I noticed this large Geometrid on my window. This is the Tulip-tree Beauty, Epimecis hortaria. This is one of our larger Inchworm moths.

Shooting from the top side shows the wavy markings typical of this species. I found it interesting to get a front and back view, but what did I learn from shooting both sides? My windows are filthy.

The diversity of Log Cabin Hollow keeps me going back for a wide variety of subject matter. I went to continue building pictures of aquatic insects, which I'll save for later. Along the creek were a pair of Harvester Butterflies, Feniseca tarquinius. Generally not a real abundant species, but here they are locally common. This butterfly is known for the caterpillars that feed not on plants, but aphids. A meat eating larva.

You can see the one on the left probing the log for nutrients. Their tongue, or proboscis is too short to penetrate down into flowers for nectar. The adults also feed on the sugar water wastes (or honeydew) from the same aphids the larvae consume. Speaking of wastes, you can see the droplet on the right specimen.  Adults have liquid wastes, while caterpillars have a solid waste or frass.

Also along the stream was this bee seeking out mud for its nest. Looking like half Carpenter bee and half Bumble bee, the hairy face and legs make this a Mason Bee. Bees in the genus Osmia are related to Leaf-cutting Bees. They are sometimes called Orchard Bees because a number of them were introduced and released for their pollinating abilities.

Rusty hairs, yellow and blue spots on the side, and a white racing stripe down the back, describes our Eastern Tent Caterpillar. Currently feeding on Wild Cherry leaves, they soon will be leaving the trees to pupate somewhere away from the food plant.

In a recent post I mentioned finding an old fruit stalk of the Putty-root Orchid, Aplectrum hyemale. I headed out to Wahkeena to find it in flower. These maroon and gold petals were just starting to open. The big broad leaves, also shown in that same earlier post, pop up nearly 6 months ahead of the flower. Come blooming time, you may not find the leaves, as they tend to wilt before the flower comes up.

Here was a group of plants with the petals a little further open.

A closeup of the middle lip, typical of many orchids. It wasn't until I enlarged the picture did I notice an unknown miniature spider in the upper flower.

Always one of my favorite orchids, this is the Pink Lady's Slipper, or Moccasin Flower, Cypripedium acaule. Look for it in conifer forests with acidic soils. Unlike the Putty-root, this species has a pair of basal leaves present during blooming.

In order to perpetuate, these plants depend on a fungal association below ground, and Bumble Bees above ground for pollination. Some studies show that prescribed burning can increase the orchid population by allowing more sunlight to penetrate, and to decrease the competition on the forest floor.

Long-leaved Stitchwort, Stellaria longifolia, is a narrow leaved species of Chickweed. Unlike it's shorter relatives, it tends to grow a foot or two high.

Violet Wood Sorrel, Oxalis violacea. Found in a variety of habitats, it's quite common in upland forests and sites with limestone soils.

Sweet Cicely, Osmorhiza claytonii, just beginning to bloom. The flowers look a little chewed, but that's because each of the petals are notched.

Sweet Cicely and Aniseroot Osmorhiza longistylis, are similar. Check the stems, Sweet Cicely will be covered in hairs.

Aniseroot stems will be smooth. Both these species smell like licorice when scratched, but Aniseroot has the stronger odor, especially in the roots.

Spirea shrub in bloom. Ornamentals can add beauty to a landscape, and I have no problem with them, as long as they are non-invasive. This looks to be one of the many varieties of Bridal Wreath Spirea. That's a pollen feeding Scarab Beetle on the flowers.

The folks at Wahkeena Nature Preserve beat me to the post. I started this a long time ago, just finishing now. There is a reason for that, but I'll discuss it at the end of this. Some of the Rhododendrons are now in bloom, and I went to check them out while I could. This is commonly referred to as the Mountain Azalea, Rhododendron canescens I believe.

I used to find this in the panhandle of Florida. The native range is south of Ohio. For those who use the Newcomb flower book, there are three similar plants discussed on the page. All three are now considered the same species.

The red striped buds of the Flame Azalea, Rhododendron calendulaceum, were just popping out while I was there.

Early blooming flowers start as yellowish. Besides the color, the long protruding stamens add to the striking appearance.

In a very short time, all the flowers turn a brilliant orange. Flame Azalea is considered native to parts of southern Ohio, but it's rare to find them growing wild this far north.

"In your face Fonzie".

"Stick it in your ear Potsie". Happy Days are here again. Finals are over, and you'd think I'd be in the field everyday. I don't mean to be a downer, but all year people have asked me "What's wrong with your eyes?" I looked like I just got up, no matter the time of day. Some probably thought I was always stoned. HA!

All joking aside, I have been to Columbus a lot lately, and have been diagnosed with a very rare form of dysplasia in my eye. This is why I haven't been posting. Turns out pathology says it is metaplasia, less serious, and NO carcinoma cells present. Still, a little 'snip snip' here and a 'snip snip' there, that's how they work the day away in the merry old land of OSU. They got it all, so all is well again in the land of Oz.

My favorite phrase from a doctor, "we caught it early". Recovery is a pain, feels like ground glass in my eye. Considering there was no cancer, I'll be fine. Can't wait to start 'snapping' photos again, but it may be awhile.