A NATURAL MYSTERY
by KATE BALDWIN
Today our neighborhood of Cross Plains was visited by a swarm of thousands of common grackles, mid-migration. The squeaky-hinge call they make was so loud! Truly a site to behold. Apparently a group of grackles is called a plague, the same word used for the largest of locust swarms!
East side Madisonites should check out Devin Biggs's educational history-of-corn garden display!
This is a Plume Moth. They are not uncommon, but they sure are distinctive. I couldn’t find any hypotheses about why they are shaped like the letter T. The ends of their wings have feathery edges, hence the name. Super weird looking moth though!
I placed a fly on the edge of the web of a female Spotted Orb Weaver. After just a few seconds, she left her position in the middle of her web and ran over to the fly. She envenomated it, wrapped it, and carried back to her spot in the center.![]()
Spotted Orb Weavers are known for large, beautiful webs. These same webs make them easier to spot by mud dauber wasps, who grab juvenile Spotted Orb Weavers, paralyze them, and entomb them in mud along with wasp eggs. The eggs hatch and eat the still-alive spider. I'm glad this lady spider has reached a size that she should be safe from such a terrible fate.![]()
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For more true nature facts mixed with fiction murder mystery, check out: theformationsmystery.com/
My friend showed me these invasive oleander aphids on this milkweed. Thankfully, the milkweed plant can usually survive their attack, but they do hurt the plant some. Insect predators can’t eat these aphids because they sequester cardenolides toxins from the milkweed (and related oleander plants in their native Mediterranean range) the same way monarch butterflies do. Why not be bright and beautiful yellow when you don’t have to hide? Toxic aphids living large!
Honestly, I'm loving all the rain we are getting in the Madison area this year: The plants and animals are thriving. However, there are some downsides too#mosquitobitesbites
Spotted this mushroom in my backyard. Its Latin genus name is Lycoperdon, which means Wolf Fart. No one seems to know quite why it has that name. It does not smell like farts, wolf or otherwise! Apparently it tastes vaguely of shrimp, but there are some dangerous look-alikes, and the spores can be unpleasant. So I am not going to find out. 😅
Here is a tip for impressing your friends in Wisconsin: you can correctly identify every single toad you find, every time. You can be a toad identification guru of Wisconsin!![]()
It’s easy because we only have one type of toad:![]()
The American Toad. 😄
A NATURAL MYSTERY
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