Top Photo: Tiny yellow flower of Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber. The fruit of the Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber is about an inch long. They look more like tiny watermelons but have the taste of a cucumber with a lemony tang. These vines grow in many locations throughout our campus, wherever they’re not supposed to grow. I intended to plant this vegetable in my own personal garden at home this year but was sidetracked by other matters. I’ll make sure toRead more
Posts tagged: #tiger swallowtail
What’s Out There
Top Photo: Mushrooms rise up through fresh mulch. The small, gilled mushrooms pictured here all emerged from mulch in Explore the Wild on the same day. The following day, they had disappeared. All that remained were a few stragglers. I’m not sure of the identity of these fungi. If you have an opinion, it’s welcomed. If you’re headed out to Earth Moves in Catch the Wind, you’ll probably run into a cloud of mist on your way. We’ve installed mistersRead more
A Sphinx in Need, Busy Sulphurs, and a Tiger In-between
The large green object that the smaller white objects are attached to in the above photo is a caterpillar, a hornworm, a rustic sphinx moth larva. The white objects are the pupae of a tiny parasitic wasp, a brachonid wasp, which lays its eggs under the skin of its host (like the unfortunate caterpillar above). The larvae that later hatch eat the caterpillar from within until ready to pupate. They then drill themselves out through the skin and form aRead more
Emeralds, Tigers, Titans, and Nymphs
Top Photo: Male eastern tiger swallowtail. The flowers in the photo are black-eyed Susan. But, notice where the arrow points. It’s pointing at what appears to be debris on the disc of one of the flowers. The debris is actually a caterpillar, a camouflaged looper, the larva of a small moth. Still doesn’t look like a caterpillar? These small caterpillars attach flower and plant parts to themselves in order to disappear into the flower. In truth, I’m notRead more
What’s up in the Wild
Here’s a little of what’s going on in the Wild at the Museum…a caterpillar. A damselfly. An assassin bug. A nest-building bird. A morphing frog. A tree frog who thinks it can’t be seen. And, a bird with a frog. And that’s some of what I’ve been seeing. How about you?Read more
Firsts
Although I’ve been seeing Common Baskettails (Epitheca cynosura) for several weeks now, the one above is the first that I was able to photograph. Again, not the first bullfrog tadpoles of the season (they’re present all year long) but they are beginning to become frogs. Some are showing short hind legs, they’re surfacing to gulp air, and well, just look at them, they’re huge! Right on time is the first Eastern, or Common, Musk Turtle. This one was seen baskingRead more