Summer - 2014

Summer 2014

Seasons The Greening of Maplewood

Marvelous Mini-Beasts

By Ann Hutchinson, Lead Naturalist

Mosquitoes, flies and ticks, oh my! When we think of insects these are often what come to mind. While there are plenty of bugs that can do us harm, there are even more that are beneficial, especially pollinators such as bees, butterflies and moths and, yes, even flies and mosquitoes that pollinate both wild and garden plants. These six legged invertebrates are an important link in the food chain. Other bugs, bats, frogs, ducks and birds of all kinds eat bugs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Let’s meet a few insect superheroes. Walk through a meadow in summer armed with a magnifying lens and you’ll discover marvelous mini-beasts. There’s the redbanded leaf hopper that, like superman, has the ability to “leap tall buildings in a single bound.” It sports a red and blue exoskeleton just like superman! Watch brush-footed butterflies “taste” wildflowers with the smell organs on their front feet. Maybe you’ll spot ants that act like dairy farmers “milking” and tending tiny aphids for their honeydew.

After the sun dips below the horizon a new cadre of mini-beasts emerges. Sphinx moths that look and act like hummingbirds hover over milkweed, uncurling long straw-like tongues to sip nectar, pollinating in the process. Giant water bugs leave the pond depths and flit about attracting big brown bats which crunch them down for dinner. Scores of harmless midges, often seen around streetlights, attract chimney swifts and swallows as the long shadows of evening appear.

Plants and insects evolved together, and scientists are discovering an increasing number of insects that need specific plants for survival. One example is the monarch butterfly’s dependence on milkweed. The females lay eggs only on the leaves of milkweed and the larva eat only milkweed.

Last year monarch populations dipped to an all time low, disappearing in part because of the eradication of common milkweed due to “Roundup Ready” crop plants. These crops have been genetically modified to withstand applications of the pesticide Roundup and pesticides containing glyphosate. So a farmer can spray all the plants in a field killing the weeds but not the crop. Before Roundup

Ready crops, there was enough milkweed in ditches and between rows in the fields to provide habitat for the egg and larval stage of monarchs.

Citizens can help migrating monarchs by planting milkweed in yards and gardens.

These milkweed patches or “Monarch Way Stations” are a program sponsored by Monarch Watch, a citizen science monitoring program (www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/). Catch and release monarchs and help tag them at the Maplewood Nature Center on August 23 (www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/nc).

Scientists estimate there are at least one million species of insects in the world. All play an important role in our ecosystem or in pollinating our food crops, even the ones we love to hate. Learn about these marvelous mini-beasts by signing up for a Maplewood Nature Center program (see upcoming programs inside this newsletter). To help protect insects reevaluate your pesticide use (see page 2), consider helping monitor pollinators (see page 4), and plant native or ornamental plants that encourage a diversity of insects.

Red banded leaf hopper

Green bee pollinator

Photo credit: Ann Hutchinson

Photo credit: Opoterser

Photo credit: Gordon Hutchinson

Insect Superheros

Monarch butterfly on blazing star

Sphinx moth on milkweed

We Can Support Pollinators!

By Oakley Biesanz, Naturalist Research has documented that honey and native bee populations have sharply declined, which could greatly decrease our food supply unless we take action to halt the decline. Researchers are especially concerned about a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids that are harmful to bees and persist in the environment for years. Plants absorb the pesticide in their vascular tissue where it remains, killing the bees that feed on the pollen or nectar.

People in our community are helping bees. For example, our local Bachman’s store recently made the decision to remove all neonicotinoid products from their shelves, in support of pollinators. Here’s how you can help pollinators:

Photo credit: Whole Foods and the Xerces Society

Look & Learn - Check your shelves at home for these specific neonicotinoids: Imidacloprid, Clothianidin, Thiamethoxam, Acetamiprid, Dinetofuran. At the nursery ask if plants you purchase were treated with one of these ingredients.

Dispose of Neonicotinoids Safely – Safely dispose of pesticides and other yard and garden chemicals at one of Ramsey County’s Household Hazardous Waste sites (www.RamseyAtoZ.com).

Plant Natives that Support Pollinators - Plant lists are available from the University of Minnesota (www.beelab.umn.edu), the Xerces Society (www.xerces.org), or stop by Maplewood Nature Center for hardcopies, classes, and pollinator resourses.

To Spray or Not to Spray

By Ginny Gaynor, Natural Resources Coordinator The vision we have for our home and garden often collides with our environmental goals or our tolerance for “pests.” Pesticides can help prevent damage to crops, lawn, and ornamental plants and they can help prevent diseases affecting humans and animals. But the shear bounty of pesticides at the home and garden center often lulls one into forgetting that pesticides are poisons and can have negative impacts beyond the target pest. Here are some things to consider if you’re using pesticides.

What is a pesticide? Pesticide is a broad term for chemicals that kill or deter pests. They are categorized by the types of pest they target: herbicides kill plants, insecticides kill insects, fungicides kill fungus, molds, and mildews, etc.

What are the concerns with using pesticides?

Pesticides affect more than the target pest. They can kill or sicken beneficial insects, contaminate water supplies, pollute the soil, and cause health problems for humans and animals. The impacts differ for each product and application method.

Do you need to use a pesticide? Some insect or weed pests are a serious threat, but most cause only minor damage or are a nuisance. First understand the extent of the threat, if a pest won’t cause much harm, do a bit of reflection to see if you’re willing to let it be. If the pest is a significant threat, before picking up the Seasons 2

Over 30% of our food and fiber crops depend on insect pollination.

spray bottle, investigate whether there are non-chemical control methods. Integrated pest management uses a combination of cultural, mechanical, and biological methods, with pesticides as a last resort.

How do you safely use a pesticide?

Read the label! Packed with tiny text, labels can be intimidating. Following the label will help keep you and your family, nontarget organisms, and the environment safe. The label explains how toxic the product is, indicates what personal protective equipment you should use when applying the product, warns you about health and environmental impacts, and explains how to use the product.

Always read pesticide labels carefully.

Weed and Feed – Caution!

Weed and feed products contain both a fertilizer and a herbicide. If you use a fertilizer and/or herbicide on your lawn, be sure to keep children and pets off the lawn for the period indicated on the product label.

By Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner In 1958 the state legislature formed the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) to control mosquitoes. Since that time the District’s mission has expanded to include monitoring deer tick populations for tick-borne diseases. The district covers 2,900 square miles and serves roughly 2.7 million people in seven metro counties.

Here is information on the pests the MMCD helps control.

Mosquitoes Fifty species of mosquitoes occur in Minnesota. A single female can lay over 200 eggs at a time. Only female mosquitoes take blood.

Mosquito-born pathogens found in Minnesota include West Nile virus, La Crosse encephalitis, equine encephalitis, and dog heartworm.

MMCD controls mosquitoes in two ways, insecticide pellets and spraying. Insecticide pellets are dropped by hand or from a helicopter into breeding sites (areas of standing water). The pellets contain two insecticides (Bti and Methoprene) that inhibit the larvae’s growth. This is a very effective way of controlling mosquitoes, however, the environmental trade off is that larval treatment is not species specific; all types of fly larvae are inhibited, greatly reducing

FREE PROGRAM!

To learn outdoor tips and tricks, including tricks for preventing ticks and mosquito bites, attend the free “Wilderness Wisdom” program at Maplewood Nature Center on Saturday, June 28 from 10:00 – 11:00 am. Register at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/nc or call 651.249.2170 by June 25.

Irritating Invaders

Maplewood Nature Center often receives calls regarding insects.

Most are harmless and benefit the environment, wildlife, and people. But here are some non-native insects that might bug you.

Voracious Japanese beetles are, unfortunately, here to stay. The adults feed on foliage and fruits and can skeletalize the leaves on trees and shrubs. The larval stage of this beetle is a grub which lives underground, feeds on roots of plants, and can decimate lawns. The Japanese Beetle Management Handbook for Japanese Beetles Homeowners, found on the USDA’s website at www.usda.gov, is an excellent guide to managing this pest.

available food for ducklings.

Insecticide spraying of localized adult populations is done after samplings detect populations that meet threshold levels, primarily in high use parks and recreation MMCD inspector checks for mosquito larvae areas. This insecticide spray contains Pyrethroid products that kill adult mosquitoes on contact. It is also toxic to beneficial insects and many aquatic invertebrates.

Photo credit: Metropolitan Council

Metropolitan Mosquito Control District – Not Just Mosquito Control Anymore

Ticks The most common ticks in Maplewood are the American dog tick (also called a wood tick) and the black legged tick (also called a deer tick). All ticks undergo several life stages: egg, larvae, nymph, and adult. Ticks in the nymph and adult stage are capable of attaching and biting. Adult wood ticks have white markings, while adult deer ticks are smaller and do not have white markings. The deer tick carries Lyme’s disease which affects the joints, nervous system, and heart.

MMCD’s tick program includes identifying the distribution of deer ticks in the District boundaries. To date the deer tick has been identified in all seven of the District’s counties, with heavier populations in northern and eastern Anoka County, northern Ramsey County, and Washington County.

For more information visit the MMCD website at www.mmcd.org.

Multicolored Asian lady beetles are beneficial insects in the garden and orchard, feeding on plant pests such as aphids. But these lady-bug look-alikes often move into homes in the fall. They won’t harm you but they release an unpleasant odor and stains if crushed. To distinguish them from native beetles, look for a white letter M on their backs, behind their heads.

Brown marmorated stink bugs, new to Minnesota, fly and hitch rides on vehicles.

Like the Asian lady beetle, they gather on and move into houses in the fall. As its name suggests, these bugs emit an odor when disturbed. There are also many native stink bugs, to identify, visit www.mda.state.mn.us/ plants/insects/stinkbug.

Ladybug Invasion

Stink Bug

Seasons 3

Citizen Monitoring: Bumble Bee Watch

What’s the buzz about bumble bees? These large, fuzzy pollinators of food crops and native plants have been declining in recent years.

Some species such as the Rusty-patched bumble bee, once common in our area, are now quite rare. Dwindling numbers of native bees have been associated with a decline in the flowering plants that depend on them.

Jim Wiliams

Bumble bees are strong flyers. Their wings can beat more than a 130 times per second. That ability along with their large size allows them to vibrate flowers until they release pollen – a motion that is called “buzz pollination.” Buzz pollination is a unique service that helps plants produces more fruit.

Resources: • www.bumblebeewatch.org • The Pocket Guide to the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee • Conserving Bumblebees • ”The buzz about bumblebees” National Wildlife magazine

By Jan Hayman, Naturalist Citizens are helping monitor bees. Here are two opportunities this summer: • Befriending Bumble Bees Saturday, June 21, 10:00 am to Noon Maplewood Nature Center Best for adults, families with children age 5+.

Free, register at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/nc or 651.249.2170.

The quest for the Rusty-patched bumble bee, formerly common in Minnesota. Assist Elaine Evans, Entomologist from the University of Minnesota and co-author of the book, Befriending Bumble Bees, in collecting bumble bees from prairie flowers. Watch as she identifies and records them before releasing them back to the wild.

• Bumble Bee Watch (www.bumblebeewatch.org) Grab your camera and head to the nearest sunny patch of wildflowers at a park preserve or at Maplewood Nature Center. Take pictures of bumble bees on the flowers. Log into Bumble Bee Watch, upload your bumble bee photos, and try to identify your bees. An expert will verify the identity.

Easy photo tips: Approach your subject slowly so it doesn’t fly away; make sure your shadow doesn’t fall on the flower or bee; use your zoom feature and focus.

FIREFLY FUN

by Oakley Biesanz, Naturalist

Sometimes called lightning bugs, glowworms, moon bugs, or blinkies.

Photo credit: firefly.org

Turn Off Outside Lights for Fireflies!

    

Catching Fireflies 

  

It’s OK to capture fireflies, but always handle them gently, and release them back into nature!

In some species, the larvae and even the eggs emit light!

You can search for glowing firefly eggs and larvae at night in the grass and under logs and leaves.

For more fun facts visit www.firefly.org.

Register for a fun firefly program at the Nature Center: Firefly Magic Night Hike, Thursday, July 10, 8:30 to 10 p.m., $5/child, register at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/nc or 651.249.2170.

Printed on 50% post-consumer recycled paper

Photo credit: firefly.org

Glow Worm

Fireflies use their flashing lights to signal each other.

You can help fireflies by turning off exterior and garden lights, and drawing your blinds at night.

There are thousands of firefly species in the world.

Fifteen different species live in Minnesota; some glow with yellow light, some with green light, and some don’t glow at all.

Different species flash different light patterns with “J” patterns, three blinks, five blinks, and zig-zags!

Seasons 4