Author: akropf

Danaus plexippus, the monarch butterfly, is a well known species of butterfly through out the United States. I didn’t intend on using this species this week. Originally, I wanted to use a pine species from the Livingston area where the Texas chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration was holding their conference this year. An undergraduate group had studied seed germination of 3 species of milkweed native to Texas, I only knew of the common milkweed so I decided to look familiarize myself with with the Asclepias genus and was surprised by the diversity. Since monarch butterflies rely on milkweed in their life cycle, I thought I could use an earlier observation to discuss the biodiversity of milkweed without an observation.

I saw this monarch on campus and took a picture with iNaturalist for my own personal record . These butterflies are pollen generalists but only lay their eggs in milkweed to provide food for the caterpillars, their larval stage. There are over 30 types (Asclepias spp.) of native milkweed found in Texas and the unique obligatory relationship between the monarch butterfly and milkweed is a great example of co-evolution. A lot of effort has been put into restoring the butterfly population in the last few years and a major agencies like the USDA have been educating the public about saving populations of milkweed and implementing them in to gardening practices. Antelopehorns (Asclepias asperula) is found in the Blackland prairies and Edwards Plateau, so it possibly could have been observed in the areas surrounding Austin. Many of the milkweed species look similar but their unique inflorescence are helpful in the identification process.

Information about Asclepias spp. can be found here

iNaturalist post can be found here

 

 

Witch’s Butter, Tremella mesenterica, was found in a densely wooded area of Wild Basin. This fun guy was named “mesenterica” which means “middle intestine” in Latin, and as you can see, the fungus does have to odd appearance of an intestine. It was easy to identify T. mesenterica due to it’s unique shape, texture an color, and it’s seasonal appearance (fall and winter).

This is one of those fun encounters where you see that nature has a sense of humor (that is if you can anthropomorphize nature). The whole invasive species team had to stop to get a picture because we were all very excited, we had seen many “jelly” fungi in Costa Rica so it was fun to see it where we have been working all semester. Because of it’s odd appearance and color I would have assumed for this to be toxic to consume, but it is edible and commonly used to flavor soups. Although the flavor was no described, I would assume from it’s common name to have a rich butter like flavor. Even tough I am certain about my identification, I will not be tasting this Witch’s Butter.

Species information can be found here

Inaturalist  post can be found here

This is Bamboo. If I had known how difficult it was going to be to identify I would have collected a few more identifying parameters beyond the picture. I have narrowed it down to the genus Phyllostachys but to get more specific than that I will need to get a DBH tape and take a closer look at the rhizomes.  Because much of the bamboo looks similar, growth from the root can help determine the exact species. Although I have a picture of the stem and lanced leaves (typical of Phyllostachys) I do not have a picture of the roots, I didn’t even take a look at them.  I was surprised to see the diversity of bamboo that grows in Texas, although most of the bamboo is planted for it’s looks and sometime used instead of a privacy fence, most of it is invasive and can do damage to wetlands and marshes.

To see the iNaturalist post click here

The devils walking stick gets its name, I assume, form the thorns covering the trunk. This tree is certainly not ideal for use as a walking stick and it’s wood is not good for commercial use either but it is is a very interesting tree to observe. The crown is flat and the leaves are twice pinnate giving it a fan like appearance. It was, at first, difficult to identify the tree by the leaves alone but the flat crown was a key identifier when looking at trees common in Texas. The devil’s walking stick is common throughout the southern United States and the Midwest.

 

See my iNaturalist Post here

The Gulf Flitillary,  Agraulis vanillae, is an orange and black butterfly found in southern areas of the United States. I saw this butterfly in the same place I found the Red Bird of Paradise. There were several other butterflies in the area, potentially a Clouded Sulphur butterfly and an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, but this one was still long enough for a few pictures.

This beautiful butterfly, like most, comes from a humble and ugly beginning. The mature larva is a toxic orange with many black spines.  Butterflies are being largely impacted by humans, migration has been interrupted by wind turbines and other large structures, pesticides and herbicides have a substantial impact but climate change may be the largest impact yet. Global warming may disrupt the synchronization of the waking of the caterpillar in the spring and food availability provided by violets.

This information was found here and the iNaturalist post can be seen here

This mountain laurel, Sophora secundiflora, is in one of our plots at Wild Basin. We originally identified this plant using a dichotomous key of common woody species in Texas.  The dark waxy leaves may resemble leaves of a sumac but the stems are very different.  

The mountain laurel is slow growing and difficult to prorate, but once it matures it will produce pendulous purple flowers.

 

See INaturalist post here

Grass Spider

This spider was seen walking through a tall grassy area in Wild Basin close to Bee Creek. I would have walked right into this spider web if Eric hadn’t already. The disturbance caused the spider ball up, making the identification process a little more complicated. By the markings on the lower abdomen and the stripes on the legs lead to the the funnel web grass spider, Agelenopsis spp.  There are 13 species of Agelenopsis occurring from Canada to Mexico, inhabiting areas with high grasses and shrubs for them to construct their webs.

 

See INaturalist post here

Reference:

http://www.spiders.us/species/agelenopsis-sppagele

I went outside with a specific tree in mind to identify and talk about in this week’s blog but as I was walking, dark pink flowers stood out among a mostly green back ground.

Lagerstremia indica, known as crapemyrtle. This tree is not a Texas native and can occur with several shades of flowers, which complicated the identification process. Ultimately characteristics such as the leaves, smooth bark on multiple trunks, and flowering season (summer-fall) narrowed down the process.  L. indica is planted along roads and in open yards because it requires full sunlight.  there are many hybrids of this genus to increase resistance to disease and hardiness.

Inaturalist identification can be found here

The Eastern Blackneck Garter Snake, Thamnophis cyrtopsis, was one of many exciting species I ran across at Wild Basin this weekend. The orange stripe running down it’s back made this quite friend stand out along the rocky surface

The Eastern Blackneck Garter Snake is found throughout Utah, Colorado, Nevada,  Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. This garter snakes is found in desert and forest areas but typically found near a water sources to support it’s diet of amphibians and fish.

My INaturalist post can be found here

Habitat and diet description found from http://www.herpsoftexas.org/content/black-necked-gartersnake

 

Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a semi-evergreen shrub that occurs all throughout Texas, Arizona and much of the southern United States. This particular shrub caught my eye for two reasons. First, the bright orange and yellow colors are attention grabbing but also serve as a warning of their poisonous seeds.  The second reason this shrub caught my attention was for it’s long stamen, which extend far beyond the petals and allow for easy pollination by bees and butterflies.

The Inaturalist post can be found here