Garden for Wildlife: Water and Sustainable Gardening

So far in our series on wildlife gardening, we’ve looked at the ways BioWorks provides food and shelter. In this last post, we’ll look at our water sources, along with the sustainable gardening practices we apply.

The National Wildlife Federation suggests these sources of water in a wildlife garden: Birdbath • Lake • Stream • Seasonal Pool • Ocean • Water Garden/Pond • River • Butterfly Puddling Area • Rain Garden • Spring

Although the Back Woods at MOSI offers several ponds in the wetlands, we also have a small pond surrounded by vegetation in the butterfly garden itself. To make the water more inviting, our pond has waterfall features that keep the water moving, something many animals prefer. We see lots of frogs and snails in the pond, and small mammals likely visit it for drinks at night.

We also frequently offer water by providing puddling places for butterflies and small birds. Many times these puddles are just natural by-products of rains or irrigation, but they provide a valuable place for smaller creatures to get the water they need.

We help to keep these puddles and other water sources clean and free of unnecessary chemicals by following sustainable gardening practices. This means gardening in ways that make an impact on the environment in positive ways, keeping the ecosystem as close to native and natural as possible. Native wildlife flocks to areas that resemble their native environments, even if you’re in the middle of the city.

Some of the things we do keep our gardens environmentally friendly include: water-wise landscaping, soaker hoses for irrigation, rain barrels, mulching and composting, focus on native plants, reducing lawn areas, and eliminating chemical pesticides and fertilizers whenever possible. Wildlife that visit our gardens find an environment planned for them, so they enjoy visiting a healthy ecosystem and we enjoy watching them!

Garden for Wildlife: Shelter

In a previous post, we began taking a look at how BioWorks gardens for wildlife. We learned that good wildlife gardens provide food, shelter, and water, as well as using sustainable gardening practices. Our last post covered the food sources we provide at BiowWorks. Today, we’ll talk about shelter.

The National Wildlife Federation recommends providing at least two types of shelter in your wildlife habitat: Wooded Area • Bramble Patch • Ground Cover • Rock Pile or Wall • Cave • Roosting Box • Dense Shrubs or Thicket • Evergreens • Brush or Log Pile • Burrow • Meadow or Prairie • Water Garden or Pond

BioWorks and the Historic Tree Grove, along with MOSI’s Back Woods, offer plenty of shelter options. We have lots of mature trees and dense ground cover growth. The Back Woods has protected areas for the dens of the Gopher Tortoises that live there. Our small pond is surrounded by thick vegetation for frogs and other water creatures, and we have clusters of shrubs like coontie to provide cover on the ground.

Shelter is also important for raising young. The National Wildlife Federation suggests the following as good places for wildlife to engage in courtship behavior, mate, and then bear and raise their young:  Mature Trees • Meadow or Prairie • Nesting Box • Wetland • Cave • Host Plants for Caterpillars • Dead Trees or Snags • Dense Shrubs or a Thicket • Water Garden or Pond • Burrow

Obviously, we have plenty of host plants for caterpillars in the BioWorks Butterfly Garden. However, we also have mature trees and shrubbery for bird nests, so each spring we watch as cardinals, mockingbirds, thrashers, and more raise their young onsite. Our pond is a sheltered site for frogs to breed, and the Back Woods has wetlands for water birds and others.

Coming up next in the Garden for Wildlife series: Water and Sustainable Gardening Practices.

Refreshing the Butterfly Garden for Fall

It’s the first day of fall! We’re anxiously awaiting the cooler temperatures soon to arrive, and getting ready to refresh the gardens for the beautiful autumn weather ahead. Once all the overgrowth of summer is cleared away, there’s often not much left behind for butterflies and other wildlife to enjoy. It’s time to add some fresh new nectar plants to the beds, but the plants we can find in fall are often different than the ones available in spring. While mums are pretty popular at nurseries this time of year, they don’t add much to a butterfly garden.

However, there are four plants you can find pretty much year-round in Central Florida, and these are the ones we’ll be looking for when we bring the gardens back to life this fall. If you live in the area, you can do the same and help out butterflies in the months ahead.

Pentas or Star Flower (Pentas lanceolata): All colors of this annual are a draw for butterflies, but red seems to be especially popular. We’ll have to water well during any remaining hot days – Pentas don’t really tolerate drought until they’re very well established.


Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica): This is well-known as a host plant for Monarchs, but the flowers provide valuable nectar too. Plant as much as you can get your hands on to help monarchs arriving from the north for the winter.




Lantana (Lantana spp.): These tiny clusters of flowers never fail to bring butterflies to the garden. Remember that in some places, non-native Lantana camara is considered invasive. Plant less troublesome cultivars like “New Gold” to avoid potential problems later.


Mealycup Sage (Salvia farinacea) and Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea): Almost all salvia types are great nectar providers (except ornamental Salvia splendens), but S. farinacea is probably the easiest to find. We have plenty of S. coccinea, but there’s always room for more of this fantastic native that reseeds like crazy.

Garden for Wildlife: Food

Gardening for wildlife is a popular choice in gardening today. This method of gardening focuses on providing the elements that local wildlife need to survive and thrive, often in suburban and urban environments where the wildlife might otherwise struggle. A wildlife habitat provides food, water, and shelter for animals, along with using sustainable gardening practices to protect the quality of those things.

Today, we’ll take a look at the food options provided in MOSI BioWork’s Butterfly Garden and Historic Tree Grove. In upcoming posts, we’ll cover the water and shelter we provide as well. You can do these things in your own yard too, and even certify your wildlife habitat through the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

The NWF recommends including at least three of the following in a wildlife habitat: Seeds from a plant • Berries • Nectar • Foliage/Twigs • Nuts • Fruits • Sap • Pollen • Suet • Bird Feeder • Squirrel Feeder • Hummingbird Feeder • Butterfly Feeder

Here in the gardens, we provide many of these. For birds, we have a bird feeder, along with a bird garden planted nearby with millet and sunflower. Many of the shrubs in the garden provide berries, including Simpson Stopper, hollies, Beautyberry, duranta, Red Bay, pokeweed, and so much more.

We also (obviously) have plenty of food for butterflies. Our nectar plants dominate the garden, with salvia, penta, lantana, firebush, ironweed, and many more in abundance. Our butterflies have plenty of choice, with some nectar plants in full sun and others in full shade – some butterflies actually prefer that. Many nectar plants also provide pollen for bees and other pollinators too.

We also have plenty of food for squirrels and other mammals. Our favorite resident squirrel loves to sit in the winged elm near the lab door, nibbling twigs and throwing the remnants down at us. The squirrels also love the nuts from live oaks and other nut producing trees.

Insect-eaters are welcome too. Our gardens bring plenty of insects, including grasshoppers and ladybugs, which are food for birds and others. The smaller insects like mosquitoes are food for larger insects like dragonflies.

A good wildlife garden includes food for as many types of wildife as possible. We’re always looking for new ways to provide food for the animals and insects that visit BioWorks throughout the year.

Monarch Migration is Underway!

Folks up north in places like Minnesota are already seeing lots of signs of the beginning of monarch migration. Large numbers of monarchs are seen roosting in trees and bushes overnight. A patch of nectar flowers might see 60 monarchs visiting at a time. And groups of monarchs are seen flying together, at the same height and speed, in a southerly direction. Yes, the fall migration of monarchs has begun.

 
Most of these monarchs will be headed to Mexico, to roost by the millions in the trees of places like Michoacán, Mexico. They’ll rest there during the cooler temperatures of winter after flying hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of miles. They’ll remain there until spring, when the warming sun will wake them and encourage them to journey back north again.

 
The fall migration is made by a single generation of monarchs, meaning the butterflies that leave Minnesota and other northern states will be the same ones that arrive in Mexico several months later. These same butterflies will rest during the winter, then mate in the spring and begin flying north. They will stop along the way, perhaps in Texas, where they will lay eggs and die. Their offspring will continue the journey north when they emerge as butterflies, stopping somewhere a bit further along the route to repeat the process. It takes several generations of butterflies, each living only a few weeks, to make the spring migration.

But the fall butterflies are different. They live as many nine months to complete their extraordinary journey. Somehow, in their genetic code perhaps, they pass along the signals to their offspring to tell them where to fly in the spring. Much of this is still a mystery, as it is often is with the phenomenon of migration.

 
Here in peninsular Florida, we have a year-round resident population of monarchs that don’t migrate. This is both good and bad. We enjoy these butterflies every month of the year, which is great for us. But if a disease or weakness makes its way into the population, it’s likely to become widespread very quickly, without the advantage of outside breeding with other butterfly populations to strengthen the resident population again.

Some butterflies do migrate to and from Florida, though, and you may see an increase in monarchs in the months ahead. You can help these butterflies by planting milkweed, their host plant. Click here for directions on creating a Certified Monarch Waystation.

If you live in northern states, look for monarch festivals and activities in your community as the butterflies pass through. You can track migration by visiting and contributing data to Journey North, which features detailed maps of spottings and weekly updates. Monarchs are beloved across the country, so you’re sure to find a way to learn about and celebrate these amazing fliers!

Roosting Monarch Photo Credit: Judith Finley via Journey North

Project Noah and Citizen Science Projects

We admit it… we have an addiction. It’s called Project Noah and it’s a citizen science project that we seem to spend all our free time contributing to these days.


Citizen Science:
First – what is “citizen science”? The Encyclopedia of Life defines it as "projects in which volunteers, such as students, the general public and nature enthusiasts partner with scientists to collect information and answer real-world questions”. These projects are basically a chance for anyone who’s interested to help scientists gather data on things like bird nesting, migration, weather spotting, and a whole lot more. Check out ScienceforCitizens.net to find projects that appeal to you.

Project Noah:
Project Noah is a citizen science project dedicated to using mobile technology to document Earth’s organisms wherever and whenever they’re found. Project Noah is designed to take advantage of the plethora of smart phones out there, but you can easily participate using your computer as well.

Once you sign up, start by browsing other sightings from around the world, seeing wildflowers from Asia and monkeys from India, birds from California and butterflies from Maine. See what people are submitting, and mark some as your favorites.

Then it’s time to take things a step further and check out the listings that “Need ID”. Perhaps someone has posted a picture of a Giant Swallowtail caterpillar, but didn’t know what it was. Click the “Suggest ID” button and make your suggestion, including links to any relevant websites. The original submitter can review your suggestion and see if it makes sense to them, and others can agree with your ID or offer comments of their own. In this way, the community works together to ID sightings from across the globe. (We admit, we just love this part, helping to solve puzzles from around the world. Kristen frequently helps ID butterflies in places like Germany, while Jill found the ID for a very unusual caterpillar from South Africa the other day.)

Finally, be sure to participate in the most important way – uploading your own sightings. The Project Noah app allows you to upload pictures and descriptions right from your smartphone. You can also upload pictures from your computer. If you know what your spotting is, be sure to provide that information. If you’re not sure what you’ve seen, just mark your post “Help me ID this spotting”, and others will give you suggestions. People are always on the site viewing and responding to new postings, and you could have an answer in just a few minutes – how cool is that?

You’ll find both of us on Project Noah – Kristen is KristenGilpin and Jill is Florida33Girl. Drop by and see what we’ve been spotting and identifying, and then make some contributions of your own!

The Incredible, Edible… Caterpillar?

The idea of eating bugs is enough to give many people the heebie-jeebies, but in many parts of the world insects are an important part of a daily diet. Entomophagy is the consumption of insects as food, and in 80% of the world’s nations, insects like mealworms, ants, and cicadas provide an inexpensive source of protein and other nutrients. (Angelina Jolie’s kids apparently can’t get enough dried crickets.) Several types of caterpillars are common food sources and even delicacies in places around the globe.

Mopane Worms:
In South Africa, the larva of a moth called Gonimbrasia belina is one of the main sources of protein for the indigenous people. This caterpillar is frequently found on the mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane), giving it the common name Mopane Worm. Women and children gather these worms, sometimes bringing very small ones to trees closer to home to make it easier to harvest them when they are the proper size. Once the caterpillars are fully-grown, they are squeezed to expel the contents of their gut and then dried in the sun. They can be eaten dried and crispy, or rehydrated and fried in oil. Though not generally considered to be very flavorful, these caterpillars are 60% protein and also contain calcium and iron. Learn more about one woman’s experiece eating Mopane Worms here.

Silkworms:
Silk production is a huge industry in parts of Asia. The larva of the domesticated silkmoth (Bombyx mori) are raised for the cocoons they spin. However, these caterpillars cannot be allowed to finish metamorphosis and exit the cocoon naturally, as they will destroy much of the valuable silk. The cocoons are generally boiled and then unwound to preserve the silk, eventually exposing the pupa inside. In countries like China that have always been very populous, no food source can be overlooked, and so silkworm pupae have been eaten for centuries. They’re served boiled or fried, and are a common street food in China and Korea. One hundred grams of giant silkworm moth larvae provide 100 percent of the daily requirements for copper, zinc, iron, thiamin, and riboflavin.

Piagi or Piuga (Pandora Pinemoth Larva):
Caterpillar consumption isn’t confined to far-off places. Here in the US Pacific Northwest, members of the Native American tribe Paiute historically ate Piagi (other sources call it Piuga), the caterpillars of the Pandora Pinemoth (Coloradia pandora). They dug trenches around Pandora moth’s favorite host plant, the Jeffrey Pine, knowing that the full-grown caterpillars would climb down from the trees when they were ready to pupate. Older tribe members still harvest and eat these larva, roasting them in hot sand and cooking them into a vegetable stew.

Many other caterpillars are eaten as food around the world, and are considered by many to be far more “green” than eating beef, chicken, or other first-world meats. Existence of these insects in the wild, where they best benefit indigenous people, actually depends on the preservation of the land in its natural state. The caterpillars can only thrive in places where their host plants exist in abundance, so those who count on these insects as important part of their diet are especially willing to help conserve the forests and foliage the caterpillars need. Even when cultivated or farmed, caterpillars and other insects can be grown using less money and resources than the protein sources we in the US generally consider “normal”.

As the world’s population begins to grow, entomophagy will undoubtedly become more common in all parts of the world. Want to give it a try? Check out the Eat-A-Bug Cookbook by David George Gordon.

Photo Credits:
Mopane Worms: Arne Larson via Wikipedia
Fried Silkworms: Wikipedia

Anoles

Lizards of the anole family (pronounced ah-no-lee) are a common sight in and around BioWorks. As in most of Florida, the most populous species is the exotic Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei), an invasive species that is driving out our native Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis).

The Green Anole, sometimes called the Carolina Anole, is fairly cold-tolerant and can be found as far north as Tennessee. The Brown Anole, also called the Cuban Anole, is not cold-tolerant and lives mainly in peninsular Florida. The Brown Anole came here as part of the exotic pet trade, and was accidentally or carelessly introduced into the wild. It’s sometimes easy to confuse the two species, especially in winter, as Green Anoles often turn brown when the temperature is below 70. They also can turn brown when they need to blend in, or their systems are stressed. Additionally, when two males fight for a female, the winner takes on an even brighter shade of green, while the loser turns brown.



Both species of anoles have a dewlap, a brightly-colored flap of skin on the underside of the neck that can be extended and withdrawn. The dewlap plays an important role in mating, as male lizards attract the attention of females by extending the dewlap and bobbing up and down (sort of like lizard push-ups). The dewlap also serves as a warning signal to other lizards that they’ve strayed too far into one lizard’s established territory.

 
Once the anole has attracted a mate, he clasps her from behind and they remain locked together for some time. The female will begin to lay her eggs around 2 weeks later a few inches down in soft sandy soil or compost. The eggs hatch in 30 – 60 days, resulting in tiny baby lizards that rather seem to be all eyes and tail in the beginning. These babies must fend for themselves, as anoles take no interest in their young once the eggs have been laid.



Anoles are an excellent form of pest control as they feed on all sorts of insects, including mosquitoes. Larger anoles can take down fairly large insects, and it’s not an uncommon sight in the BioWorks Flight Encounter to see a Brown Anole in the process of eating a small butterfly, especially an older butterfly nearing the end of its life cycle.



Another fairly common sight is that of a lizard missing its tail. Anoles have the ability to release their tails when they feel threatened (i.e. when a cat or small child reaches out and grabs it). The tail itself continues to twitch for a minute or so, distracting the predator while the lizard makes its escape. The lizard will grow a new tail over the next few weeks to replace the one it has lost. This act of self-amputation is known as autonomy.

Like other reptiles, anoles molt (shed their skin), several times a year. During this time, the old skin begins to flake off, and you will see the lizard rubbing against bark and other rough surfaces to help remove the skin. Anoles frequently then eat this old skin, as it is a good source of nutrients like calcium.

What’s Flying? - September

Welcome to the wonderful month of September! This is probably my favorite month of the year, not just because it is the month that contains my birthday (and a yearly beach getaway) but also because the tail end of this month often brings us the first break from the unrelenting summers. Out in the gardens, we long for that at present.
With my favorite month comes a new blog feature: What’s flying? We’ll let you know what butterflies are out and about in the gardens here at MOSI and perhaps these are the same species you can sight in you own yard (for our central Florida readers).

What’s flying in the MOSI gardens?

• Gulf Fritillary
• Cloudless Sulphur
• Orange Barred Sulphur
• Sleepy Orange
• Spicebush Swallowtail
• Polydamas Swallowtail
• Pipevine Swallowtail
• Monarch
• Eastern Black Swallowtail
• Giant Swallowtail
• Duskywing
• Tropical Checker Spot
• Long Tailed Skipper
• Blues
• Fiery Skipper
• White Peacock
• Gray Hairstreak
• Southern Skipperling

Notes from the field:

• Gulf Fritillaries: This species is super abundant! There are scads of these butterflies out in the gardens right now, so many that it sometimes seems like they are swarming.
• Cloudless Sulphur: These are abundant. This is sulphur season and you can see these pale yellow butterflies laying eggs on nearly every species of cassia.
• Orange Barred Sulphur: These are abundant laying eggs on cassia and often taking nectar from Firebush.
• White Peacock: Sadly, we have only seen one or two of this species that is usually abundant on our site.
• Spicebush Swallowtail: Jill snapped this amazing photo of Spicebush Swallowtails mating, nestled inside a white duranta.
• It’s really hot outside. Ugh.