Six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

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six-spotted tiger beetle

Photo by Dan W. Andree

Six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) is a small predaceous, tiger beetle. It is probably the most common species of tiger beetle in eastern North America, possibly the most common on the continent. It is found in the southern two-thirds of Minnesota. Adults and larval burrows are very often seen on paths in the woods. Six-spotted tiger beetle can be thought of as a woodland path species.

The head and body are shiny, iridescent, and usually metallic green, occasionally blue. Flashy tiger beetles (subtribe Cicindelini) are usually identified by the color and pattern of marks on their wing coverings. The common name of this species comes from white spots on the wing covers. There are usually six small spots, often eight, rarely ten, and occasionally none.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/six-spotted_tiger_beetle.html

Japanese hop (Humulus japonicus)

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Japanese hop

Japanese hop (Humulus japonicus) is an invasive, prohibited noxious weed in Minnesota. It can form dense mats several feet deep covering and inhibiting the growth of all other vegetation. It is relatively new in the state. The first recorded sighting was in 1992. To date, it has been reported in just four counties in the southeastern corner of the state, and in Hennepin and Scott Counties in the metro area.

Japanese hop closely resembles the native common hop (Humulus lupulus). Japanese hop is distinguished by the leaf stalk that is as long or longer than the blade; the leaf blade that has 5, 7, or 9 lobes and is rough to the touch on the underside; the stiff hairs on the margins of the bracts on the fruiting structure; and the lack of stalked, yellowish glands on the fruiting bracts, anthers, and seed capsules. Also, unlike common hop, the fruiting structure is not fragrant when crushed, and it cannot be used for making beer.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Plants/Japanese_hop.html

Brownsville Bluff SNA

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Brownsville Bluff SNA

Brownsville Bluff Scientific and Natural Area, in Houston County, was designated on January 19, 2016, to protect habitat for the milk snake and the state threatened western ratsnake. Neither snake is poisonous. The site consists of 286 acres bedrock bluff covered with windblown sediment. The 39-acre south section is a wildlife sanctuary that is closed to the public. The eastern-facing slopes are moderately steep to very steep. They have a mature, moderately moist forest of sugar maple, basswood, ironwood, northern red oak, and white oak. The west-facing slopes are less steep. They have a dry to moderately moist mature forest of bur oak, northern pin oak, northern red oak, and paper birch, with some shagbark hickory, white oak, and black walnut. At the top of the bluff there is a prairie that has been used as an agricultural field. It will be restored to prairie and savanna.

An access road leads from the parking area (walk around the gate) 0.67 miles to the top of the bluff. A footpath follows the cleared fields on the bluff top to the northern boundary. Another footpath leads east from there to a spectacular overlook at the northeast corner of the SNA, a dizzying 400 feet above the road below.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/Brownsville_Bluff_SNA.html

Lawrence Creek SNA

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Lawrence Creek SNA

Designated on June 12, 2017, Lawrence Creek SNA is one of the newest Scientific and Natural Areas in the Minnesota DNR’s inventory. It consists of 71.8 forested acres of steep bluffs and deep ravines near Franconia in Chisago County. Included within its boundary is a trout stream, a hunting shack, and an 11-acre state wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary is closed to the public and visitors are asked to “Stay back from cliffs and off steep slopes” to protect sensitive plant communities. There are no maintained trails, but there is a forest road and worn footpaths that together complete a 3.2-mile circuit of the site.

Visitors to Lawrence Creek SNA this week (May 6 to 12, 2018) will see Pennsylvania sedge in flower and sharp-lobed hepatica and yellow marsh marigold peaking. Other spring wildflowers in bloom this week include bloodroot, white trout lily, large-flowered bellwort, large-flowered trillium, and Virginia spring beauty. Louisiana Waterthrush, a species of special concern, has been heard here. The site contains habitat that may host Cerulean Warbler, Acadian flycatcher, and Red-shouldered Hawk. Three Helmeted Guineafowl were seen in the parking area by a surprised visitor. They apparently belong to the farm across the road and are free to roam the adjacent fields.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Main/Destinations.html

Checkered white (Pontia protodice)

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checkered white

Checkered white (Pontia protodice) is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of 1½″ to 2½″. It is a southerly species and is uncommon in Minnesota. There are two overlapping broods here, early June to August (spring form) and July to mid-October (summer form). The wings are white with dark markings, including a checkered pattern on the outer margin. The female has more extensive markings than the male, and the spring form has darker markings than the summer form. The larva (caterpillar), known as the southern cabbageworm.

Checkered white populations have drastically decreased in eastern Unites States, and the butterfly is now scarce or extirpated in some areas where it was once common. It appears stable in the west. The cause of the decline is unknown, though habitat loss is certainly a contributor. It is possible that the extremely abundant introduced species cabbage white is displacing native whites, including checkered white. It is also possible that checkered white is a western and midwestern species that only sporadically became abundant in eastern agricultural fields. It remains to be seen whether the decline will continue to spread westward.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/checkered_white.html

Pst (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tagetis)

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Pst (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tagetis)

Pst on Canada thistle

Visitors to Minnesota’s natural places will occasionally come across a stand of Canada thistle with a few plants that are whitened at the top, appearing bleached. The discoloration is caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tagetis. It has been called “White‐colour Disease of Canadian Thistle,” “apical chlorosis of Canada thistle,” and “Bacterial Speck”, but it has no widely-accepted common name. It is often referred to in scientific literature as Pst.

Outside of a laboratory, a bacterium is recognized only by the symptoms it produces in its host. Pst produces the substance tagetitoxin, which blocks the production of chloroplasts, preventing photosynthesis. This results in whitened plant growth (chlorosis) on only the upper portion of the plant, stunted growth, fewer shoots, and inhibition of flowering. Pst infects plants in the Aster family, including Canada thistle, common dandelion, common sunflower, common ragweed, giant ragweed, Jerusalem artichoke, and some other plants not found in Minnesota.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota conducted a study in 2002 to assess the viability of using Pst as a biological control agent for Canada thistle.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Bacteria/Pst.html

Orange-gilled Waxy Cap (Humidicutis marginata)

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Orange-gilled Waxy Cap

Orange-gilled Waxy Cap (Humidicutis marginata) is a medium-sized, easily identified mushroom. It is widespread in North America but not common in the Midwest and northeast. It grows on the ground in humus, sometimes on very rotten wood, in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests. It may be found singly, scattered, or in small groups. It is edible but insubstantial and watery.

Three varieties are recognized; var. marginata, with an orange cap; var. concolor, with a yellow cap, more common in the northeast; and var. olivacea, with a olive-colored cap, more common in the west. The variety in most common in Minnesota is identified by the bright orange color; the cap that appears watery when wet but is never slimy; and the orange gills that retain their orange color even long after the cap has faded to yellow.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Fungi/Orange-gilled_Waxy_Cap.html

Crimson erineum mite (Aceria elongatus)

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crimson erineum mite

At only one tenth the width of a human hair in length, a crimson erineum mite (Aceria elongatus) is barely visible to the human eye unaided by magnification. Its claws, dorsal shield markings, and other identifying body features are not. Identification in the field is possible only by noting the properties of the abnormal growths (galls) it produces on its host.

Crimson erineum mite is a plant parasite infecting only sugar maple and possibly black maple. It is common in eastern United States and Canada. When injured by a mite, a leaf cell produces a small projection filled with colored fluid on the upper surface. Small patches of these are usually scattered over the leaf surface. They are greenish-white at first, soon becoming crimson or purplish. They reach their maximum extent, and are most noticeable, in summer. The infestation is sometimes abundant and can cause leaf distortion and premature leaf drop.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Arachnids/crimson_erineum_mite.html

Eyed click beetle (Alaus oculatus)

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eyed click beetle

Photo by Dan W. Andree

At 1¾″ long, eyed click beetle (Alaus oculatus) may be the largest click beetle in our area. With its boldly-outlined eye spots it is certainly the most distinctive.

The body is long, thin, and black, with mottled patterns of minute, whitish scales. The thorax has a pair of large black spots boldly outlined with white. The spots look like eyes and give this beetle its common name.

On the underside, an elongated lobe on one plate fits into a groove in another plate, allowing the insect to produce an audible click. This feature gives the insect family the common name “click beetles”. If put on its back, the beetle uses this click mechanism to catapult itself up to six inches in the air, righting itself and potentially escaping a predator.

Click beetle larvae are called wireworms. Most wireworms eat plant roots, and can be serious agricultural pests. Eyed click beetle wireworms are carnivorous. The feed on the larvae of other insects, especially wood-boring beetles. This makes them a beneficial insect.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/eyed_click_beetle.html

Comb Tooth (Hericium coralloides)

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Comb Tooth

Photo by Margot Avey

There are sixteen species of Hericium fungus, four of which occur in North America, three in Minnesota. Comb Tooth (Hericium coralloides) is by far the most common of the three. It is fairly common in northeastern United States and in Minnesota. It is found in late summer and fall in deciduous woodlands and forests, on fallen logs, branches, and dead stumps of hardwoods.

The fruiting body is a loose, open cluster of delicate branches. It is white when fresh, becoming creamy-white to buff or yellowish-tan with age. The branches are themselves again intricately branched and have rows of evenly-spaced spines, like the teeth of a comb, that hang downward. The spines are the spore-producing structures of this fungus, corresponding to the gills on many mushrooms (Agaricales). The flesh is white and edible when young and soft, but the spines become brittle with age.

Comb Tooth is similar in appearance to the other two Hericium species in Minnesota. It is the only Hericium that is intricately branched and has teeth no more than ⅜″ long.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Fungi/Comb_Tooth.html