Willow pinecone gall midge (Rabdophaga strobiloides)

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willow pinecone gall midge

An abnormal growth (gall) on the stems, leaves, or buds of a plant can be formed by many insects, mites, and fungi. Willows are hosts to many parasitic insects, several of which form galls. Only willow pinecone gall midge (Rabdophaga strobiloides) forms a pinecone-shaped gall at the tip of a willow stem.

The adult midge is a small fly about 3 ⁄16″ long. It is most often identified by the large distinctive gall that houses the growing larva. The gall appears at the end of a willow stem. It consists of numerous, stunted, overlapping, loosely appressed, scale-like leaves. In the summer it is green, more or less globular, and densely covered with long, white, matted and tangled, woolly hairs. In the fall the cone turns brown and the shape resembles a pine cone.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/willow_pinecone_gall_midge.html

Hitched arches (Melanchra adjuncta)

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hitched arches

Photo by Bill Reynolds

Hitched arches (Melanchra adjuncta) is a stout, medium-sized, night-flying, owlet moth. It is common in moist woods along river and stream banks, in woodland edges and openings, and in old fields. It is also often found in large gardens.

When at rest the forewings are held roof-like over the body. The forewings are dark gray mottled with black, greenish-brown and white. They have a white patch near the base (closest to the head), a small round white spot, a large white kidney-shaped spot, and a gray fringe. The hindwings are light grayish-brown but are not usually visible.

The caterpillar is light green or light brown with dark semicircular patches on the back (dorsum) and a conspicuous hump near the end of the abdomen.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/hitched_arches.html

Savanna Portage State Park

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Savanna Portage State Park

In 1961 the state of Minnesota set aside 14,000 acres in Aitkin County to preserve Savanna Portage, a 6-mile long, centuries old, canoe portage. Savanna Portage State park became Minnesota’s third largest state park. On April 23, 1973, Savanna Portage was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park today is 16,259 acres and receives 57,952 annual visits.

The northeast half of the park is mostly peat bog and mostly inaccessible except by the Savanna Portage Trail. The central portion of the park contains many small lakes, rolling hills, and long ridges. This area contains low areas of swamps, fens, and wet meadows separated and criss-crossed by hardwood- and mixed-forested ridges. The ridges are end moraines left by a retreating lobe in the last glaciation. Most of the park’s 32 miles of hiking trails are in this area.

Visitors this week (7/12 to 7/18/2015) will see purple pitcherplant, northern blue flag, and swamp candles blooming next to the bog boardwalk trail; American white waterlily and variegated yellow pond lily blooming on the surface of shallow lakes; elliptic shinleaf, white avens, yellow avens, limber honeysuckle, early figwort, American vetch, and veiny pea blooming in the forest; and black-eyed Susan blooming in forest openings. They will also see scores of northern crescents, many white admirals, and a few Canadian tiger swallowtail, Compton tortoiseshell, summer azure, and other butterflies.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/Savanna_Portage_State_Park.html

Little glassywing (Pompeius verna)

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little glassywing

Photo by John Shier

Little glassywing (Pompeius verna) is a medium-sized grass skipper with a wingspan of 11 ⁄16″ to 1½″. It is common in much of the eastern half of the United States but uncommon in the Upper Midwest, including Minnesota. The caterpillar of this species feeds exclusively on the leaves of purpletop tridens. It creates a shelter by rolling up one leaf of the grass or tying adjacent leaves together with silk. It remains in the shelter during the daytime, coming out only at night to feed, overwinters in it, and pupates in it the following spring.

Little glassywing is similar in appearance to Dun skipper (Euphyes vestris) and northern broken-dash (Wallengrenia egeremet). These three species are called “the three witches” because their dark wings make it difficult to tell “which one is which.” Little glassywing is distinguished by the large, rectangular or square, semi-transparent (“glassy”) spot on the forewing; a row of very pale spots on the underside of the hindwing; and a white band just below the swollen tip of the antenna.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/little_glassywing.html

Anna Gronseth Prairie

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Anna Gronseth Prairie

This Wilkin County site became a preserve in 1973 when The Nature Conservancy (TNC) purchased 160 acres from Anna Gronseth. The intent of the purchase was to protect a booming ground of the greater prairie chicken, a species of special concern in Minnesota. TNC expanded the preserve at least seven times with additional land purchases over the next 26 years. Anna Gronseth Prairie is now 1,299 acres of mostly wet prairie with a few pockets of calcareous fen.

Visitors this week (6/28 to 7/4/2015) will find Canada anemone, mountain death camas, and prairie turnip at their peak, and golden ragwort, pale agoseris, and silverweed also blooming. If you are planning a visit, waterproof footwear is recommended.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/Anna_Gronseth_Prairie.html

 

Hackberry emperor (Asterocampa celtis)

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hackberry emperor

Hackberry emperor (Asterocampa celtis) is a medium-sized brushfooted butterfly, with a wingspan of 2″ to 2⅞″. It is common in the southern half of Minnesota where it’s host species, northern hackberry, is also found. Though common it is sometimes overlooked due to its tendency to fly around the tops of trees. Adults can sometimes be found perched head down a tree trunk or the side of a building. Males are attracted to bright colors and can be lured with red and white paper.

Hackberry emperor is similar in appearance to its close relative, tawny emperor (Asterocampa clyton), also found in Minnesota. Hackberry emperor can be distinguished by its darker coloration, white spots near the tip of the forewing, a single black eyespot on the forewing, and single black bar and two separated black spots in the large central area of the forewing.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/hackberry_emperor.html

Wrinkled Peach (Rhodotus palmatus)

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Wrinkled Peach

Wrinkled Peach (Rhodotus palmatus) is a small to medium-sized, easily recognized but infrequently found gill mushroom. It is found scattered or in small groups on fallen, rotting hardwoods, especially on elm but occasionally also on basswood and maple. Before the middle of the twentieth century this mushroom was rare in North America. With the advance of Dutch elm disease the number of dead elms has greatly increased as has the population of this mushroom. There are no similar species. The lightly-colored netted surface is distinctive.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Fungi/Wrinkled_Peach.html

Dark fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus)

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dark fishing spider

Photo by Brian Johnson

Dark fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) is a large, robust, nursery web spider (family Pisauridae). The common name is misleading, as this spider is most often found in deciduous forests, often far from water.

This is the largest fishing spider (genus Dolomedes). The adult female body can be up to 1″ long with a legspan of over 3″. The male is about half that size and one-fourteenth the weight. The body is light brown with dark markings and the legs have alternating light and dark bands.

The male never survives the mating process. This is not because it is killed by the female, as with black widow spiders. The male has evolved to die spontaneously after mating, providing the female with a meal to nourish her eggs.

Fishing spiders are similar to, and often mistaken for, wolf spiders. They are distinguished by the arrangement of their eyes and the mode of perching. Dark fishing spider is similar in appearance to striped fishing spider (Dolomedes scriptus) but is larger and has less white marking on the abdomen.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Arachnids/dark_fishing_spider.html

Blackhoof River WMA

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Blackhoof River WMA

Blackhoof River WMA was created around 1991 to protect an important whitetail deer wintering site and portions of the Blackhoof River and Nemadji River corridors. It contains the confluence of the two rivers, about three miles of each river’s corridor, and the broad upland between.

The flat to gently rolling uplands are dissected by the deep valleys of these rivers, and by several ravines created by Deer Creek and other unnamed connecting streams. Areas of old growth forest remain in the river bottoms. There are 18.6 miles of wide hunter walking trails, mostly on the uplands, that are mowed every year.

Visitors this week (6/14 to 6/20/2015) will find bunchberry at its peak, and Canada anemone and downy arrowwood in bloom.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/Blackhoof_River_WMA.html

St. Croix State Park

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St. Croix State Park

In 1943 the 18,000-acre St. Croix Recreational Demonstration Area became Minnesota’s twenty-fourth state park. Additional land acquisitions have since made St. Croix State Park Minnesota’s largest state park, with over 34,000 acres. There are 127 miles of hiking trails, though most of those are shared with horseback riders. Most of the park is oak woodland, but closer inspection shows it to be a mosaic of 27 different native plant communities, including a rare jack pine barrens. Fourteen plant species with protected status in Minnesota are found here, including butternut, American ginseng, and Hill’s thistle.

Visitors to the park this week (June 14 to 20) will see Canada mayflower and Allegheny blackberry at their peak, as well as many white admiral and silvery checkerspot butterflies.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/St_Croix_State_Park.html