Spicebush Caterpillar Update

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After a hard rain – I checked to see if the caterpillars were surviving on the spicebush. I had seen 4 very tiny ones when I checked a week ago. I found a very tiny one right way and then two that were probably from the group I saw last week. One was completely enfolded in a leaf and was probably waiting to dry out a bit before venturing out. The other was partially in a leaf…looked like it had eaten part of its hiding place!

Hopefully I will have some that will survive to become Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies.

I didn’t look over the entire plant…it could be that there were other caterpillars although birds could have eaten some of them. Caterpillars are – after all – high quality bird food.

Butterfly House – August 2025

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So many things to see in the Botanical Garden and the Roston Native Butterfly House this month. There are plenty of native plants in bloom in the rain garden on the walk between the Botanical Center and the house….but I just take a quick look since I want a few minutes to get things cleaned up before turning the sign to ‘open.’

Sometimes we find butterflies that have died overnight. I took a picture of one before we put it in the small bin we keep for butterflies that have succumbed. Another morning I found the 4 parts of a cecropia moth’s wings scattered on the floor; maybe a mouse ate the body during the night?

I like to see butterflies getting nectar from flowers…but sometimes it is enough to see them ‘resting.’ There are often fresh zinnias for the butterflies – freshly cut from the Master Gardener area of the Botanical Gardens. And there is always something blooming in the house itself. I like the Zen of the place when there aren’t many people but there is always the magic of a child’s wonder seeing a butterfly in a way they haven’t before.

The caterpillar that was ‘new to me’ this month was a Zebra Swallowtail…large enough to make its chrysalis – picked up off the floor when it was trying to leave the plant!

The moths are easily photographed because they are not very active during the day. The Luna moth is my favorite….but the Polyphemus is beautiful too. They, along with the Cecropia, have large caterpillars that are always interesting to visitors.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 16, 2025

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Fall 2025 International Student Enrollment Outlook and Economic Impact – The drop in new international student enrollment in the United States this fall could result in a 15 percent drop in overall enrollment. This drop would result in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer jobs.

Woodpeckers thrive where missiles fly. How a bombing range became a wildlife refuge - A U.S. Air Force bombing range in Florida has become a sanctuary for endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker!

Used EV Batteries Get New Life Supporting the Texas Power Grid - In Texas, retired EV batteries are being repurposed to shore up the state’s unstable electric grid. Batteries have made significant capacity contributions within Texas’ electric grid in recent years and have been credited with helping prevent summer blackouts by bolstering grid reliability.

World Cannot Recycle Its Way Out of Plastics Crisis - The world churns out more than 200 times as much plastic today as it did in 1950, and production is only rising. Microscopic bits of plastic waste have been found nearly everywhere. Many of the more than 16,000 chemicals used in plastics — flame retardants, fillers, dyes — can harm human health, and fetuses, infants, and young children are particularly vulnerable. Without efforts to stem the use of plastic, production is on track to nearly triple by 2060.

Gorgeous, Hidden Animal Tattoos Discovered on a More Than 2,000-Year-Old ‘Ice Mummy’ by Using Digital Imaging - Tigers, stags and a leopard twist around each other, the animals’ stylized and intricate details spread in ink across a woman’s forearm. On her hand is the delicate outline of a bird with a fluffy tail. It sounds like something you might see from a tattoo artist today, but these designs appear to be preserved on a more than 2,000-year-old “ice mummy” from Siberia’s Pazyryk culture.

How do the microplastics in our bodies affect our health? - The use of plastics in society first came into being on a large scale in about the 1920s, and we see a big increase from the 1960s onwards. In a study published in 2024, scientists found that consumption of the particles has increased sixfold since 1990, particularly in various global hotspots including the US, China, parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Scandinavia. In February 2025, scientists identified microplastics in the brains of human cadavers. Most notably, those who had been diagnosed with dementia prior to their death had up to 10 times as much plastic in their brains compared to those without the condition. Because humans are consuming so many different types of plastic, it's both unlikely and impractical, without vast sources of funding, for researchers to be able to identify a direct link between ingesting microplastics and one particular disease….but there is mounting evidence that they are impacting health.

See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago – Skeletons found in the Czech Republic chert mine.

This diet helped people lose twice as much weight, without eating less - People eating minimally processed foods lost twice as much weight as those on ultra-processed diets, even though both diets were nutritionally balanced and participants could eat freely!

A Promised U.S. Drilling Boom Has Yet to Materialize - The price of oil, the world’s most-traded commodity, is more responsive to global demand and supply dynamics than to domestic policy and politics. The economics of solar and wind are increasingly too attractive to ignore. They are now almost always the least expensive — and the fastest — option for new electricity generation.

Your sleep schedule could be making you sick, says massive new study - A global study of over 88,000 adults reveals that poor sleep habits—like going to bed inconsistently or having disrupted circadian rhythms—are tied to dramatically higher risks for dozens of diseases, including liver cirrhosis and gangrene.

Volunteering – August 2023

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I have three areas of volunteering going on this summer: Friends of the Library, Master Naturalist chapter, and Butterfly House (that counts as Master Naturalist hours too).

I volunteer once a month to sort used books at my local library that will be sold in the sales that happen once a year at each branch. Setting up or helping during the sale itself is another volunteer opportunity (I prefer the set up!). This month the sale will be at the branch closest to where I live but I have used the sales as an opportunity to explore other the parts of the county that I am not as familiar with. The monthly sorting usually starts out a bit daunting with tables full of books that have been donated. Two people come in each week but there are certainly times that there is more than two people can sort into shelving by subject or box up within the 2-hour shift. I am always relieved when the table is cleared when I leave…and that the area is air conditioned; sorting books is good exercise.

I am the programs chair for my local Missouri Master Naturalist chapter, so I am doing the behind-the-scenes activity to arrange for speakers…and writing announcements to the chapter about what is happening. The speakers count as advanced training so I create an entry in the tool we have for logging our advanced training so that others can simply select it when they attend…minimizing what they must do to get credit for the training.

The Butterfly House has been my most substantial volunteering this summer…both in the house itself talking to visitors as they enjoy the butterflies and moths there and raising Luna moth caterpillars at home that have been taken to the house as big caterpillars and moths recently. The large cecropia caterpillars on display in the butterfly house recently were the 3 that were raised with my luna caterpillars (because they were mixed in when I was given the bin with a lot of newly hatched caterpillars). 

I’ve enjoyed all the volunteer gigs I’ve had this summer…even the ones that were outdoors on very hot days!

Our Missouri Yard in August 2025

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July was very dry here, but our sprinkler system has kept up. Our shade garden looks lush with violets and a few hostas and lambs ear going to seed. The dried remains of alliums and some grass seed heads offer some highlights in the sea of violets.

The American Spikenard is blooming with violets under it a little further up the hill – and where I can see it from my office window.

Even further up the hill with violets around it, is the spicebush I planted last fall. I have been checking it for eggs or caterpillars --- and it finally has caterpillars. I counted 4 – all Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars. I am leaving them alone right now but will go out and check on them. They are easy to spot even when they are small because they pull the leaf around themselves (like a leaf taco) when they resting.

One morning last week when I was out weed eating, I noticed that one of my mother’s naked lady lily bulbs that I planted in my yard in January 2023 has survived! The pokeweed shades it from the heat. There was a second plant that was mostly still buds. I was happy to see it --- glad it was there to spark memories of Mom. I took some macro images of the flowers. They start out a darker pink then fade as they mature.

The pokeweed seems to have more evidence that insects are eating its foliage…but has plenty of energy to make seeds. None of reached maturity yet (i.e. no purple fruits). I am going to let the ones in the bed with the lilies make seeds and hope the birds will enjoy the this fall/winter.

There are birds around: a female hummingbird that comes to my feeder frequently and sometimes flies to the nearby pine or visits the plants in the shade garden, a family of finches,

A young wren,

And a juvenile robin in the pine tree (the third brood for the summer). I am glad that the shade garden seems to be attractive to so many birds.

In the front yard, the crape myrtles are doing better than I expected. They tend to die back in winter but this year they seem to be more robust.

The Virginia creeper is a thick ground cover in the front bed around two of the crape myrtles. I periodically pull it off the bricks although the way it adheres is not damaging like English Ivy can be.

Our yard is looking good in August…and I am looking forward to the work to do the landscaping this fall in the front of the house.

Macro Daylilies and Cecropia Moth

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I enjoy macro photography with my phone (iPhone 15 Pro Max)…today’s post shows two different rounds – one from July and the other from August.

In July, I realized that I would have to dig out my daylilies that were growing around the maple to be cut down – so I cut all of them that were in bloom to enjoy indoors….and too photograph.

I like the shapes and textures and shades of color. They all change as the flowers age: texture and color intensify …and the shapes often become collapsed curls. The flowers and stems are now in my shade garden to decompose among the pine needles and plants growing there; another component of the mulch.

On the morning I volunteered in the Butterfly House last week, there were two Cecropia Moths that had died. The adult forms don’t live very long (10-14 days) since they don’t eat as adults.

The Cecropia Moth is the largest species in North America. It is a type of silk moth and has one life cycle per year. It overwinters as a cocoon made of silk and leaves. I took pictures of the body from different angles…marveling at how ‘hairy’ the scales look there. The antennae look feather-like. The tips of the wings have what looks like an eye…and markings that look like a snake profile!

The dead cecropia were interesting to visitors. They were able to feel how soft the wings were – like velvet – which is not something we suggest with living moths. It doesn’t take long before it is noticeable that some scales have been rubbed off. Moths and butterflies are beautiful…and relatively fragile.  

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge

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The next morning was bright and sunny. I appreciated the golf course scenes from the front of our hotel room. The sidewalk was wide enough to accommodate tables and chairs; quite a few people were outdoors enjoying the morning sunshine. The bird houses seemed to be populated with sparrows.

Our destination for the morning was Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. It was our second visit (our first was in June of 2024) to see the big cats (and a few bears) that had been rescued from around the country and then provided for in this sprawling facility near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Many of the cats have health challenges either from prior abuse and/or genetic disorders caused by inbreeding. We arrived just in time for the first tram tour at 9 AM. One high point of the tour for me was a juvenile racoon that was perched on the top of one of the enclosures. Hopefully it got itself back to the forest rather than wiggling through to where it would be no match for the big cat.

The other high point was sound. Two lions were communicating! We couldn’t see either one, but it was interesting to hear their back and forth conversation across the facility.

After the tram, we walked through the area closer to the entrance. I remembered some of the cats from our last visit – a serval found by a farmer in Missouri and brought to the refuge…some bobcats found as cubs. There are also some habitats for large cats. I remembered the black leopard; she was in the same place I saw her on my previous visit; She either is turned away from people or follows them as the move about on the other side of the double fence.

One tiger was new to her area and not settled in yet. She was near the back of the enclosure and trying to ignore people and the cats in the enclosure next door. A staff member was encouraging people to be quieter near her enclosure.

There were butterflies active on a patch of zinnias: several Spicebush Swallowtails, a dark morph of the Tiger Swallowtail (I am assuming….there was one that was a lot larger than the Spicebush Swallowtails), and a Common Buckeye butterfly.   

We headed toward home, stopping at a restaurant that floated on Table Rock Lake. I took a picture of the view from our table…the bluff across a narrow arm of the lake.

On the way back to the car – turtles were visible in the water along the pontoon walkway! The red-eared slider’s markings make identification easy.

We stopped at our house on the way to my daughters…and were greeted at the door by our 3 housecats…wanting cuddles and more food!

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 9, 2025

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Scientists unveil bioplastic that degrades at room temperature, and outperforms petroplastics – Sounds great…but will the existing plastic (made from petroleum) industry let this innovation move forward?

The world is getting hotter – this is what it is doing to our brains - As heatwaves become more intense with climate change, scientists are racing to understand how extreme heat changes the way our brains work. A range of neurological conditions are made worse by rising heat and humidity, including epilepsy, stroke, encephalitis, multiple sclerosis, migraine, along with several others. Heat can also alter other ways our brain functions – making us more violent, grumpy and depressed. Hospital admissions and mortality rates among people with dementia also increase during heatwaves. Rising temperatures have also been linked to an increase in stroke incidents and mortality. And there is a lot we do not know.

Bizarre New Creatures Discovered 30,000 Feet Under the Sea - Entire communities of animals, rooted in organisms that can derive energy not from sunlight but from chemical reactions. Through a process called chemosynthesis, deep-sea microbes can turn compounds like methane and hydrogen sulfide into organic compounds, including sugars, forming the base of the food chain.

Hawaiian Petroglyphs Reemerge for the First Time in Years - The full panel of petroglyphs has been exposed again after seasonal ocean swells swept away covering sand. In all, the petroglyphs are spread across 115 feet of beach and consist of 26 figures and abstract shapes that archaeologists believe were created 500 or more years ago.

The US Commercial Rooftop Solar Market Is About to Explode, Federal Tax Credits or Not - If all goes according to plan, all 500+ projects will be completed during this year into 2026, proving yet again that solar is the fastest way to add more capacity to the nation’s grid. Generating electricity on commercial rooftops and distributing it into the grid is America’s most shovel-ready energy option.

The Power of the Emerald Edge - Whether a tropical forest or coastal temperate rainforest, all forests must contend with a unique set of stressors including changes in land use, invasive insects and disease, and extreme weather events. Rapid changes in climate compound these stressors. How do we prepare our forests for the future? Preserving old-growth forests is one of the most powerful steps we can take.

Elusive and Majestic Red-Crowned Cranes in Hokkaido – Beautiful photographs…of beautiful birds.

Germany’s Stunning Fairytale Castles Added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List - The royal castles of Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Schachen and Herrenchiemsee have been added to the prestigious list, which includes more than 1,200 sites. Neuschwanstein Castle, located near the village of Schwangau in Bavaria, is one of Germany’s most popular tourist sites. Every year, roughly 1.4 million travelers visit the site.

Learning how to live with shrubbier grasslands (part 1 and part 2) - Our grasslands are getting “shrubbier” and it’s increasingly difficult to prevent that. Because the drivers for that change are mostly beyond our control, it seems obvious that we need to start thinking differently about grassland management.

3 Ways Ancient Egypt Left Its Mark on Modern Art – Empire furniture, art deco, and artists like Bridget Riley.

Pearson’s Birds of America

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This week’s book is the Birds of America edited by Thomas Gilbert Pearson and published in 1917. Pearson was one of the co-founders of what became the National Audubon Society and was an American conservationist in the early decades of the 1900s…a time when egrets were killed for their plumes to be used in lady’s hats. The book includes 106 plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. It is available for browsing on Internet Archive.

Birds of America

Caterpillars Eating

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During a slow time in the Butterfly House last week, I made short videos of two caterpillars eating.

The first was a tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) on a tomato plant. The ‘horn’ is on the rear of the caterpillar…and looks a lot like a thorn or prickle! The caterpillar was diligently eating a tomato. Afterwards is started on a leaf rather than another tomato. I remember my grandmother picking the caterpillars off her tomato plants.

The second was a cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia) caterpillar – one of the ones I raises with my luna caterpillars. It was still eating sweet gum leaves! It is not an instar 4 – one more shedding of the skin and eating a lot before ready to make a cocoon to go through the winter!

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 2, 2025

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Introduction of Agriculture Didn't Immediately Alter Japanese Diets - Agriculture, rice, and millet were introduced to the Japanese islands from the Korean Peninsula around 3,000 years ago. Researchers recently examined plant residues on Final Jomon and Yayoi-period pottery from sites in northern Kyushu. The surprising results indicated that local culinary traditions changed very little after the crops were introduced to the island, as fish and seafood remained the primary foods.

Athens Is Reviving a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Aqueduct to Deliver Water to the City Amid Prolonged Droughts - If the Hadrian’s Aqueduct revitalization proves successful, it could become a model for other major cities experiencing water shortages. There are plans to expand in the other boroughs of Athens that the Hadrian Aqueduct runs through. But also, we have started a collaboration with another five or six cities in Europe that combine cultural heritage with water heritage to make more green, sustainable and livable cities.

Photography In the National Parks: Early Summer at White Sands National Park – Some good tips for photography when there is a lot of ‘white’ around! I remember trying in June of 2013 when I visited the place.

Teen bats are spawning new viruses—here’s why scientists are paying close attention - Juvenile bats frequently host multiple coronaviruses simultaneously—offering a real-time window into how new strains might arise. These findings, while involving non-human-infecting viruses, provide a powerful model to forecast how dangerous variants could eventually spill over into humans, especially as environmental pressures bring bats closer to human habitats.

Lentils Have More Protein Than Hamburger? - or a portion size of 100 grams, dry lentils have 23.6 grams of protein, with only 1.92 grams of fat. In case you are wondering, 100 grams is about 3.5 ounces. The amount of protein in “beef, ground, 80% lean meat” is 17.5 grams for the same portion size as the lentils! I’m going to look at some lentil recipes….add them into our meal plans.

A monumental 3,800-year-old warrior kurgan discovered in Azerbaijan - The burial chamber—2 meters wide, 6 meters long, and 3 meters deep—was divided into three symbolic sections: one for the human remains and weaponry, another for ceramic vessels, and a third intentionally left empty, possibly reflecting ritual beliefs about the soul’s journey in the afterlife.

China Breaks Ground on Colossal Dam Project in Asia’s Grand Canyon - A massive dam project in the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in Tibet, the longest and deepest canyon in the world. Concerns are being raised about wildlife, electricity it produces being more expensive that comparable solar project, and the Chinese ability to withhold water or flood India in timed of conflict. The article did not discuss if there would be a risk for earthquakes as the weight of the water interacts with the geology of the canyon. Isn’t that area seismically active?

Arizona’s Declining Groundwater - For more than two decades, NASA satellites have peered beneath the surface and measured changes in the groundwater supplies of the Colorado River Basin. Based on these measurements, researchers report rapid and accelerating losses of groundwater in the basin’s underground aquifers between 2002 and 2024. About 68 percent of the losses occurred in the lower part of the basin, which lies mostly in Arizona. Irrigated agriculture consumes about 72 percent of Arizona’s available water supply; cities and industry account for 22 percent and 6 percent.

Mineral v chemical sunscreen: Which one should you be using? - UV exposure can lead to skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in countries including the US and the UK. If it spreads, the deadliest type, melanoma, has only a 35% five-year survival rate. The best sunscreen, experts say, is one you are happy to use!

Meet the Tuatara: New Zealand’s Bizarre Ancient Reptile - While the tuatara is related to snakes and lizards, the two reptilian groups diverged about 250 million years ago. That’s a long time in evolutionary terms. For context, humans are more closely related to kangaroos than tuatara are to lizards.

Luna Moths

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There was a pause between my taking the last 4 luna moth caterpillars to the Butterfly House  and Luna Moths beginning to emerge. I kept the cocoons that had been constructed in the first wave in the mesh cage so that when they emerged, I would not find them scattered around the ceiling of my office! Once they started, a few moths appeared every day and I still have cocoons (so there will be more). I eventually managed to get a sequence of a newly emerged to ‘ready to go’ moth. The wings are very compact when they first emerge, and not the characteristic creamy jade color. The females have a large abdomen and thinner (not as feathery) antennae. They all seem to climb upward as their wings begin to expand and change color. The long tails are not obvious at first. Most of the time they finish up on the top or upper side of the mesh cage.

 I experimented with photographing them…trying not to disturb them too much. The best pictures are from opening the cage during the day for a short time and reaching inside with my phone!

The first ones to emerge were males. After a day or so, there were both males and females in the cage…and mating occurred. I took a group to the Butterfly House for their display and for collection of the eggs laid on the side of the cage to be used for a program in August (the eggs will be hatching by then).

One morning I released 8 moths into my neighborhood. They were all grouped in the top of the cage when I went out to our front yard where there is a tree with low branches. One flew out of the cage and away. The other 7 I moved to the tree; some of them flew away for the tree right away. One flew from the tree to the grass…then away before I could move it back to the tree. I left 4 (two mating pairs) in the cage. It was just before sunrise, so I hope they found a good place to spend the day (and maybe for the females to lay eggs).

When I got back indoors, I discovered that a luna had emerged in a bin that contained the cocoons produced later in my caterpillar experience. The plastic bin is not a good place to emerge since the plastic is too slick for the moth to climb. I moved the moth to the cage and am moving the rest of the cocoons to the cage too!

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2025

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July was a great month to be outdoors – even though it was very hot…plenty to celebrate.

Rescuing a large cecropia caterpillar from the trash. One of my morning shifts at the Butterfly House started with quite a surprise….finding a cecropia caterpillar in the trash while I was cleaning up before opening. I celebrated that I happened to look down before I threw in the messy paper towel…and could easily return the caterpillar to the table display.

Luna caterpillars making cocoons. I celebrated when my 40 or so Luna Moth caterpillars started making their cocoons. When they were all large caterpillars, it was challenging to keep them sufficiently supplied with sweet gum leaves.

More and more cocoons…and then I took the last 4 Luna caterpillars to the Butterfly House. I celebrated some quite days with only rustlings from the pupa inside the cocoons.

The first Luna Moths emerging. The first moths started to emerge…3 males in one day! I celebrated that so many of the cocoons seem viable too…so many more of these beautiful moths will be emerging soon.

A late afternoon barbeque picnic and evening mothing. I celebrated with a great meal with fellow Butterfly House docents…and then seeing how lights and sheets in the evening attract moths.

Dayl ilies at the Botanical. I celebrate the profusion of color and form of the day lilies every year about this time.

Finding S. Fred Prince’s The rainbow in the grass; wildflowers of the Marvel Cave Ozark. I was doing my usual look at botanical books for next month and happened upon this beautiful one from the early 1900s about the wildflowers in the Branson MO area….close to where I live!

Seeing cattle egrets. As I drove north from Dallas, I saw a flock of cattle egrets flying over the highway. It must be a good year for producing young.

Lake Springfield Boathouse Garden. My husband and I always enjoy the plantings around the building…and the walk down toward the field of wildflowers. We went early enough in the day that it wasn’t too hot.

Sunflowers at the assisted living home. My sister planted sunflowers in a big pot (and some of the seeds must have spilled because several plants are growing in the soil next to the pot). I celebrated that they are thriving and the memory that my niece brought a sunflower seedling in a cup home from kindergarten, and my mother propagated them along the alley for years. That niece is getting ready to have her second child soon.

Zooming - July 2025

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The places for this month zoomed images include: my neighborhood/yard, Fantastic Caverns, my dad’s assisted living home, Springfield Botanical Gardens, and Lake Springfield Boathouse. It was a good month to be out and about in the morning…before the heat of the day! The early summer flowers doing well: arugula, cone flowers, day lilies, sunflowers, prickly pear cactus, button bush, and Missouri Evening Primrose. Enjoy the July 2025 slideshow!

Roston Native Butterfly House – July 2025

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My shifts at the Roston Native Butterfly House were hotter in July – even though all of them were for the 10-12:30 shift. The high points of the month involved caterpillars.

Two that were new-to-me were the caterpillars for the red spotted purple butterfly (on willow) and the Atala butterfly (on cycad).

At the beginning of one of my shifts, I was cleaning the caterpillar frass from the very wet display table and got a big surprise when I flipped the lid on the trash to throw away a messy paper towel and discovered a very large cecropia moth caterpillar on some black cherry leaves that just happened to be in the trash. I quickly scooped the leaves and caterpillar up and put them back with the other cecropia caterpillars…..and the caterpillar began wondering around the table. My assumption is that sometime during the night it wandered off the table and fell into the trash. We eventually put it in the zippered cage so that its walkabout could be somewhat contained! It was probably large enough to be ready to make its cocoon.

I enjoy photographing things in the butterfly house whenever there are few or no visitors there! The cecropia caterpillars in the house toward the end of the month were ones that were raised with my luna caterpillars on sweet gum, and they rejected a shift to black cherry leaves when they got to the butterfly house….so now the sweet gum vase has a mix of luna and cecropia caterpillars.

All or Mothing (2)

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After we finished eating barbeque, lots of sides, and dessert….we waited for it to get dark so that the bugs (including moths) that are active at night and attracted to light would come to the lights with sheets set up in a nearby field.

I took some pictures as the daylight waned…haybales in the grassy areas surrounded by trees…Bull Creek nearby.

Finally - it was dark enough for small insects to be seen on the sheets.

One that was a bit larger was new to me --- owlfly…a predator of other insects.

I was more interested in moths that anything else. Only one showed up before we left: a sphinx moth that was rather drab…no color even when one of the interns moved it around to expose more wing surface and body!

It was an enjoyable evening, and I hope we do it again next year…and that it won’t be quite so hot. This would be a great place for a walk…even if it was just back along the ruts of the road!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 26, 2025

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Greenland Sled Dog DNA Reveals a Story of Human Migration and Ancestry of the Unique Breed - The ancestors of the Inuit arrived in Greenland earlier than previously thought—potentially even before the arrival of the Vikings.

A Bird’s Eye View: Drones Search for Grassland Birds in Colorado - Drones have been used to survey animals from afar for years; this project borrows from those learnings for the novel —and challenging—task of detecting small-bodied, ground-nesting birds (Bobolinks) amid thick, tall grass, without disturbing the species of interest.

Hungary's oldest library is fighting to save 100,000 books from a beetle infestation - Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of a medieval abbey in Hungary to save them from a beetle infestation that could wipe out centuries of history. I wondered how many of the books have been scanned.

'Wobbly-tooth puberty': How children's brains change at six-years-old – A stage in which a child is constructing their identity, and they're trying to figure out who they are in relation to other people. The transformation includes a greater capacity to reflect on their feelings and modify them when needed, along with an "advanced theory of mind" that allows them to think more sophisticatedly about others' behaviors and respond appropriately. They also begin master the basics of rational enquiry and logical deduction, so that they can take more responsibility for their actions

How a hidden brain circuit fuels fibromyalgia, migraines, and PTSD - Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a hidden brain circuit that gives pain its emotional punch—essentially transforming ordinary discomfort into lasting misery. This breakthrough sheds light on why some people suffer more intensely than others from conditions like fibromyalgia, migraines, and PTSD. By identifying the exact group of neurons that link physical pain to emotional suffering, the researchers may have found a new target for treating chronic pain—without relying on addictive medications.

Greenland’s Bejeweled Ice Sheet - In spring 2025, jewel-toned points of blue began to appear on the white surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet. As summer arrived, they grew larger and more numerous, taking on unique shapes and occasionally forming connections. The colorful seasonal phenomenon is due to meltwater from snow and ice, which pools atop the ice sheet in places each melt season. An image from the Operational Land Imager-2 on NASA’s Landsat9.

Easter Island Was Far Less Isolated Than Previously Believed, Study Reveals - Earlier genetic studies in the 2010s laid the ground for the most recent investigation, showing that Easter Island was reached at least two times by the 14th century. Further influence arrived from pre-European South Americans, an interaction evidenced by the presence of sweet potatoes and the Birdman concept. This post is about the idea that after language, plants, animals, and material culture arrived on Easter Island from the west, monumental ritual architecture began traveling in the opposite direction.

In a First, Solar Was Europe’s Biggest Source of Power Last Month - Solar was the largest source of electricity in the EU in June, supplying a record 22 percent of the bloc’s power. Solar amounted to more than 40 percent of generation in the Netherlands and 35 percent in Greece. Analysts say that the June surge in solar power helped Europe weather a brutal heat wave, which saw temperatures soar upwards of 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). Last month was the warmest June on record in Europe, and scientists say that climate change played a key role in the heat wave, pushing temperatures to dangerous extremes.

Inequality has risen from 1970 to Trump − that has 3 hidden costs that undermine democracy – A thought provoking post. The author described 3 ways that the increase in inequality undermines democracy: 1. Fraying social bonds and livelihoods, 2. Increasing corruption in politics, 3. Undermining belief in the common good.

Honeybees remove 80% of pollen—leaving native bees with nothing - Our modern agricultural industry is so reliant on honeybees that humans have introduced them worldwide, and in many cases, they have escaped human management and risen to prominence in natural ecosystems as non-native, feral populations. And, like any other non-native organism, feral honeybees may perturb native ecosystems when they become sufficiently abundant.

Luna Moth Cocoons

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Some of my 30 or so luna moth cocoons are over 2 weeks old now. So far – no moths have emerged, but the pupas are making noises as they move around inside the cocoon! I made a short recording of the small noises that reassure me that they are indeed viable and developing.

The cocoons are optimally silk produced by the caterpillar and sweet gum leaves, but sometimes other things get incorporated – twigs and bits of paper towel (which was on the floor of the bin) are the most common additions. At the time these caterpillars made their cocoons, the bins were very crowded and sometimes two cocoons are side by side…too close to separate without risking damage to the cocoons. It will be interesting to see what happens as all of these emerge.

Sometimes the caterpillars don’t use silk and leaves; they are ‘bare.’ I have three that are like that. They are easy to see moving so seem to be acting like the ones that do have the outer covering. Will they emerge and be healthy? In the wild, it seems like they would be vulnerable to be eaten although if they fell to the ground, they might look enough like poop that they would be left alone.

I have so many cocoons that I will have plenty of opportunity to observe moths emerging….so looking forward to that experience.

Road Trip to Dallas in July 2025

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It was a very summery road trip to Dallas this month. The days started out warm and got very hot. I noticed that the temperature came down a few degrees after I exited from US75 in Dallas and drove into the neighborhood (went from 96 to 94). The 4 lanes of concrete in each direction….a wide concrete ribbon…created their own heat island. I was glad I could park in a shady place at the assisted living home and that I had packed my cosmetics in the ice chest along with the snacks!

I watered the plants in the small garden that my sisters have kept going for my dad. He was too worn out from a round of physical therapy to go out with me in the afternoon (and maybe that was for the best since it was so hot), but he did the next morning when it was only in the low 80s. I took some pictures of the sunflowers after I watered and he enjoyed being outdoors while his breakfast was prepared. He was less talkative than usual and didn’t seem to be able to hear or see the planes that taking off from Addison airport.

The Texas sage was blooming but it was not as showy as I remembered; it appeared that the plants in the median on Preston Road in Plano had been neatly trimmed at exactly the wrong time!

On the plus side, I saw a flock of cattle egrets as I drove north….just before I got to the Oklahoma border. They were so showy I noticed them even with the challenges of navigating through a lot of road construction. I’m thinking about making a trek to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge on my next road trip…maybe see even more of the young egrets there.

Springfield Botanical Gardens – July 2025

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We visited the Springfield Botanical Gardens in mid-June….on a cloudy morning. There was a breeze to help make the warm, humid air more comfortable. My husband was keen to photograph insects in flight. It was probably warm enough, but the insects were not as active because of the thick clouds and everything being so wet.

The Botanical Center was our first stop. Then we walked by the rain garden (indigo with pods and golden rod) and down the sidewalk past the Butterfly House and surrounding garden.

The daylilies were blooming profusely and were the main draw for my visit. I started out doing some macro shots with my phone (iPhone 15 Pro Max)

But changed to zoomed images with my small point and shoot (Canon Powershot SX730 HS). Both cameras captured the water droplets on the flowers.

As we started back toward the car I saw something off the paved walk landing in the grass. It stayed put as I carefully walked over….and got a picture. It was the only large butterfly I saw all morning (other than in the Butterfly House).

Before we left for home, I got a small branch of sweet gum leaves for my luna and cecropia moths.