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Even after several centuries of exposure, no insects eat the cactus Opuntia ficus-indica in south Africa.
But elephants do!
There is no debate when we close our borders to carriers of human diseases like SARS, mad cow disease, and avian flu virus.
Clearly written pre covid.
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is another of my favorites for the butterfly garden. Its ball-shaped flowers capture the eye, it does well in wet areas, butterflies fight to gain access to its nectar, and it serves as a host plant for 18 species of Lepidoptera in my neck of the woods. These include the ethereal promethea moth (Callosamia promethea), the hydrangea sphinx (Darapsa versicolor), and the saddleback caterpillar (Acharia stimulea).
Virginia creeper will enable the majestic Pandora sphinx to reproduce
If only we replaced all of our English ivy with Virginia creeper!
produced. Next, the association could coordinate the sequential cutting of some milkweed patches in June, and again in July, so that monarch larvae will have tender, young milkweed leaves to eat not only in the early weeks of summer, but in August and early September as well.
Fortunately, intense breeding programs have produced five American elm genotypes that are tolerant or resistant to Dutch elm disease: the Princeton elm, the American Liberty “multiclone,” the Independence, the Valley Forge, and the New Harmony. With some luck, we might soon see the return of the American elm to the suburban ecosystem.
We will probably never know which shipment of plants from Asia brought the fungus to the United States, but it doesn’t matter for the native butternut. Its days as a contributing member of the eastern deciduous forest are numbered.
I am so upset that there doesn't seem to be a breeding program for butternuts, the way there has been for elms and chestnuts.
One acre of alfalfa can indefinitely support aphids at a biomass equivalent to that of an elephant, whereas an elephant would eat all of the alfalfa in that acre in a matter of hours
Larvae of many tortoise beetles protect themselves from predators by carrying an umbrella of their feces arched over their bodies.
Bess beetles live in large logs in extended family groups within a series of interconnecting galleries that they excavate with their mandibles. Each family unit is independent of other families: in fact, they are hostile toward outside bess beetle groups and guard their galleries against intruders.
Bess beetles, like grasshoppers and katydids, rub body parts against each other and produce audible stridulations that convey specific messages to nearby family members.
Salvia lyrata, lyre-leaved sage
Edible?
