Michigan’s Praying Mantis Species

Posted on July 8, 2013 by admin

European (L) & Chinese (R) Praying Mantis

Michigan has two species of Praying Mantis: The European Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) and the Chinese Praying Mantis (Tenodera aridifolia). As the common names imply, neither one is a native species.

European Praying Mantis

The European Praying Mantis has a black spot, often with white “bull’s-eye,” on its upper front legs. The color of the forewings is uniform.

Chinese Praying Mantis

The Chinese Praying Mantis lacks the spot on the front leg. The forewings are tan with a green front edge. This species is longer on the average than the European Mantis but the sizes overlap.
Praying Mantises were introduced by gardeners because they eat insects. Hopefully they consume more harmful insects than good insects. I have often seen a Praying Mantis eating a bee or other beneficial pollinator.

Mantis Eggcase and hatchlings

The egg masses overwinter on an exposed stem. In Michigan, the hatching time is late May or early June. The nymphs are tiny versions of the adults without wings. They hatch by the hundreds and quickly disperse because they are cannibals. It takes six to eight molts for them to reach the adult stage. Mating and egg laying take place in September or early October. Contrary to popular belief the female does not always eat the male after mating with him. This rumor started when laboratory raised mantis were mated. The females had not been properly fed. If the female is hungry then she will try to make a meal out of her mate. It is estimated that 30% of the matings in nature end with the male being consumed.
I always enjoy finding a Praying Mantis. Autumn is when I find most of them; as they grow, they become easier to find. They are also out looking for mates and a practiced eye can spot them. Get out and look for them. I often find them in my yard.

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Michigan’s Tick Explosion

Posted on June 23, 2013 by admin

Dermacentor variabilis American Dog Tick female

Female American Dog Tick

Michigan is undergoing a population explosion of Ticks. Prior to this year, I had only seen one Tick in all my outdoor travels in Michigan. I have seen over a dozen Ticks so far this year. We are now finding them in our yard in Troy. Please watch out for ticks, especially if you care for children or outdoor pets.

The only species I have seen so far is the American Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis). For once, I’m hoping not to add other species to my list. Ticks are small, about the size of a sesame seed.

The State of Michigan has information regarding both the identification of ticks and the treatment of bites.

Dermacentor variabilis American Dog Tick male

Male American Dog Tick

Ticks are not insects but they are related to spiders. Hence, they have eight legs and not six as insects do. They are in the class Arachnida. I have seen them poised on the edge of a leaf waiting for a host to walk by. After jumping on to the host, they normally will move around for several hours before they bite. They embed their head and jaws under the host’s skin and feed on the host’s blood.

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Lawn Weeds

Posted on June 14, 2013 by admin

Scarlet Pimpernel Flowers

Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) also called Common Pimpernel is known from Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and is probably more widespread than records show. It is a member of the tropical Myrsine Family (Myrsinaceae) which contains about 1000 species in 35 genera. In Michigan the family has 13 species, not all native, in 3 genera. The flowers are red, blue, or white. The blue flowered type can be called Anagallis cerulea or Anagallis arvensis var. cerulea or Anagallis arvensis f. cerulea depending on whether you treat it as a distinct species, variety or form. Leaves of the red flowered type have their undersides covered with glandular dots. The blue flowered type lacks these glands. The flowers of all the color types open in the sunshine and close during cloudy weather giving it in the eastern U. S. the common name “Poor-man’s weatherglass.” It is a native of Europe, north Africa and west Asia. This is an annual species which is uncommon for most weed species. The red flowers, square stem, and glandular leaves make this an easy plant to identify.

Scarlet Pimpernel leaves

Salt Marsh Sand Spurry, (Spergularia marina) was first collected in Michigan in 1974 along a highway right-of-way. It is native along the coasts of North America and grows at the edges of saltwater marshes. I found it for the first time along Maple Road in Troy, Michigan. It did not grow outside of the area that gets salt spray from the road. I did not know what it was but I was pretty sure that it was in the Pink Family (Caryophyllaceae). I ran it though the key in Voss and Reznicek (Field Manual of Michigan Flora). As often happens, once I identify a plant I find more colonies of it. I found it in Macomb Co. and also on the campus of Oakland University. Both of these colonies grow along sidewalks that are salted in the winter. The fleshy narrow leaves, five petaled pink flowers with three stamens, the salt loving habitat, and the short stature of the plant identify it. This species is also known by the newer name Spergularia salina.

Salt Marsh Sand Spurry

Stork’s Bill (Erodium cicutarium). This Mediterranean native was first found in Michigan in the early 1870s. It has become more common in the last decade and is now found throughout the state. I knew of a single station for this species in Oakland County in the 1970s. Now I know of dozens of locations. The seedpod gives the plant its common name. Erodium comes from the Greek word Erodios, which means heron. The entire plant can be used to produce a green dye. Stork’s Bill is identified by its sprawling habit, divided hairy leaves, and five-petaled pink flowers. (See Green Deane’s “Eat the Weeds” website for more info.)

Stork’s Bill flowers and seedpods

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Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) invading Michigan

Posted on June 3, 2013 by admin

Garlic Mustard’s (Alliaria petiolata) native range is Europe. It has invaded North Africa, India, and North America. The first U. S. record is from Long Island in 1868 and it reached Michigan in 1956. Imported for its supposed medicinal values it escaped cultivation and became a serious pest in many woodlands. I saw a large patch of it in 1978 in Rock Cut State Park in northern Illinois. Several acres in size this patch was shading out a colony of Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum). I first saw the plant in Michigan at Warren Dunes State Park in 1981. It was a small patch consisting of a dozen plants. The plant has increased its range and is now found throughout the state.

Garlic Mustard Plants

The plant is easy to identify. It is one to two feet tall (0.3-0.6m), the flowers are white with four petals that narrow at the base, and the leaves are heavily toothed, more or less triangular shape with the veins inset into the upper leaf surface. The seed pods are long and narrow with small ridges, and are similar to native species. They develop quickly, often elongating before the petals drop, and they will continue to develop after the plant is pulled.

Alliaria petiolata Garlic Mustard Flowers

Garlic Mustard Flowers (note developing seedpods in right hand flowers)

It is a biennial, meaning that it flowers in its second growing season. The basal leaves form the first year and are more rounded than the stem leaves on the flowering plant. Garlic Mustard seed germinates at low temperatures (32 degrees F). This gives the seedlings a head start over other native species.

Garlic Mustard Basal Leaves

Garlic Mustard is allelopathic and destroys the connections between native tree seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi (Stinson K. A, Campbell S. A., Powell J. R. Callaway R. M. 2006). This prevents completion from native tree species and perhaps other plants.

Garlic Mustard Leaves

For additional reading regarding Garlic Mustard and its control, see the U. S. Forest service fact sheet.

Garlic Mustard Seedpods

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Viburnum Leaf Beetle

Posted on May 28, 2013 by admin

Viburnum Leaf Beetle first instar L and second instar R

A native of Europe and Asia the Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni Paykull was discovered in 1978 in the Ottawa-Hull region of Canada. It was first recorded from the U. S. in 1994 and from Michigan in 2007. Both the larva and the adults feed on the leaves of thin leaved Viburnum species. The insect eats Highbush-Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum), Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum), Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago), and Black-haw (Viburnum prunifolium), all of these species are native to Michigan. It also eats the imported European highbush-cranberry (Viburnum opulus) and its cultivar, Snowball Bush, and Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum lantana). The thicker leaved Viburnum species do not seem to be a food source.

The larva molts and has three instar stages before dropping to the ground and pupating. The adult emerges and continues to feed on the host plant. The insect overwinters as eggs laid under the bark of the Viburnum.

Viburnum Leaf Beetle third instar and leaf

The photographs are from Troy Michigan. It has defoliated several Viburnums in our garden. Our plants died after being attacked for two successive years. The plant leafed out after the larva destroyed the leaves and the adult beetles again defoliated the plants.

For more information see About.com Gardening

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Spring Wildflowers III

Posted on May 21, 2013 by admin

Marsh Marigold

Marsh Marigold (Calthus palustris) grows throughout the state. In fact, it grows around the world in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. It likes to grow were its roots are wet. It blooms in May in the Lower Peninsula and into June in the Upper. Its showy flowers can often be seen from a moving car.

Yellow Wood Poppy

Yellow Wood Poppy also called Celandine (Stylophorum diphyllum) occurs in the Lower Peninsula. Blooming in May, the attractive flowers provide yellow highlights in the rich woods. Later it sets hairy seedpods. Its flowers are greater than 17mm and it has opposite leaves. The similar, imported, yellow-flowered, Celandine (Chelidonium majus) has flowers less than 14mm across, alternate leaves, and smooth seedpods. Although it is smaller than the Yellow Wood Poppy it is sometimes called Greater Celandine from a translation of its scientific name.

Yellow Wood Poppy

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) is a common woodland species in southern Michigan. Eleven species from this genus have been recorded from Michigan, but this one has the showiest flowers. The common garden geranium is from the genus Pelargonium that has many species and hybrids in cultivation.

Wild Geranium

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Coltsfoot: a potential invasive species?

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin

Coltsfoot flowers

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is a Eurasian species first collected in Michigan in 1840 (See Michigan Flora Online). I saw it for the first time on, March 15th 1978, in Bald Mountain Recreation Area and then along a road in Jackson County about a week later. I wondered if the plant was invading our natural areas, but almost three decades passed before I saw the plant again. I found a small colony in Crawford County in 2006 and that same year I saw 75 plants in Oakland County at Cummingston Park, in Royal Oak, Michigan. The Cummingston Park patch was wiped out when the pond was enlarged.

Coltsfoot flower and seeds

In 2009, the Crawford County station was in flower on May 2nd. Two weeks earlier it was still covered by winter snow. By May 16^th the leaves were developing and it was in seed by May 30^th. In 2006, the Crawford County station was about 1 meter (3 feet) square. It has since increased to 1 x 2 meter (3×6 feet).

Coltsfoot leaves

The species might be overlooked especially in northern Michigan because it flowers early. It is currently (May 8th) flowering at the Crawford County (near Grayling) site. However, it can be readily identified by the leaves throughout the summer. The leaves have long petioles (leaf stems), are heart-shaped and a distinctive grayish color underneath. Any species that spreads via both rhizomes and seeds should be watched. Coltsfoot has only been collected in eight counties in Michigan but has spread rapidly east of us. Normally it does not compete with native species, preferring to grow where the soil has been disturbed, but it is now moving into native sites in Pennsylvania. This species should be reported whenever it is found (U.S. Forest Service Plant Database).

Coltsfoot initially was imported into this country for its supposed medicinal properties. The leaves were used to treat coughs and bronchial congestion, but possess a liver toxin. There is no current medical use.
Copyright 2013 by Donald Drife

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Anther Variations in Yellow Trout Lily

Posted on May 2, 2013 by admin

Last weekend at the Royal Oak Nature Society’s Open House I was asked about the two types of Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) that grow in Tenhave Woods. Some plants have yellow anthers and other plants have brown to red anthers.

Anther Color in Yellow Trout Lily Tenhave Woods

I did a search of the literature and found Oliver Farwell’s 1938 description of Erythronium americanum var. rubrum. He writes, “In this region we have two very conspicuous variations of this species that could readily be differentiated by size of plants and flowers alone. The smaller one, with green leaves mottled with paler green or dirty white, with mostly entire stigmas, and with yellow stamens, is the typical variety of the species; scapes are from 5 to 10 inches high, with a yellow flower 0.75 [19mm] -1.35 inches [34mm] long….The larger variety [var. rubrum] is one third to one half larger in all its parts; the stigma is usually three-lobed, and the stamens are red, the leaves being mottled with brownish purple” (Oliver A. Farwell, Notes on the Michigan Flora VII, in Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters Vol. XXIII, 1937. Published 1938). His plants were collected in Houghton County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. There is no doubt that these entities are the two types we have in Tenhave Woods. What I don’t know is the significance of them.

Yellow Trout Lily with Yellow Anthers, Tenhave Woods

Yellow Trout Lily with Reddish-brown Anthers, Genesee Co., Michigan

Fernald, in the eighth edition of Gray’s Manual of Botany, writes regarding this species “highly variable, needing more study.” He does not mention Farwell’s var. rubrum although he must have known about the name. Gleason, in the New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora states, “races with yellow and with brown-red anthers exist and some students of the genus have suspected that two species are included.” Fassett in his Spring Flora of Wisconsin merely comments, “anthers yellow or reddish-brown”. Fassett was well known for using names for minor forms of plants but ignored Farwell’s named variety. The Flora of North America states, “filaments yellow, lanceolate; anthers yellow, chestnut brown, or lavender; pollen yellow or brown” but makes no taxonomic distinction.

The plants appear to be distinct and found over a large range. More study is needed including, marking plants to discover if the anther color is consistent from year to year, taking measurement to see if there is a size difference, looking for other characters to distinguish the plants, and looking for intermediate plants. Farwell’s
characters of leaf mottling and size do not hold true in my limited test
sample. After study, we can then hopefully determine if the plants are distinct species, subspecies, varieties, or forms.

Flower Parts

Here is a review of the parts of a flower. Anther: the part that produces pollen. Filament: the thin structure that supports the anther. The anther and filament combine to make up the stamen. Stigma: the sticky part that receives the pollen. Style: the structure that supports the stigma. Ovary: where the seeds develop. The stigma, style, and ovary combine to make up the pistil.

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Spring Wildflowers II

Posted on April 24, 2013 by admin

Bloodroot Tenhave Woods, Royal Oak, MI

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a common Michigan wildflower. Red plant juices flow through all parts of the plant, whence the common name. The juices were used as a non-permanent fabric dye and by the Native Americans as body paint. In southern Michigan, it flowers in April. Large colonies are found in rich woodlots. It reproduces by rhizomes that can form large clumps and by seed. The seeds are myrmecochorous, meaning ants distribute them.

Dutchman’s-breeches, Tenhave Woods, Royal Oak, MI

Dutchman’s-breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) is another common Michigan wildflower. It is often found with bloodroot and blossoms at the same time. The common name comes from the shape of the flower that resembles a pair of upside-down pants.

Yellow Trout Lily, Tenhave Woods, Royal Oak, MI

Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) is a member of the Lily Family (Liliaceae). As now recognized Michigan has only two genera in the lily family, Erythronium and the true Lilies (Lilium). The remaining genera that once formed this large family have been moved into ten other families. Other common names for this species are Dog-tooth-violet, Yellow Adder’s Tongue, and Yellow Fawn Lily. This is one of the problems with common names and a good reason to use the scientific name. The yellow hanging flowers and mottled leaves are the key characters of this plant. This species has yellow anther individuals and red-brown anther individuals.

White Trout Lily

White Trout Lily (Erythronium albidum) is a similar species with white flowers and the leaves less mottled. It is absent north of Bay City in the Lower Peninsula and is only found in the western Upper Peninsula. It trends to grow in floodplains and is locally common.

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Michigan Spring Wildflowers

Posted on April 7, 2013 by admin

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) is a common wildflower in Michigan, that blooms from early May into July. The largest plants are the latest to flower. The variability in the flower color, size, and blooming season produces in me a desire to recognize different species or subspecies in Michigan. It has been divided into species or subspecies south of Michigan by some botanists, but it does not seem possible to do so here. Environmental conditions or the ages of the plants cause many of the differences. Our largest plants, two-feet (.6m) high, grow at the edge of low areas in rich woods.

Jack-in-the-pulpit male (L) female (R)

The plants are able to change sex from year to year. Young plants are male and typically have a single leaf. The female plants are larger and produce a pair of leaves. After a heavy seed set a plant sometimes reverts to male, then rebuilds its strength. When it is strong enough it will again become female.

Jack-in-the-pulpit
Color forms

The flower, actually an inflorescence, consists of two parts, an outer spathe (the pulpit) and an inner spadix (the Jack). The spathe is a modified leaf. The spadix has a cluster of small flowers called florets.

Skunk-cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. I often find it flowering through the snow. It also has an inflorescence consisting of a spathe and a spadix. It grows in wet areas sometimes along a stream or at the edge of a marsh or swamp forest.

It is more common in Michigan south of Bay City. However, in the north it commonly occurs on islands. I have seen it on Thunder Bay Island and several places on Isle Royale. It is local on the mainland in northern Michigan, meaning that it does not occur in every suitable habitat. I know of several colonies along the North Branch of the Au Sable River near Grayling Michigan. The genus consists of a single species that grows in eastern North America and in northeast Asia.

Skunk-cabbage

The flowers have a distinctive odor that has been described as combining “the smell of skunk, putrid meat, and garlic.” It is not a powerful smell and I only notice it when I’m down close to the plants. The smell attracts flies and beetles that pollinate the flowers. The leaves produce a similar but stronger odor when crushed.

Skunk-cabbage flowers produce heat by a complex chemical process. If you desire more information, see Seymour et al. Skunk-cabbage maintains its flower temperature between 59 and 72 degrees F (15 to 22 degrees C). It does this when the air temperature is below freezing. The flowers thermoregulate so they do not become too warm. This is similar to warm blooded animals. We are not certain why this happens. It might provide a favorable habitat for pollinators or the flowers might require that temperature for fertilization to happen.

Skunk-cabbage is flowering now. Get out and look around for this interesting plant.

Works Cited

Seymour,M., Bryce, G., Christie, A., & Narashima, T. (1997,March). “Plants that Warm Themselves.” Scientific American 276: 104-109.

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To get people looking at, enjoying, and understanding the natural world around them.

Author Archives: admin

Michigan’s Praying Mantis Species

Michigan’s Tick Explosion

Lawn Weeds

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) invading Michigan

Viburnum Leaf Beetle

Spring Wildflowers III

Coltsfoot: a potential invasive species?

Anther Variations in Yellow Trout Lily

Spring Wildflowers II

Michigan Spring Wildflowers