Cicadas

At our home in Missouri, every 13 years, we have a brood of cicadas called Brood XIX (Brood 19). These cicadas are periodical cicadas.

                                       Periodical Cicada

 That means that they come back every 13 or 17 years. The other type of cicada is a annual cicada. These come back every year and look a lot different. Annual cicadas also can grow half an inch larger than a periodical.

                            Annual Cicada

 With the cicadas, you might also notice that some of the leaves on your tree are dying, that is because they do something called tree flagging.

                                Tree Flagging

To do tree flagging, they use a sharp appendage on their abdomen called a ovipositor to lay their eggs inside a tree's branches causing small markings on the branch, and causing it to wilt. 10-25 eggs can be in each ovipositor mark. Each female cicada can lay anywhere from 400-600 eggs in their whole lifetime.

                               Periodical Cicada Oviposition

 If you don't like the creepy crawlies, something you can do to help is spread vinegar around your yard. It may seem weird, but it helps a lot. It doesn't kill the cicadas, and is safe for birds and other wildlife. It would especially help if you have elm, chestnut, ash, maple, oak, or willow trees. Even so, cicadas are completely harmless

How Fish And Amphibians And Some Reptiles Survive In The Winter

 

                 Today we woke up and our pond was frozen.. The fish in the pond were probably hibernating.  When the pond freezes, they usually go into a state of hibernation, where their bodies are barely pumping blood through their whole system and if it gets too cold, they let their bodies freeze.  They can survive the winter until spring.

Amphibians usually dig a hole about half of a foot long and they go into the hole, bury themselves and if their winter home is disturbed, they will leave it and go to a different place.  If they can't find a different place, they will let their body freeze and wake up in the spring.

Reptiles usually go into a hole or hollow log.  They will sometimes gather in groups, such as snakes.  Other reptiles, such as the turtle, usually go into separate holes, with one reptile in each hole.  

Dekay's Brownsnake

 This is a Dekay's brownsnake.  We found this snake early this morning.  They are eleven inches long when full grown .  The Dekay's brownsnake in the picture had its tail cut off.

Little Cute Nature

 

Last summer, we found this cute little turtle in our backyard.  We named her Little Cute Nature.  We know that it's her because she has 3 crowns on her shell.  She visits our yard every now and then.  This time, we found that she has a hole by our patio!  One of the times that we saw her this summer, we measured her.  She was 4 1/2 inches long on the bottom of her shell and 9 1/2 inches around the middle of her shell.  She is still little!

Cool Bugs in My Backyard

 

Check out the cool bugs in my backyard.  This morning, I looked out my window and saw a stick bug!

This is a Bush Cricket.  When we were eating lunch one day, we saw this bush cricket (Katydid) on our patio door.

This is a Clouded Sulphur.  One day in our backyard, we saw him and he flew all around us!

Check out this cool grasshopper!

These bugs are called sow bugs, pill bugs, but we like to call them rolly pollies!  These little bugs are pretty cool.  They roll up into little balls and you can even throw them as far as you can!  My sister, brother and I wanted to keep some as a pet and guess what?  We brought them into the house, kept them in a cage and played with them until Mom found them and took them back outside!

American Dagger Caterpillar

American Dagger Caterpillar

This is an American Dagger Caterpillar.  We found him on a hike today.  I'm glad that we didn't touch him because he can give you a rash if you touch his spikes!  Do not touch this guy because he is poisonous!  He will turn into an American Dagger Moth.  

https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=American-Dagger-Moth 

 

 

Frogs and Toads

Picture:  An American Toad (big) and a Spring Peeper (little)

What is the difference between a frog and a toad?

A toad has lumps (or warts) and drier skin.  They also prefer to crawl or climb rather than hop.  Frogs have longer legs for hopping and smoother, wetter skin.  

We often find toads in the grass or wood chips and the frogs near our fountain.