Tag Archive | nature

Where Do Bugs Go in Winter?

Freddy Squirrel

Where do bugs go in winter?

Freddy Squirrel is asking where did the bugs go?  The weather is cold outside. Maybe the bugs have gone inside?  Some do exactly that!  Ladybugs often go inside warm houses during winter. It is how they cope with cold temperatures.

Then why can’t bugs stay outside in the cold?

An insect’s body temperature is pretty much going to be the same temperature as outside.  They are not capable of regulating their body temperature like we can. The fluids in their bodies, their “blood”, can freeze.  So, insects have developed strategies to deal with the cold and survive to reproduce and carry on the species.

How do they do that?

There are five ways for insects to survive the winter.  Some, like ladybugs, simply move into our warm buildings. Some insects leave or migrate to warmer climates.  Some insects survive cold weather by massing in large groups multiplying the tiny amounts of heat each bug generates thus warming the entire group. Other insects go into a state of suspension called diapause or they produce an antifreeze that allows them to withstand freezing temperatures without cell damage.

That’s pretty cool!  Or cold!  What insects migrate away from cold?

Monarch Butterfly

The Monarch Butterfly can migrate 3,000 or more miles.

One of the most famous is the Monarch Butterfly.  The Monarch can migrate over 3,000 miles from Canada to Mexico!

Where else do insects go?

Many insects seek warmer places to hide from the cold.  Tree bark, cracks and holes in trees or squeezing under boards, rocks or other hiding places provide many places to wait out cold weather.  Some go under the soil and many live underwater waiting for springtime.

What about insects that huddle together for warmth?

Honey Bee on cold morning

This Honey Bee was out feeding just as soon as the temperature rose above freezing. It was able to stay warm by huddling with other bees in the hive.

You will find ants, termites and bees as examples of insects that group together in hives or underground to maintain warmth. Bees can raise body temperatures by moving their wing muscles.  Ants mass underground or above ground in mounds to wait out the cold weather.

Fire Ant mound

Red Fire Ant mound serving as a solar heater.

The Fire Ants found here on the Texas Gulf coast have another unique way to stay warm.  They build their mounds high in cold months to serve as solar collectors of the sun’s rays.  The sun warms the mound during the day and helps the ants survive the winter.  Some of us wish they did not survive.  Imported Red Fire Ants are an invasive species brought into the United States by mistake in the 1930’s. They are now found from Florida to Texas and Oklahoma.  They are very destructive because they have no natural predators or diseases in the U.S. to keep them under control. They have also displaced native species like the Red Harvester Ant that is an important food of the Horned Lizard. Without the Red Harvester Ants, populations of Horned Lizards have plummeted in Texas.

What is diapause then?

Diapause is the ability of an animal to go into a state of suspension for long periods.  It doesn’t need to eat or drink during this time.  Insects go into diapause, then when the weather warms up they resume whatever life stage they are at currently.  Some insects go through winter in the egg, some as a chrysalis and some as adults hiding away in warm protected spots until spring.

Tree bark

Lots of hiding places in this bark

Woodpecker Tree

The woodpecker found some insects in this tree!

 

Insects can use crevices and cracks in tree bark, spaces under rocks or just about any place that shelters them from the cold.  Woodpeckers know that bugs like to hide under the bark in trees.  Look at all those holes!

The woodpecker found some insects here!

 

 

 

 

AntifreezeAntifreeze?

Yes, some insects produce glycerol which prevents the liquid in their cells from freezing.  It is a chemical very similar to what we put in our car’s radiator to keep water flowing even in very cold freezing weather.  Some insects can even freeze solid overnight, then thaw out the next day as temperatures warm and go about their work as an insect.

So, the answer is that insects go a lot of places, and a lot of them are very close to where you would normally expect to find them.

 

 

How Dragonflies Are Able to be Such Good Hunters

I am linking to a detailed explanation of how dragonflies are able to detect and then intercept other flying insects.  Researchers at Howard Hughes Research Institute installed tiny reflectors on dragonflies to track their body movements while hunting.  Those reflectors were then followed by special cameras that send that tracking data to computers for analysis.  They found that dragonflies are good hunters because of their ability to anticipate the movements of their prey and calculate accurate interception routes.  I found it interesting that dragonflies approach their targets from below to avoid detection.  Jet fighter pilots sometimes use that same technique.  Dragonfly in flightThese behaviors are far more complex than expected in an invertebrate and have implications for the study of human behavior.

The article from  is Phys.org is here.

 

 

The Amazing Flight of the Butterfly

Have you ever tried to watch a butterfly fly? It is very difficult to do.  Even the swallowtail, one of the slowest fliers, still flaps its wings in a figure eight pattern five times a second. That’s 300 times a minute!  Only by using photography and slow motion video are we able to watch what is really happening.

Flight is achieved via muscles connecting the wings to the thorax.    The muscles are tiny yet they can propel some Monarch butterflies on a migration of over 3,000 miles!    That is pretty amazing to me.

King Swallowtail Butterfly

King Swallowtail Butterfly

Look at the King Swallowtail Butterfly in the background of this photo. You can see that there are really two sets of wings, upper and lower, each capable of moving independently. That wing design gives the butterfly the ability to hover or change direction very quickly. The King Swallowtail in the foreground is at rest appearing only to have a single pair of wings.  Researchers have found that butterflies in flight make hundreds of tiny wing adjustments each minute.  They do this to compensate for wind currents and the turbulence their own wings create.  They are complicated flying machines.

This ultra-slow motion video of butterfly flight reveals the figure eight pattern we can’t see in regular speed.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/6GiYfr0qIR4]

Our butterfly season is nearly over here in Texas.  The Monarchs are still moving through  on their migration, and we have a few Gulf Fritillaries and Swallowtails coming through.

King Swallowtail

King Swallowtail

Gulf Fritillary

Gulf Fritillary

Monarch Butterfly

Newly emerged Monarch drying and ‘pumping up’ wings

Clearly this is not a bug!

Hummingbird at flowerThere is a lot more to see in a garden or field than just plants.  Flowers are nature’s way of attracting a wide variety of creatures.  Many plants need wildlife to help with pollination. A flower or vegetable garden or a field of blooming weeds is full of life.  Some come directly to feed on nectar or collect pollen such as bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  Others, like spiders, wasps, assassin bugs and praying mantis, are attracted to areas with flowers because the bugs they eat are in the plants.  Then, larger animals such as lizards and birds are attracted to the area because of the variety of insects they can find there.

Hummingbird at flower

Female Ruby-throat Hummingbird at Hummingbird Bush

Hummingbirds are a special sight. They are fun to watch at a hummingbird feeder, but watching them feed at flowers is more fun to me.  This little female Ruby-throat Hummingbird checked out every bloom in the garden. I was able to catch a picture of her feeding at the aptly named Hummingbird flower yesterday.  She seems to prefer Hibiscus flowers too.

Some butterflies like specific flowers.  The Monarch butterfly requires the Butterfly Weed, also known as Milkweed, to lay eggs.

Monarch Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed

The Monarch larvae or caterpillars feed almost exclusively on Milkweed as they grow and prepare to undergo metamorphosis into a butterfly.  Other butterfly species have their preferred plants too.  When you think about it, that helps reduce the new caterpillars’ competition for the same plants after the butterfly eggs hatch.   Caterpillars have to eat a lot to grow and turn into a butterfly!

I have a wide variety of flowers in my back yard to hopefully attract different types of wildlife. It works beautifully most of the time.  I have discovered that something must be missing though.  A beautiful Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly passes through the yard several times a day without stopping. They like daisies. I have a daisy plant in a pot.  Perhaps they require more than one pot of daisies to make it worthwhile to stop and feed?

A great place to watch for butterflies, insects and other animals attracted by flowers is at a garden center. The large concentration of flowering plants attracts a lot of attention from insects. And it is free to walk around! Some of the pictures for There’s a Bug in my Blossom were taken at garden centers.

We can enjoy all that nature has to offer whether in our own yard, at the park or a garden center.  We just need to get out and observe.  And yes, sometimes flowers attract all sorts of wildlife!

Squirrel and daisies

Freddy Squirrel

UPDATE: What Is That Butterfly Doing?

Queen Butterfly  1st instar

Queen Butterfly 1st instar

The next stage of butterfly growth has begun.  This is day 4 since I saw the female Queen Butterfly lay an egg on this leaf.  What we are seeing is the 1st instar stage of the new caterpillar.  As you can see, it is very tiny.  It is very hard to see without a magnifying glass.  But it will grow rapidly and then molt (shed the old skin) into the next larger instar.  The Queen Butterfly caterpillar will go through 5 instar stages before it goes into the pupal stage to complete the metamorphosis into a butterfly.  I am going to continue trying to follow this caterpillar on its journey from egg to butterfly. Will he or she make it? There are many perils for small animals in the wild.  Stay tuned!IMGP3309

There’s a Bug in my Blossom receives 5-Star Review!

5star-flat-web

Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Rating!

“There’s a Bug in my Blossom should get even kids who hate or are scared of bugs looking in flowers to see who’s in there. There’s a Bug in my Blossom is both educational and a lot of fun, and it’s highly recommended.” – Readers’ Favorite

Read the full review

Bugs in My Blossoms

 

Look for my new book, There’s a Bug in My Blossom, available for order now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

This website will help you explore and share your experiences!  We can talk about how to see and photograph those tiny things and those that are larger.  We’ll also look at why all of these living things have a place in the grand scheme of things.

 

What things can you see in the garden?  Freddy Squirrel would like to see your pictures and drawings of bugs and other critters you find in your flowers.