Dogwood Spittlebugs Video

Maybe making slideshow videos of one species at a time is the way for me to go forward. 🤷

00:00:46

_/\_/\_

July 10 Photos

Dogwood Spittlebug (Clastoptera proteus)

We were expecting the remnant of a hurricane today so Lucy and I needed to get outside for bugs a bit earlier than usual. As it was, it began raining only 30 minutes into our time outside, but we managed to find some nifty bugs. 

Above, is the cutest ever dogwood spittlebug. It's almost invisible. You may see a black or yellow pencil dot moving on a leaf (not necessarily on a dogwood leaf, either). This was only my second sighting of one and it was quite larger than the first. I can't find out whether the broad yellow strokes on it are developing wings or just the way they are decorated. I hope you click on the photo to see it larger. It is worth the time to completely read all sections of  "Spittlebugs and Froghoppers." 

Globetail fly (Genus Sphaerophoria)

Above is a globetail flower fly (also called hoverflies or syrphids) . They are very important for pollination, as are nearly all of the flies. These flies are much bigger (although still very small) than the Toxomerus species of flower flies, one of which is below. 

Margined Calligrapher (Toxomerus marginatus)

This margined calligrapher flower fly was in the rugosa rose bush pollinating away. Hopefully, you are able to discern how small they are. When they fly, they are just wisps in the breeze. There haven't been too many so far this season. Their activity seems to be strongly affected by the time of day and the air temperature. 

A native Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) pursuing an invasive Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) on invasive Common soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) 

I try to photograph as many Japanese beetles as possible to see if they are carrying a winsome fly egg . . . but viewing the photo in the iPad, I found this small crab spider instead! It was a great find. If the spider caught that beetle, it would be food enough for many days.

It has been a long, long time that I seriously posted. Many things have stood in my way: school work, disabilities, Covid (but it was uneventful for me), the flu, and myself. I get in the way of myself all the time. 

I am in the middle of learning and planning an entire year of science classes (K-12) that meet the NGSS standards. In November of 2023, I was given all the science classes of the school because the science teacher quit. I had two weeks to formulate plans to last us until the end of the year. I did it but was never that happy with the results. I have told the school's director that I will happily continue in science. That means they need a new math teacher, but we have made changes to the math curriculum, legally and beneficially, that takes most of the pressure off of filling that position. It's fun teaching science. Not so much math, though. After 30+ years of teaching math, it is now too rote for me.

There are no math teachers to be found, anyhow. The entire state is looking for them. There seem to be no teachers anymore. I have no idea why. But every Vermont school is short, drastically short of teachers. 

I have changed my workflow for photos. I use my big iPad and the Apple photo app and find that they are as good, and sometimes better, than my big desktop with Adobe Lightroom. I still use my Canon camera but use wifi to transfer photos to the iPad. I can then geo tag and upload the shots to iNaturalist easily. And then I also make a memory video slideshow of the best of the day (that doesn't mean the best photos, just the best shots of the day). And that video I send off to family, who probably roll their eyes at them. I'm having fun seeing what limits I have on creating my own video memory videos on my devices. This is today's: 

July 10, 2024 (00:00:50)

Thank you for reading.

_/\_/\_

Dogwood Life

Dogwood Spittlebug (Clastoptera proteus)

I was sitting next to the Jerusalem artichoke a couple of weeks ago when I saw a black speck move on a leaf. Even though I had no idea what it may have been, I shot it. I was thrilled when I found the cutest little bug ever in the computer. Who ever sees a purely black and yellow bug anywhere? It was a hopper and a spittlebug . . . my favorite insect group. What a find!

You have probably seen frothy foam on spots on plants. There are spittlebug larvae living inside that foam. They are called spittlebugs because the foam looks like spit. I have spent hours finding the tiny larvae and photographing them. Of course, I can't find the photos today. Spittlebugs are hoppers like plant and tree hoppers. They can jump like fleas.

Since this dogwood spittlebug's host is dogwood, I wanted to compile the other insects who use dogwood exclusively. I have at least three native species of dogwood on my land and I can never tell them apart. 

Two species of my dogwoods have been confirmed:

Alternate-leaved Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)

Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)

But this one that I think is red osier may be Gray Dogwood:

Perhaps Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa).
Perhaps not.

Dogwood-loving insects, however, don't care which is which. Other insects that rely on dogwood are the dogwood sawfly and the dogwood leaf beetle, a calligrapher beetle, and a species of aphid.

 

Dogwood Sawfly (Macremphytus testaceus) larva

Adult dogwood sawfly
Robert Webster

Sawflies have bad reputations for being pesky and the dogwood sawfly is no different. But I have no problem with them because my land is so diverse. I love sawflies because of their life cycle. The larvae are not caterpillars even though they look like caterpillars. 

Dogwood Leaf Beetle (Calligrapha philadelphica)

The dogwood calligrapher is related to lady beetles. They are all leaf beetles. This one eats dogwood leaves. There are many calligraphers with different and stunning "etchings" on their abdomen. 

I always find groups of Red-osier dogwood aphids (Aphis neogillettei) and their ants somewhere on a dogwood. The aphid colonies appear and disappear very quickly; seemingly overnight.

Aphis neogillettei tended by ants

All of my dogwood life has moved away now. The dogwood leaves look blighted and worn on my special bush. It's no wonder they are: they have nurtured so many lives this summer.

_/\_/\_