"Today in the Outdoor Classroom, we..."

...we visited our trees, learned about lunar eclipses and played a short game of Camouflage.

We also found a basket moth cocoon, AKA an evergreen bagworm moth (see the attached images). One reason we may not have noticed it before--its probably been there all winter--is camouflage, and maybe a little deception. To me it looks more like something I definitely would not want to eat. I think most other animals would feel the same. Surprisingly, looking disgusting is a survival skill used by many species of organisms across taxonomic groups, just ask the next spittlebug you come across. This particular species of moth, is native to this part of the world and uses bits and pieces of the host plant (in this case Ilex glabra, inkberry holly) to decorate their cocoon. They are typically found on evergreen trees and shrubs. And remember nocturnal butterflies (moths) make cocoons, diurnal butterflies make chrysalises (generally speaking).

We talked about tonight's worm moon total lunar eclipse and how the moon moves through the earth's shadow. We can still see the moon—it isn't blocked by another heavenly body—but it does look a lot different. Tonight's eclipse will happen (I hope!) after they've been asleep for a while. Some did promise either to wake up at 2:00 or stay awake; good luck with that. We modeled the process with a flashlight and some chalk sticks!   

Photo 23165033, (c) lkirk, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by lkirk to iNaturalist.org

...we visited our trees! Several new and interesting observations were made and wonder-filled questions were asked. "All three of these trees kind of smell similar, are they related?" Yes...I told them. AND

I was wrong, a little bit. Two of the three trees in the OC that are in the gymnosperm group (which does include the bald cypress) are in the group Pinaceae (or pine family). The bald cypress is in the group Cupressaceae the cypress family (seems obvious when you put it that way!) All three are in the larger taxonomic group Gymnospermae. 

But enough taxonomy. I was ALSO wrong about the name for trees that have both male and female flowers on the same tree. They are not (as I said) hermaphrodites, instead they are monoecious. An example of a Hermaphoditic tree in the OC is the cherry—and almost all other plants in the Rose family (Roseacea: including apples, pears and...roses) which have male and female parts in the same flower. Phew. That's enough botany.

We had fun playing a game invented by one of our Naturalists and all of flies eventually got eaten by the toads—even if the last one buzzing did lose on a technicality.  

I loved seeing them share their new discoveries with each other "smell this!" "come see what I found!" "whoa, everyone, come look!" It was very much naturalist led today. Also...some of us talked about which has teeth and nails: reptiles or amphibians. Usually it's reptiles, but there are some fun exceptions, like the moustache frog! (The males in this species grow mustaches not to be attractive, but to fight (and win and therefore be attractive); no kidding.)

We went down some chipmunk holes today.

Have fun outside!

Photo by By Cameron M. Hudson, Jinzhong Fu - Hudson, C. M., and J. Fu. 2013. Male-biased sexual size dimorphism, resource defense polygyny, and multiple paternity in the Emei moustache toad (Leptobrachium boringii). PLoS ONE 8:e67502. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067502, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29107229

...we sat with our adopted trees and made new observations. Those who weren't here last week found the trees that called out to them and made new friends. 

After spending about 5 minutes (mostly) quietly observing we shared our observations with each other while visiting each tree. One tree is host to a Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina). 

Mantises are fascinating organisms. As they grow through their various instars (stages of growth in incomplete metamorphosis), they can adjust their color to match their environment. Since they only change color when they molt, whatever color they land on for their last instar is the one they stick with in adulthood. It's not quick like a chameleon or an octopus, but they can still do it! Also, this is a fascinating way to survive winter—as an egg! (Sometimes I wish I could do it that way.)

More mantis info: https://bugoftheweek.com/blog/2013/1/2/nothing-could-be-fina-than-a-bug-from-carolina-carolina-mantid-stagmomantis