Homer Lake Wetland Blog

Blanchard's Cricket Frog Tadpole with Damaged Tail Tip, July 24, 2021 Today at the wetland I came across this Blanchard's cricket frog tadpole. The post of July 5th  mentioned how the black tail tips of the tadpoles of this species, in addition to being a bold fashion statement, are thought to attract the attention of dragonfly naiads to less vulnerable areas of the tadpole's body and thereby increase the tadpole's chances of survival. As you can see by the missing tail tip of the tadpole in the photo above, that scenario may well have played out for this fortunate fellow. Water levels at the wetland continue to be much better than the low point so far this summer back in the middle of June, and storms are brewing tonight. There may yet be time for this cricket frog tadpole and others to reach maturity and be able to safety leave the wetland before it is dry. Stay tuned! Meanwhile during most visits to the wetland I still hear cricket frogs, green frogs and the occasion...

Least Skipper, Homer Lake Wetland July 20, 2021 I say "butterfly" but skippers have at times been classified as somewhat between butterflies and moths. However, it appears that currently they are classified as butterflies. As I walk through the wetland now I scare up many of these pretty little creatures. With a wingspan of about one inch, they are quite small, but nevertheless catch the eye with their lovely orange highlights. Part of the "grass skipper" family, their caterpillars feed on grasses and sedges, and this particular species happens to like grasses and sedges that like the wetland environment, thus their beautifying presence among the grasses and emergent vegetation of the wetland. When doing some background research for this post  I was completely taken by surprise to learn that there are actually aquatic caterpillars and moths. I don't know that there are any in our wetland and the least skipper is not one of them, but you can read about the unexpe...

Walking Stick at the Wetland, July 17, 2021 I don't think of walking sticks as wetland species, but nothing should surprise me anymore I guess. While "making my rounds" early morning on July 17th searching for dragonfly exuvia, among the emergent plants on the east side of the pond there was a walking stick. Once I realized that also among the long leaves of whatever emergent plant this is (I'm still learning) there were also willow leaves interspersed sprouting from an adjacent tree, the presence of the walking stick was less a mystery. Decades ago when we were homeschooling our children, there was a season when we had come across a walking stick and kept it for observation. We had found it on a willow tree, so we made frequent trips to a nearby willow tree to pluck a few leaves to keep our walking stick happy and healthy. Not too long after we began observing the walking stick, we noticed a number of small, hard somewhat oblong objects appearing in the bottom of the...

  Wandering Glider, World Record Holder for Epic Insect Migrations, Homer Lake Wetland, July 2, 2021 The wandering glider (Pantala flavescens) is the only dragonfly found on all six continents habitable by dragonflies (no dragonflies on Antarctica) and is the most impressive insect migrant discovered so far. Yes, the migration of the monarch butterfly population of North American east of the Rockies is impressive, traveling as far as from eastern Canada to Mexico, but in recent years scientists have realized that the wandering glider, in a massive multigenerational migration following the monsoon rains, travels from India to South Africa and back again every year, a round-trip journey of up to 8000 miles, more than twice the round-trip journey of the monarchs. Additional research suggests that rather than originating in the southern portion of the Indian subcontinent as originally supposed, these dragonflies may be coming from much further north and perhaps even crossing the ...

Arrowhead Leaf and Flowers, Homer Lake Wetland, June 15, 2021 There is no doubt that one reason I like the arrowhead plant is because it is one I can actually identify. The leaves are large, well above the water, and are shaped like arrowheads. The flowers are distinctive as well, bright white with three petals and bright yellow stamens growing on stalks in conjunction with the arrowhead leaves. I like them too though because they seem to serve the wetland community so well in so many ways. The large common green darner naiads find them useful platforms when it's time to emerge from the water and take on their new lives as aerial predators. Common Green Darner Exuvia on Arrowhead Leaf, July 2, 2021 Arrowhead leaves are, in fact, sturdy enough to provide a great resting place for a gray treefrog as well ( and yes, the frog below is pale green-- gray treefrogs can change colors between green and gray ). Gray Treefrog Resting on Arrowhead Leaf, July 2, 2021 And of course, as flow...

Male Giant Water Bug or "Toe-Biter," Homer Lake Wetland, July 5, 2021 You won't find me wading barefoot in the wetland. There are a number of reasons for this, but near the top of the list is the fact that I know there is a healthy population of giant water bugs, also known as toe-biters. Unlike the "darning needle" nickname given to dragonflies based on a superstition that they could sew your lips closed, the toe-biter label is well earned. These are large, predacious insects that feed on other aquatic insects as well as tadpoles and other small vertebrates.  Larger species of giant water bugs, found mostly in the tropics, are reported even to feed on baby turtles, small snakes and ducklings! These are true bugs. Although we commonly use the word "bug" to refer to anything with six legs (or maybe even anything "creepy crawly"), true bugs are a specific order of insects with their own characteristics.  One of the characteristics of the true b...

Blanchard's Cricket Frog Tadpole, Homer Lake Wetland, July 5, 2021 The tadpole pictured above will turn into a Blanchard's cricket frog... if it lives long enough to do so, and if the wetland doesn't dry up first. With regard to the second, the race against time as the wetland is likely to be completely dry before the end of August, you can see that the tadpole pictured has the beginning of its hind legs (more visible in the photo below of the same tadpole). This guy may make it, but the cricket frogs are still calling so more eggs are still being laid and in my exploration today I came out with several smaller cricket frog tadpoles as well, some of which had no legs started yet, so we will see. With regard to the condition that it lives long enough to mature into a cricket frog, all tadpoles are subject to heavy predation in whatever habitat they live. They spend all of their time eating and growing; in other words, turning herbivore food into carnivore food. This doesn...

  A Freshly Emerged Common Green Darner, Homer Lake Wetland, July 2nd 2021, 5:40am I came to the wetland early on Friday July 2nd and sure enough, as I suspected, common green darners were emerging as adult dragonflies.  King of June?  Yes, the scientific name for the common green darner is "Anax junius," which means "King of June." However, as noted elsewhere in this blog, these critters migrate north and arrive here in Central Illinois as early as late March and we will see them all the way through September at least, so perhaps a better name for them might be "King of Summer" (however you say that in Greek or Latin). Clearly though, the one pictured above was not a migrant but was on the morning of July 2nd in the process of emerging from the pond. In addition I found the exuviae (the shed exoskeletons of the last nymph stage before the adult emerges, the brown shell that the dragonfly above and below is still clinging to, exactly like the shells th...