What is it Wednesday: June 24, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

 

 

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

June 24, 2020. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

This is a land snail, also known as a terrestrial gastropod mollusk. 

At Lutherlyn we find lots of aquatic snails in the ponds, and occasionally some terrestrial snails on land. They are closely related to slugs – the only difference between snails and slugs is that snails have shells and slugs do not. “Gastropod” means “stomach foot,” which refers to the fact that the muscular foot of the snail is also its belly.

When tiny snails hatch from eggs deposited in the soil, they already have a small shell. The shell grows as the snail grows, as it secretes a calcium carbonate substance which hardens and enlarges the shell.

Snails are herbivores and use their raspy tongue to scrape food into its mouth. This action is what leaves behind snail tracks on leaves and wood where a snail has been feeding. Snails are hermaphroditic – individuals have both male and female reproductive organs. Keep an eye out and maybe you will spot one of these fascinating creatures! 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: June 17, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

June 17, 2020. 

And the answer is....

This is the larva of a ladybug. 

Like ladybug adults, the larvae live on leaves and eat smaller insects like aphids. After living and growing for 20-30 days and molting about 4 times as it gets larger, the larva attaches to the underside of a leaf and transforms into a pupa. The pupa looks a bit like a soft-bodied cross between the adult and larva stages. Inside the outer skin of the pupa, the ladybug is undergoing a major transformation, and after a few days to two weeks, the adult ladybug emerges.

Because ladybugs are such voracious eaters of pests like aphids and mites they are a great friend to have in the garden! If you see a ladybug, at any stage of its lifecycle, let it live, so it can continue to keep those pest populations under control.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: June 10, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

June 10, 2002. 

And the answer is....

This unusual insect is a phantom cranefly. 

Craneflies, a previous What is it Wednesday feature, are pretty common around Lutherlyn. We often find their larva in the stream during creek critters/stream study activities, and the harmless adult fly that looks like a large floppy mosquito hangs around near lights at night in the summer time. 

The phantom cranefly is related, but a little different.

The body of the phantom cranefly is very thin and light, and it has tiny wings. This is because it barely flies, but mostly travels by floating on the breeze. Its legs are thin and hollow, while its feet are enlarged and filled with air pockets, making it light enough to drift through the air with barely any effort, and to float on the surface of the water.

This is useful, because its habitat is the shady edges of freshwater wetlands. The phantom cranefly’s black and white feet and thinness of body and legs also make it extra difficult to spot in the dappled sunlight of wetlands. The name “phantom” presumably refers to both its near invisibility, and the way it drifts by like a ghost. You have to be attentive to slight changes in light and motion to notice a phantom cranefly! (or get lucky and have one land on your window frame, like in this picture)

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!

What is it Wednesday: May 27, 2020

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on 

May 27, 2020. 

And the answer is....

There are a number of interesting things in this picture! This was taken where a wild grape vine is growing in the branches of a hemlock tree. The dark green needles are the hemlock tree, the light green broad leaves are the wild grape.

They both have “fruit” developing in this picture – the parts of the plant that reproduce. The dark green balls that are round on top and pointy on the bottom are immature hemlock cones. They will not get much bigger, but will eventually turn brown and hard, with seeds tucked underneath the scales.

The clusters of light green tiny balls are baby grape clusters. They will get bigger, and purple, but wild grapes don’t get as big as domestic grapes – about the size of a small marble. They are edible, but not as sweet, and with more seeds than domestic grapes  - and the poisonous Canada moonseed sometimes look like wild grapes, so be certain they are grapes before you taste them!  (Grapes have curly vine ends and Canada moonseed does not, and the fruit clusters hang differently.)

There is also a hidden spittlebug – that clump of bubbles behind/below the “b a” of the word baby is a spot where an insect – a spittlebug - has created a hiding place for itself by secreting a small cluster of bubbles.

Sometimes you can find a tiny world of interesting things in one spot - when you're outdoors, try picking an area, look at it up close, and see how many things you can notice inside one square foot, or a similar amount of space.

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!