What is it Wednesday: September 15, 2021

 

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
September 15, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

 This is a saddleback caterpillar.

This is one to admire without touching -
saddleback caterpillars have the strongest sting of any caterpillars in Pennsylvania! 

The spiky spines you see around its sides and on the fleshy “horns” on its front and back are filled with venom that causes a sting about as painful as a bee sting. These are called urticating hairs or spines, and the more time the spines are in the skin, the more venom is transmitted. This, or individual sensitivities, can sometimes cause a stronger reaction including nausea and migraines. The bright coloration of the caterpillar is a warning to stay away – this type of warning coloration is called aposematism. As you can see, it also has spots that look like large eyes, which are actually located on the back of its body. Eyespot colorations like this have the effect of startling predators into staying away. The saddleback caterpillar has a full complement of defensive tricks!

The saddleback caterpillar is the larva of a fuzzy dark brown and black moth. It is not common to see saddleback caterpillars at Lutherlyn, but when we do it is late summer/early fall, as that is when they have fully developed. Saddleback caterpillars are also a type of slug caterpillar, which use a layer of liquefied silk to glide instead of walking. (Previous What is it Wednesday feature the monkey slug caterpillar is also a slug caterpillar.) 

It may be hard to tell in the pictures, but this particular saddleback caterpillar was also sitting on a poison ivy leaf – something you don’t want to touch on top of something else you don’t want to touch!

All this may sound intimidating, but saddle back caterpillars are not abundant in our area, and keeping an eye out for their warning colors can help avoid unwanted contact. If you do end up touching one, it will probably be a little painful but will most likely be fairly minor and brief. For more about the ways LEEP can help you learn how to be safe in nature while enjoying nature’s wonders, with school field trips, Saturday Safaris, retreats and more, check out www.Lutherlyn.com/EE.

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: September 8, 2021

 

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

September 8, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

 

 These are pokeberries.

The plant they grow on is known as poke, pokeweed, or pokeberry, and can grow up to 12 feet tall each year. The dark purple berries, although attractive, are poisonous to humans. (At LEEP we enjoy teaching people about wild plants that can be eaten, but it is just as important to know which ones you should NOT eat!) The berries are, however, an important food source for many animals, especially birds. The berries can also be used to make dye and ink.

For more on how LEEP can help you learn about the world around us, and for other ways you can visit and experience the nature of Lutherlyn in person, check out www.Lutherlyn.com.

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: September 1, 2021

 

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

September 1, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

 

This is honeycomb from one of Lutherlyn’s bee hives. 

The cells we see here are called brood cells – many of them have larva in them. Some of the larva are big and fill the entire cell. Some hatched very recently and are still very small, looking like just a light-colored squiggle at the bottom of the cell. Some of the cells have been capped with wax by the bees in the hive so the larva can begin to pupate, and will soon turn into bees.

Seeing brood cells in a hive is an indicator that there is an active queen present – she has been laying eggs and producing more bees for the hive. The next month or so of late summer is a really important time of year for bees to establish a strong healthy hive and lots of honey going into the winter. We’re so grateful to have honey bee hives at Lutherlyn – thank you to beekeeper Pastor Nathaneil Christman for getting these hives established this summer!

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: August 25, 2021

 

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

August 25, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

These are the flowers of ironweed, a meadow wildflower that grows up to 8 feet tall.

The name refers to the toughness of its stem, and it is a member of the aster family. Butterflies, bees, and other pollinators love it. Their intense purple color is striking, and looks especially pretty in a field mixed with goldenrod, which also blooms in late summer.

Author Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, has a beautiful and insightful reflection on the connection between asters and goldenrod, purple and yellow, in her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. She points out that purple and yellow are reciprocal colors, perceived by the same receptors in the eye. This is true for both the eyes of humans and the eyes of bees. 

"This doesn’t explain why I perceive them as beautiful, but it does explain why that combination gets my undivided attention. I asked my artist friends about the power of purple and gold, and they sent me right to the color wheel: these two are complementary colors, as different in nature as could be. In composing a palette, putting them together makes each more vivid; just a touch of one will bring out the other. Purple and yellow are a reciprocal pair.

"The real beholder whose eye they hope to catch is a bee bent on pollination. As it turns out, golden rod and asters appear very similarly to bee eyes and human eyes. Their striking contrast when they grow together makes them the most attractive target in the whole meadow. Growing together, both receive more pollinator visits than they would if they were growing alone."

"It’s a testable hypothesis; it’s a question of science, a question of art, and a question of beauty. Why are they beautiful together? It is a phenomenon simultaneously material and spiritual, for which we need all wavelengths of knowledge.

… its wisdom is that the beauty of one is illuminated by the radiance of the other. Science and art, matter and spirit, indigenous knowledge and Western science— can they be goldenrod and asters for each other?"

For a full excerpt of the essay, go to https://commons.bluemountaincenter.org/goldenrod-and-asters-my-life-with-plants/ . 

And for more on how you can visit Lutherlyn to engage both the material and the spiritual, visit www.Lutherlyn.com . 

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!

Famous Fireflies

Fireflies are one of the superstars of summer evenings. Not only are they enchanting and magical, they are fascinating creatures. Fireflies are not really flies; and lightning bugs are not true bugs — they are beetles, members of the insect order Coleoptera. They have six legs and three body parts just like all insects. Like all beetles, they have two pairs of wings: one pair adapted to be a hard covering over their back, and another pair that folds underneath this covering, and is used for flying.

Of course, the thing that makes fireflies stand out from other insects and beetles is their ability to light up! This is a type of bioluminescence. The part of a firefly’s abdomen that lights up is known as its lantern. Within the lantern are specialized cells called photocytes, and within those cells are the chemicals that create the light of fireflies. The flashing of fireflies is created by regulating how much oxygen is released into the photocytes - when oxygen is present, the light flashes on, when oxygen is not present, there is no light.

Different types of fireflies can be identified by their flash patterns. In most species in the eastern United States, the males fly and flash a certain pattern to attract a mate. The females sit on the ground or on plants and flash a different pattern in response. Different species also prefer different habitats and tend to appear at different times of the evening or season.

In 2019 we were able to confirm that Lutherlyn is home to one of the most interesting species of firefly - Photinus carolinus! These are the rare synchronized fireflies. The males of this species flash all together for several seconds and then go dark for several seconds in unison, creating a mesmerizing pattern of synchronized flashing and darkness in the forests where they fly.

Their presence has only been confirmed in a few places in the United States. Viewing this rare spectacle of synchronized flashing has become a popular tourist attraction in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is home to the largest population of Photinus carolinus. In recent years, it has been confirmed that a thriving population also exists in Allegheny National Forest in northwest Pennsylvania, which has led to the PA Firefly Festival in Kelletville, PA. PAFF events have expanded from a one-night festival in one location to advocating for fireflies, expanding our knowledge of Photinus carolinus in Pennsylvania, and hosting educational events in a number of locations with confirmed populations of synchronous fireflies.

Photinus carolinus, photo by Peggy Butler
at Camp Fossil Creek, 2021.

A number of years ago we happened upon synchronized flashing on a night hike into the forest with campers early in the summer. We were able to confirm with organizers from PAFF that we do indeed have Photinus carolinus at Lutherlyn, and this year we hosted a PAFF Glow and Know campout event. Glow and Know events are intentionally small – registration is capped at 15 participants – and focus on education as well as viewing the synchronous fireflies in their habitat. It is not easy to see synchronized fireflies, mostly because they hang out in places that humans usually are not - they are most visible in open spaces within mature forests after 10:00 or 11:00 pm. They are best viewed, of course, in the dark, with flashlights, cell phones and cameras turned off. They are most active in our area in mid-June. While Lutherlyn is private property and cannot host drop-in visitors during summer camp season (when the synchronous fireflies are active), you can see synchronous fireflies in Allegheny National Forest, at PA Firefly Festival events, and at Smokey Mountains National Park and Congaree National Park. Or maybe, if you explore a forest near you late at night in June, you may discover that these famous fireflies are in more places than we know!

For more on PA Firefly Festival programs check out  https://www.pafireflyevents.org . 

While the synchronized fireflies may be the most spectacular and rare species we have seen at Lutherlyn, there are plenty of other fireflies around, and they all have their own distinctive flash patterns too, as well as favored habitats and peak times. We are fortunate at Lutherlyn to have a lot of suitable habitat for fireflies of many different types, and therefore many spectacular fireflies to enjoy on summer evenings! This summer keep an eye out for fireflies and their flash patterns.

 

 

What is it Wednesday: May 12, 2021

 

This was our first ever What is it Wednesday video!

Can you identify what's in this video?

 

 

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo/video. 

 

 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo/video 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 video was posted as a What is it Wednesday on

May 12, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

What looks like snow falling in this video is actually the seeds of aspen trees!

After aspens flower, the female catkins produce tiny seeds that are blown into the air by the wind, much like dandelion fluff. Aspens are prolific, and often many many seeds release and travel at the same time, causing a buildup of aspen “fluff” in the air and on the ground near the trees. This type of seed promotes the spread of aspens, by causing the seeds to travel away from their mother trees. This is one of the reasons aspen is such a successful pioneer species, growing well in newly disturbed open soil.  Aspens also reproduce by sending out shoots from their roots, sometimes creating large stands of interconnected trees that are actually one organism!

Aspens are one of the very first trees to blossom in the early spring, around the same time of red maples blossoming, in late March and early April. Like the maples, aspens produce their flowers before they produce their leaves. We are also seeing lots of red maple seeds on the ground right now – maybe there was also a moment when it looked dramatic with a lot of maple seeds winging to the ground at the same time, but we didn’t happen to see that one!

Have you ever seen something in nature that looked like snow but was something else? Make sure you keep an eye out for beauty raining down around you out in nature! 

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 Wednesay: May 5, 2021

 

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 5, 2021. 

 

 

 

And the answer is....

 

This is a pickerel frog. 

The image is a little funky-looking and it looks like there is an extra separate foot because we are viewing this pickerel frog through the side of a container, and the image is refracted through the water and plastic. Here's what it looks like with a clearer view from above: 

We usually leave critters in their homes at Lutherlyn, aside from a short scoop-up to look at them – the animals who live here are best cared for by mother nature. But this week, LEEP had a chance to visit Northwest Elementary in Butler, PA to help the kindergarteners through fourth graders get to know some mammals and amphibians. We brought some of our Discovery Room friends with us to give students a closer look at mammals, and caught a pickerel frog, green frog, tadpoles of spring peepers and green frogs, and red-backed salamanders to show them amphibians. 

It was wonderful to spend a day with the students of Northwest Elementary! After their adventure, all the amphibians were returned to where we found them at Lutherlyn, including this pickerel frog.

Pickerel frogs are smaller than green frogs and larger than spring peepers, and fairly easy to indentify by their square and rectangular markings. (Leopard frogs look similar, but have circular or oval markings.)  You may also be able to identify that there are pickerel frogs around without even seeing them – their call sounds a bit like a squeaky door slowly swinging open. Like most frogs, they can been found near water (this one came from alongside the amphitheater pond), but they also frequently wander out into grassy areas further from their water source. Spring is a great time to look and listen for frogs and other amphibians!

For more on how LEEP can bring nature knowledge to you, either by coming to your location or welcoming your group to Lutherlyn, check out www.Luthelryn.com/ee. 

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!