The Unseen, Underneath

Beneath the blossom

So much greater, the world I do not see.
It would seem I walk among icebergs.





I walked this grassy trail, the summer sun catching the finest glossy thread, drawn tight across my path. From a slender branch of the gum tree, suspended on silk, she had landed here. And hid herself beneath the seed head.
Colorless legs, wrapped motionless around the grass.
Unseen.
Underneath.

The unseen, underneath


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The Child Inside

Tree Frog

The decal on the front door said it clearly.
The child inside waits for Ranger Rick.


Every month, through its glossy pages, to explore the natural world, from a cozy armchair or a corner of her bedroom. The young girl saw many things, and fell in love with the world beyond her door.



Raggedy Ann and Andy, button eyes and hand-stitched faces, watched from the doll bed across the room, their floppy bodies propped against the rough, sand-painted walls. While toads or snails in glass boxes—playmates for rainy days indoors, otherwise alone, looked on.




Perhaps the mailman would also bring her Highlights.
And the hidden pictures within.
Amusement page by page, in the simplest of black line drawings.



Is it any wonder, she still takes long walks, looking?
When there are always hidden treasures to find.

Katydid on Goldenrod

Within the Fields of Gold

The world is full of deception.
At every turn, something is not what it first appears to be.
And a closer look reveals the true being.

Autumn Evening

Even in our field, now quiet of birds and chirping insects, except for a lone cricket in the tall grass, a deceiver is among us.


Winding around the heavily flowered stems of goldenrod, peeking from the bright stalks as I walk past, Locust Borer beetles. Their inch-long slender black and yellow striped bodies more like those of yellow jackets than the harmless (to humans) beetles they are. Drawn to visit these flowers of fall as adults, the larva feed, tunneling within the branches of Black Locust, a common tree to fill disturbed areas of the Midwest.

Black Locust, Robinia pseudoacacia
spring blossoms

With red legs and long antennae, they have emerged as adults, buzzing from one golden top to the next.

Locust Borer, Megacyllene robiniae

Beside the honeybees and wasps.
As if they were one and the same.
Yet, deceivers.

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It's in the Bag

So, how cool is this!?
A caterpillar that carries his own silk spindle-shaped stocking, decorated with leaf clippings he’s gathered, easily overlooked amidst the oak branches. He moves deftly along, leaf by leaf, feeding and resting--ducking quickly inside and closing the opening if disturbed.


Bagworms are the larval stage of a generally unseen moth, hanging in camouflaged houses – covered with everything from sticks and berries to needles and grains of sand.

Lacy black filigree against a pale white face peek out at me, and six grasping legs emerge from the safety of their shelter. The long, soft and tender wrinkled body behind stays within—only stretching to reach what he cannot grasp.











Soon he will fasten his stocking securely to the branch, tie down the opening and pupate. If male, he will emerge as a winged adult moth. The wingless females remain inside their silk enclosure, and after mating, leave eggs behind for spring.

Certainly, this little character, camped out on an oak branch stuffed neatly in a vase on my kitchen table wins this year’s “cool creature award.”
He’s definitely got it in the bag!

Thyridopteryx sp. on silk

Bagworm house of oak leaves

Thyridopteryx sp.
Can you see the bristles on his abdominal appendages?
They keep the bag from slipping off.

Captive Caterpillar on the Run(way)

I persuaded my captive caterpillar to model his flowery outfit,
his runway an upturned pencil in the vase where his flower had been.

Synchlora sp. on Queen Anne's Lace

Can you find him here?

Click on images to enlarge

Synchlora caterpillars disguise themselves within the flowers on which they feed by adorning their bodies with flower pieces cut from the same plant. As old pieces wilt and turn brown, they are replaced with new, making it almost impossible for prey to find them unless they move.

Have you seen...

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, been there, done that, outsmarted the tricks of camouflage and mimicry—along creeps another.
And gives new meaning to the term, “decorating with flowers.”

This little Synchlora caterpillar blends perfectly with the Queen Anne’s Lace from which he's feeding, and for good reason. He’s cut pieces of the flower around him and attached them to hooked bristles on his back! As those wither, he replaces them with fresh new ones—and continues to feed beneath his flowery disguise.


Unlike many other caterpillars who require a specific host plant, Synchlora caterpillars are able to feed from a variety of plants.
Picking and arranging flowers as they go.
Yellow, purple, orange or red.

Maybe you’ve seen them?
Or maybe not!

Synchlora sp. feeding on Queen Anne's Lace

"Have you seen...." is an effort to discover the unusual beauty in things not usually appreciated for their beauty.

There's more information about these intriguing creatures here.

Hiding

I remember waiting for the bus with my girls in the early morning when they were very young. Standing wrapped in an old housecoat, down by the road, crazy curly hair every which way, thankful few people passed our old country home at that hour.
I’d run a few feet up the gravel hill of the driveway as we heard it approach, and stand straight-- behind the big maple in the yard—its wide trunk hiding me. Inching my way slowly around its wide base as the bus drove off down the road. Only peeking out as it rounded the bend toward school.



I found a spider at the edge of the pond—so thin she can hide behind a blade of grass. With four legs forward and four behind, she hugs the stem as closely as she can, her slender brown form matching it perfectly. And slips carefully around it as I peek at her.

Tetragnatha sp.
Long-jawed Orb Weaver

My, what large jaws you have!