Growing With Science Blog

Month: January 2012 (Page 3 of 6)

Bug of the Week: A New Milkweed Bug

January 18, 2012 / / 0 Comments

You never know when you are going to find a new insect here in Arizona.

Glancing quickly, I thought the read and black bug below feeding on a desert milkweed flower was a large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus.

But looking again, I realized it had two black bars across the center of the body, rather than one wide one.

This is an adult Oncopeltus cayensis. I don’t think it has a common name. Check out the sucking mouthparts it is using to feed on the flower.

Have you ever found something new when you took a second look?

Mystery Seed of the Week 99

January 17, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Our mystery seeds this week are actually the cones that hold the seeds.

These are from the Northeast, rather than from the Southwest. The tree has some unique characteristics, as you might guess from these photographs. Do you know what kind of tree these are found on?

Note:  We are quickly approaching our 100th Seed of the Week. To celebrate, I’d like to feature your favorite seed. Please send me the name of your favorite plant or seed and your first name to growingwithscience (at) gmail. com by January 19, 2012 and I’ll create a list. If it is an unusual plant, please let me know a little about it, too.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Edit:  The answer is now posted.

Seed of the Week: Alligator Juniper

January 17, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Our mystery “seeds” showcased last week were from an alligator juniper, Juniperus deppeana.

Technically these are not the seeds, but berry-like cones that contain the seeds. Notice the white, waxy coating which is a common characteristic.

Alligator junipers are named for their distinctive bark.

Once you’ve seen the bark that forms rectangular blocks, it is pretty easy to identify again. People say it looks like alligator skin.

Here’s another example. There are different subspecies throughout the range that have variations in growing shape and cone size.

It has the typical scale-like leaves of a juniper (Photograph from Wikimedia).

Alligator junipers are generally small, but in this photograph by Tom Check (from Wikimedia) you can see that older alligator junipers can be magnificent trees.

Have you ever seen an alligator juniper? Where did you see it?

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