If your kids had fun with the “Putting the Leaves on the Trees” activity last week, check this post from the Urban Science Adventures website, called Urban Wildlife Watch: Ash Trees.
Category: Learning Outdoors (Page 50 of 63)
This week we were grubbing around in the compost heap when we found this. We were quite excited.
It’s about the size of my thumb. I can tell it is a beetle larva from the fact it has a hard head capsule (dark brown) and six distinct legs right behind its head. Those small brown circles on its sides are the opening of the airways it uses to breathe. Those are called trachea.
I knew what kind of beetle it was when it flipped onto its back and began crawling along upside down. My son said this was “Freaky!†(I think that is tween-speak for “Really cool!â€) You can see the legs better. It also has bristly brown hairs. It quickly crawled off, upside down.
This interesting critter is a green June beetle grub, Cotinus mutabilis. They are a type of scarab beetle. The larvae (grubs) feed on compost and help with decomposition. They are up to two inches long when mature. Next Spring it will pupate in the soil and emerge as an adult.
The adults have beautiful metallic green wings with brownish-gold at the margins. They congregate in large numbers to feed on various types of soft fruit, which gives them their other common name, figeater beetle. Their normal food in Arizona is prickly pear or saguaro cactus fruit. They also visit our desert willow flowers for nectar.
I only have a photo of a preserved specimen. Don’t worry, all of our preserved bugs died of natural causes.
The adults are even shinier when they are alive. Isn’t it interesting such a “freaky” larva can turn into such a spectacular adult? Talk about the ugly duckling…
By the way, if this grub hadn’t scooted away so quickly, it would probably have been bird food. Grackles love them.
Have the leaves come off the trees in your area yet? If so, it’s a great time to take your children out and try to put the leaves back on the trees.
Of course, not literally. Instead, find leaves on the ground and try to figure out which tree they came from.
All you need is a good tree identification guide that shows both leaf shape and bark patterns. First identify the leaf by it’s shape and then find the tree by it’s bark pattern and general shape.
You might start with some trees you know just to see how it works. Remember that leaves blow around. Look for nuts and seeds to match with the trees that produced them, as well. Children really enjoy this if you treat it like a game.
During a quiet moment, have your children take a good look at the trees. Once the trees have lost their leaves, other aspects of their structure are revealed. The texture of the bark, the shape of the branches, even the leaf scars on the twigs. Compare different trees. Close your eyes and feel the bark. Listen. Smell the wood. Do trees smell differently?
You can also take some paper and crayons along and let your child make a few bark rubbings. Place the paper on the trunk of a tree and rub the crayon over the surface. The bumps and grooves in the bark will be revealed. Hold the paper as firmly as possible for the best results. You can also trace the outline of dried leaves from the same tree.
If you don’t have one, here are some examples of tree identification guides. Have fun!
Trees, Leaves & Bark (Take-Along Guide) (Paperback) by Diane Burns
Winter Tree Finder by May T. Watts and Tom Watts
Winter Botany by William Trelease. A cool book on a cool topic!
Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Revised and Updated by C. Frank Brockman. Rebecca Marrilees
Eastern Trees (Peterson Field Guides) by George A. Petrides, Roger Tory Peterson (Illustrator, Series Editor)
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.