photos copyright Hester Burch

Baby Box Turtle

Interestingly, baby box turtles like this one does not have a hinged plastron (bottom shell) yet. When it gets older, its plastron will become hinged allowing it to close its shell. It will need to be approximately a quarter grown before developing this ability.

Notice the white area near the center of the plastron. This is called the yolk sac scar and is where the yoke is attached to the hatchling turtle.

May 2010

Male and female Luna moths can be distinguished by their antennae. A Male’s is larger and bushier. Females release a pheromone that entices the male. Males find females using their large antennas.

Found near Elms property June 2010.

Male

Female

photos copyright Hester Burch

Luna moths (Actias luna) are stunning moths. Did you know that the adult moths only live about a week? The adult moths don’t eat. They do all the eating that they need as a caterpillar.

Found near Elms property June 2010.

photos copyright Hester Burch

Green stink bugs (Acrosternum hilare) have stink glands and can create a stink if roughly handled. They are considered a pest in some orchards and gardens.

Discovered by a kindergarten student on the beach at Elms –May 2011.

This critter looks like a caterpillar but it is really a leaf beetle larvae. Their metallic rainbow coloring is quite attractive if you look closely. They were all over the Groundsel trees at Elms.

The bottom picture shows: it was smaller than the width of my thumb nail.

Observed by some second graders visiting the Elms- May 2011.

Thumbs Up!

This harmless wormsnake (Carphophis amoenus amoenus) was discovered by visiting stem students from Great Mills High School. These students volunteered their time to maintain Elms outdoor classrooms. They did upkeep work needed on the native plant demonstration gardens, did trail maintenance, mulched areas, transplanted in the native plant garden, planted a new welcome to Elms garden, repaired picnic tables and much more. They were great!

Wormsnake discovered in the mulch pile at Elms, May 2011.

photos copyright Hester Burch

This is a male red-jointed fiddler crab (Uca minax). Males have one claw significantly larger than the other. Sometimes it is the left claw and sometimes it is the right.

Found at the Elms by visiting 4^th graders dip netting around No Name Marsh, May 2011.

Arrow arum (Peltandra virginica) is a freshwater swamp or marsh plant that is grown in our native plant nursery.

photos copyright Hester Burch

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Malacosoma americanum

This attractive caterpillar is called an Eastern tent caterpillar.  These caterpillars build nests in trees; often black cherry trees. Their collective munching can defoliate these trees but the trees rarely suffer significant damage and typically refoliate within several weeks.  They are sometimes confused with the gypsy moth caterpillars (a non-native and destructive insect) because they also build nests.   But the Eastern tent caterpillar is native to North America and their populations don’t tend to get out of control because many things eat them: including frogs, mice, skunks and over 60 species of birds (including -Black capped chickadees and red-winged blackbirds).