Last summer when it was so dry we were sure that we were going to lose our only yew tree, a very slow growing conifer found from northern California to southern Alaska. The tips all turned brown and dry and the bark was even more flaky and brittle looking than usual! It pulled through and we still have this one single Taxus brevifolia.

Western Yew is listed as "Near Threatened" by IUCN because of threats and declines. Threats include logging and harvesting of the bark for Paclitaxel, a compound that was found to be successful  in the treatment of several cancers including ovarian and breast. At least this had been a threat. It was estimated that one tree was being killed for every patient treated and it was clear that this was not going to be sustainable! Two Cornell postdoctoral researchers got on this problem in the early 1990's and were successful in developing a process to produce Paclitaxel from plant cell cultures through fermentation. Large scale production meant that this natural product could be available at a fraction of the cost and effort and the yew trees were saved! Yay! 

Western (or Pacific) Yew on the coast often grows with many short branches and twisted stems.  In the 1990s it was discovered that this is because a mite the Big Yew Bud Mite, (Cecidophyopsis psilaspis) damages the buds at the ends of branches by feeding on them. A team of scientists from the Pacific Forestry Centre looked at the prevalence of this mite in B.C. and found that except for a few high elevation sites, all the coastal locations searched had the mite, and the interior ones did not (http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications?id=32959).  They also concluded that the mite was likely not native and was introduced from Europe on English Yew (Taxus baccata). It turns out the “characteristic” shape of a coastal yew isn’t the way the yew used to grow and likely is only recent. This would explain why the bows, tools and paddles that were made from Western Yew by the coastal first nations were straight and true.

 

 Satyr Anglewing, (Polygonia satyrus ), sometimes called the Satyr Comma, and, along with the Mourning Cloak is one of the first butterflies seen in the spring.  Both of these species overwinter as adults and can be seen on the wing as early as the first week of March in some years.  Adults are long lived and the males are highly territorial.  If you disturb one in the woods they tend to spook easily, but often return to the spot in a few minutes.  The larvae feeds on Stinging Nettle and this butterfly can be seen almost anywhere Stinging Nettles are common.  Commas are named after the bright white angular "comma" mark on the underwing.  

The Satry Anglewing is named after the Satyr, a character of Greek mytholody that inhabits forests.  Other common names for this butterfly include Golden Anglewing, the Satyr and Hope Butterfly.

This is one of those species that when you go to find some interesting and fun facts, you are met with a wall of pages on how best to get rid of it.  It seems that this is justified in North America.  Otiorhynchus sulcatus was first officially reported from Connecticut in 1910, there are suspicions that it has been around since the 1830's, transported from Europe on plant material. 

The wing coverings, or elytra are fused together, so the adults can't fly. They  are nocturnal and spend the days under leaf litter and detritus, until they begin to roam after dark. There are only females in the population! 


Black vine weevils have been recorded on over a 100 host plants, commonly on azaleas, rhododendrons, yew, hemlock, cranberries....in other words a real bugger in nurseries, seed orchards and farms. The damage from the adults is mostly cosmetic consisting of nibbles on the greenery and it is the larvae that cause the real damage by eating the roots. They can cause considerable damage before they are discovered. 

We get Barn Swallows flying high over Leaning Oaks, and sadly never stopping by or raising a family  like this group from the Okanagan! And even flyovers are not frequent. 

What one thinks of as a ubiquitous swallow, one that is found nesting on human buildings (...like barns!) , and found over a large range is actually a swallow in trouble. COSEWIC has assessed Hirundo rustica as "Threatened" and it is S3S4 (Blue listed) provincially. Like many other birds that feed on insects, Barn Swallows are experiencing significant and long term declines. that began, seemingly inexplicably in the mid-1980s. There was a 76% decline recorded between 1970 to 2009 across Canada based on Breeding Bird Surveys across Canada!  Factors thought to be contributing to the declines are declines or changes in insect populations, pesticides and loss of habitat in the wintering grounds, and changes in farming techniques that may affect foraging and nesting sites. It would be very interesting to know what the historical numbers were as there are some estimates that approximately 1% of all Barn Swallows use natural nesting sites! (Erskine 1979; Man’s influence on potential nesting sites and populations of swallows in Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 93:371-377)

(This is for you Lisa!)

Where you find burying beetles (see #294) you will find a bevy of mites. The term phoretic refers the association between these two in which one organism attaches to the other, so the mite or phoront,  uses the other organism or host (the beetle) for dispersal. So if you are horse-riding, you are the phoront. Oh, except the phoront is technically not able to disperse on its own. Oh well, you get the picture. It isn't the English name of this particular species of mite! As far as I could find, there aren't any common names for these guys. 

Carrying around all of these mites has a cost to the beetle, the mites are heavy and can be found in great numbers, affecting the beetle's ability to fly long distances. What is the benefit to the beetle? This is where things get very cool. When the beetle finds some carrion, the mites amble off and feed on fly eggs and larvae, ridding the carcass of competitors that also feed on this limited food resource that the larvae of the beetles depend upon to survive. And the wingless, very small mites get to a food resource. Elegant. Don't feel sorry for the fly; they are more efficient and long distance dispersers than the carrion beetles and thus are more likely to find another food source. 

The mites lay their eggs in the brood chamber of their burying beetle. The new mite generation (or deuteronymphs) clamber on to the male beetle, who disperses before the female. When the beetles meet up with others, the mites will spread themselves around to other burying beetles, apparently keeping the numbers fairly even between the beetles (Schwarz and Muller 1992).  The numbers can be immense, Leech (1934) counted 328 on one Nicrophorus conversator! Interesting that for all of Leeches observations, he did not observe that it was the mites that were keeping the carrion free of maggots. He attributed this to the beetle adults protecting the food source from the competitors and that the only benefit that he could see of all these mites was that they "probably eat the filth sticking to the hairy undersides of the beetle". 

Burying or carrion beetles are sometimes referred to as the "undertakers of the beetle world". I think of them as the arthropod equivalent of vultures-out there doing an important job so that we don't end up knee deep in dead animals. One of the common English names for this group are the sexton beetles, referring to one of the jobs that a sexton often had to carry out which was burying the dead. 

The beetles are attracted to the odors associated with early decay and are often the first on the scene.  Once an individual arrives at the carcass it will wait until a mate arrives and the pair will then proceed to dig out underneath the small bird or rodent until it is covered. Once this is done, the food item will be stripped of it's skin, fur or feathers. The happy little pair will then chew the flesh and cover it with salivary and anal secretions to help preserve it from decay, whilst compressing the corpse into a tight ball. Eggs are laid and when they hatch, the female (or some sources say either parent) will regurgitate liquids for the small larvae until they are able to partake in the yummy preserved food ball.  They mature within six to eight days, when they will leave the feeding chamber and pupate somewhere in the vicinity.  Leech (1934) does some good 'ol natural history observations that indicate that one of the parents remain on the meat ball while the larvae are feeding and describes it as "a frightened hen and her brood of chicks". He surmises that they are defending this food source from other carrion beetles or fly maggots. **

The life history between the different species of Nicrophorus (Greek for 'carrier of the dead') are generally similar, following the above pattern, although this . I believe that this is Nicrophorus defodiens. A few sources I found say that this species doesn't bury their prey but covers it with leaves. 

There was one very cool study done on niche differences  near Bella Bella . The authors looked at the diets of two species of Nicrophorus that co-existed within a salmon-bearing watershed. In this location one species, N. investigator ate 86.5% salmon, while this species, N defodiens lived on shrews and songbirds, 100%. Which is a good thing as Leaning Oaks is short on salmon! (Hocking et.al. 2007)

** Breaking news!! See installment #295 for the REAL story on what happens to the fly eggs and maggots!

Despite the fact that Tree Swallows  (Tachycineta bicolor) are not uncommon on southern Vancouver Island we only have a single record of this species at Leaning Oaks, a pair of birds on migration in April.  It is very likely we have overlooked "fly over" Tree Swallows.   Like the much commoner Violet-green Swallow, Tree Swallows are cavity nesters, using woodpecker holes,  rotted cavities in trees and nest boxed to raise their families.  Here on southern Vancouver Island they are more closely associated with water than Violet-green Swallows, which uses a wider variety of habitats.

I found dozens of these wee (~8-9 mm) skinny millipedes curled up in the soil where the garlic was about to be planted. They are Blaniulus guttulatus, an introduced species from western Europe. They can be a pest if there is already damage from fungus or mechanical damage so that the millipede can get inside the crop. Touch one of the garlic cloves and there will be war! 

The red spots are defensive glands that contain palmityl acetate (Weatherston et. al. 1971) , which was the first time that an acetate was found as a defense mechanism in a millipede. 

B. guttulatus is prone to desiccation and is more commonly found in heavier soils that stay moist. Which is what we try to do with the garlic. In this photograph you can see some of the typical millipede design; the thoracic segments, of which there are three. The first has no legs ("head" to me), then the 2nd and 3rd have a single pair of legs and then moving on, you get to the abdomen with two pairs of legs. All those legs are useful for pushing the long body through the soil or leaf litter. Away from the garlic. 

Western Parsely-Piert (Aphanes occidentalis) is an easily overlooked plant here at Leaning Oaks.  It forms a low flat mat on the edges of paths, cracks in the driveway and in flower beds that perhaps I am not weeding as often as I should.   The leaves are deeply lobed and covered in soft hairs.  The flowers are in clusters and are  small, greenish-yellow and without petals.  They are hidden in the dense leaf-like stipules- all in all, easily overlooked.  It is a member of the Rose Family.  This genus is closely related to Ladies Mantle (Alchimella). 

There are three species of Aphanes in BC.  This one is native, the other two are introduced.  

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) is the smallest of the 3 species of Accipiter Hawks found in our area.  It is less common at Leaning Oaks than Cooper's Hawk.  The two species can be difficult to tell apart, as they are very similar and there is some size overlap between the largest Sharp-shinned Hawks (females) and the smallest Cooper's Hawks (males).  Some useful id tips for this species are a smaller bill (giving Sharp-shins a 'budgie-faced' look), proportionately shorter tail,  and very thin legs and toes.  Despite the fact that small numbers breed on Vancouver Island, we have no summer records here at Leaning Oaks.  Our latest spring sighting is the first week of May and our earliest fall sighting is the last week of August.  

Small-flowered Alumroot (Heuchera micrantha var. diversifolia  ) is a member of the Saxifrage family and is a common species growing on shallow soiled rock outcrops and cliff faces at Leaning Oaks.  The leaves range from unmarked to intricately patterned with red veining.  Flowers are tiny and white and in racemes. Another commonly used name is `Crevice Alumroot`  Several named forms with purple or red leaves are available in cultivation (cultivars such as ``Palace Purple` and `Molten Fire`) and the species has been used extensively in hybridization programs to develop Heucheras for the garden.  As one might guess from the name, the root is extremely astringent.

Most people seemed to be surprized that there is such a thing as a "weedy" orchid, but there is. Epipactis helleborine  is a introduced plant that is most often found in dry, shady areas. 
It is often overlooked, and usually not very showy.  However,  this plant, a seedling that popped up in one of the herb gardens, was recieving additional water from our drip irrigation system - and produced a 0.8 m spike of green and purplish-red flowers.  They are insect pollinated plants, most often wasps and bees (you can see the back end of a Bald-faced Hornet on the lower right hand side of the flower spike).

This species has an enormous range, it is native from Portugal to China and has been widely introduced elsewhere.  Not surprisingly there are a number of subspecies and described forms.  

Nectar of this species apparently contains small quantities of Oxycodone and another opiod compound. Like most orchids the seeds are tiny, and it is estimated that a single Helleborine can produce up to a million seeds.  

Campaea perlata is a common,widespread moth that appears often on our window or on the moth sheet that we hung out in the meadow. The adults fly from late June to August. The larvae are generalists that feed on deciduous and coniferous trees and shrubs. 

This genera of robberflies, Laphria, are convincing bumblebee mimics. This species is apparently thought to be a mimic of Bombus vosnesenskii (Yellow-faced Bumble Bee #158). I can see that. This species is found from Alaska to California. Laphria prey on other robberflies, beetles, bees and wasps. They have a sclerotized  proboscis that they  use to poke between beetle elytra to aid in feeding. This one here would have to watch that her mustache did not get in the way! 

The original description was published in J.K. Lord's  "The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and British Columbia",   in 1866. (written by Fred Walker). This book looks like a fun read, with the adventures that go along with being the naturalist to the " British Boundary Commission" and in the mid 1800's!    

Sphinx perelegans occurs from southern British Columbia to Baja California.  The beautiful larvae feeds on arbutus, snowberry, manzanita and can be a pest on plum or apple trees. I've never seen the larvae but there are some honkin' big chunks out of some of the arbutus leaves that look as though this guy could have done. 

I was a bit distracted while trying to get a photograph of this twitchy moth - not only had it come in through the open window to light in the bedroom, but so had a bat which was swooping around the room at the same time. I didn't get a photo of it!

This big (~10 cm) floppy, uncoordinated insect surprised me as it threw itself at the window one night along with the much more coordinated moths! Another joined it and then another came in through another open window...the first time that either of us had seen this creature. Dobsonfly was what popped into my head-at least I got the Order correct (Megalopteran).  There are no dobsonflies in BC, but there are three species of the fishfly subfamily, Chauliodinae. This species, Dysmicohermes disjunctus, is found through Vancouver Island, lower mainland and just into the interior. The other two are much rarer. 

The adults live up to seven days and only fly at night. Most of a fishfly's life (2-5 years) is as a voracious predatory larvae in freshwater. Apparently they like fast flowing streams, however there are few of those near Leaning Oaks and I am not sure how far the adults will fly. My brief observations would indicate that long distance flight would be a challenge! 

Thanks to Dr. Rob Cannings (@DrCannings) for ID help. You rock!

Sometimes I think the taxonomists that name species look for the most obscure character to use to coin a name.  The ring on the neck of a Ring-necked Duck is possibly the least visible plumage character on that species and the "rotundifolia" on this species (Campanula rotundifolia ) refers to a few basal leaves that often dry up and wither away before the plant flowers.  The Common Harebell at Leaning Oaks are escapees from a few plants put into the garden almost 20 years ago. The species persists, not only in the bed that it was originally planted, but also in the lawn, cracks in pavement and between the stones that edge parts of the garden.  Common Harebell is native to our part of the world, but for the most part, it is found at higher elevations than Leaning Oaks. 

The flowering season here seems varies a lot.  In most years the floral display lasts for a long time from June until August or September..this year however it was over in a flash, another casualty of an exceptionally hot, dry summer.
 
Hopefull next spring it will reappear.

"Hope is like a harebell trembling from its birth,
Love is like a rose the joy of all the earth,
Faith is like a lily lifted high and white."

                                                            Christina Georgina Rossitti.

Tonight's dinner entertainment was a life and death drama with the role of the protagonist being played by a Bald-faced Hornet.  She had been attracted to the wasp traps we had set out, which had managed to gather quite a crop of flies. The hornet spent quite a bit of the time trying to catch the flies she could see crawling on the inside of the plastic container.  As we watched she was joined by a second Bald-faced Hornet and there was an immediate fight, both of the rolling around on the deck until eventually one of them left.  A few minutes later a wasp arrived and the Bald-faced Hornet quickly jumped on it, there was another roll-around scuffle on the deck that resulted in the hornet flying off with the corpse of the wasp.   Later that evening I watched a Bald-faced Hornet walking around on the planter of Pitcher Plants, coming dangerously close to entering the pitcher, possibly attracted to the other insects already in the pitchers.

Dolichovespula maculata makes round paper nests,  that can contain up to 700 workers.   Active hunters they also feed on nectar. 

It is hard to believe that we had never seen this long-horn beetle at Leaning Oaks (or anywhere for that matter) until it came crashing into the sliding glass doors the other night. Mind you, the adults only live for 10-20 days and don't feed, their focus on finding a mate and then the female will lay up to 200 eggs. The rest of the life cycle can take three to five years, mainly in the larval stage.  Prionus californicus  larvae will burrow in the roots of deciduous or coniferous trees and can become a serious in orchards.  They will kill the host plant either by directly killing the root, or bacteria or fungal pathogens will attack the tree through the damaged roots. 

The Prionus Root Borer is found from Mexico to Alaska and emerges as in adult usually in July. The maggots or larvae can grow to 11.5 cm and are edible. No thanks.

The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui ) is likely the most numerous species of butterfly in the world, and one of the most widespread.  It inhabits both the new and old worlds, most of the northern hemisphere and some of the southern.  In North America it is a regular breeder in the deserts of the southwest and Mexico.  In some years there is a migration northward and millions of Painted Ladies are on the move.  Included in these are the ones that reach B.C. - usually in the early spring and looking quite ragged.  Here they breed, and their offspring emerge as butterflies in July, often larger than the migrants that were their parents.  

It is thought that these butterflies seldom are able to overwinter and do not migrate back southward,  so it is a dead-end for the population  and we rely on a new wave of immigrants for our next crop of Painted Ladies.  This is an early date for a 'fresh' Painted Lady for us, July 1 - no doubt the result of record high June temperatures on southern Vancouver Island this year.