What Kills Spotted Lanternflies?

Insects, Spotted Lanternflies
Damaged adult spotted lanternfly, Pittsburgh, 22 July 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

8 August 2023

Aaarrg! They’re everywhere! Pittsburgh is in the midst of a spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) invasion and it’s just plain creepy. These bugs don’t bite but they’re large, they leap and fly unpredictably, and there are just so many of them. Even when damaged like the one above, they’re disgusting. Make them go away!

So what kills them? I’ve seen a few birds attempting to catch the nymphs but those few birds can hardly make a dent in such an overwhelming insect population.

For now it’s up to humans kill them. Not with poison but by more ingenious means.

DO NOT USE STICKY TAPE. It kills birds and beneficial insects –> Never Use Sticky Tape.

How about robots? Carnegie-Mellon’s Robotics Institute developed a robot that scrubs spotted lanternfly (SLF) egg masses off trees in winter so they can’t hatch the following spring. This is fascinating and useful in the long run for orchards but it doesn’t help us today. (1:29 minute video)

video from Global Update on YouTube

Another long term solution is to introduce SLF’s natural predators. Researchers in Delaware are studying two species of parasitic wasps from China that target spotted lanternflies but it will take years to make sure these tiny wasps are totally dedicated to SLF and will not attack North American species. If these wasps pass the test they’ll provide a long term solution for vineyards. (3:00 minute video)

video from CBS Philadelphia on YouTube

And then there’s just plain killing them. The second half of this 2022 video shows how a woman in Gillette, NJ kills them in bulk. Favorite tool? An electric “tennis” racket! (Entire video here is 8 mins long. Excerpt is 4:00 minutes)

video from VICENews on YouTube

If you live in southwestern PA and haven’t seen a lot of lanternflies yet, just wait. Butler, Lawrence, Fayette and Somerset Counties were added to the SLF quarantine this year. Forewarned is forearmed … with an electric “tennis” racket!

Spotted lanternfly quarantine counties in Pennsylvania as of 25 Feb 2023 (map from PA Dept of Agriculture via Penn State Extension)

Check out local answers you can use right now in this 1-hour-long Lunch and Learn about Spotted Lanternflies presented by Phipps Conservatory.

(photo by Kate St. John, map from PA Dept of Ag via Penn State Extension, video credits in the captions)

Why Do Bees Sleep on Flowers in Summer?

Insects
Bumblebee asleep on Jerusalem artichoke (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

7 August 2023

If you’re not on X formerly-known-as-Twitter, you missed this very informative thread about the reason why native bumblebees sleep on flowers in July (and August).

The thread was posted on 22 July by The Bee Guy @the_beeguy, Paul Handrick, in which he described the behavior of wild bees in late summer. It catapulted him to fame and prompted an article in The Irish Times about The Bee Sanctuary of Ireland, founded by Handrick and his wife Claire-Louise Donelan. It’s the only wild bee sanctuary on the planet.

Handrick’s information is very timely and, because I have yet to find it anywhere else, I have embedded @the_beeguy’s thread below. The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is in flux so I don’t know how long his thread will be available. (I have noticed that it can take a while for the tweets to come in.) Read it while you can! It’s worth it.

And have a look at The Irish Times: The Wicklow couple with the world’s only wild bee sanctuary: ‘They are in trouble’.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons, tweets embedded from @the_beeguy)

Long Bowing in July

Bird Behavior, Peregrines
“The Kiss” Pitt peregrines Ecco and Carla touch beaks during a long bowing session on 30 July 2023 (snapshot from National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

6 August 2023

Each year the National Aviary falconcam at the Cathedral of Learning runs from February through July to cover the peregrine breeding season. Streaming ended on 31 July but just the day before, on 30 July, Ecco and Carla bowed for a long time at the nest and Carla occasionally ate some gravel. (*more information on gravel below)

The entire bowing session lasted 8 minutes but they paused a lot so I sped up the video to double-time. At 3 minutes in, it looks as if Carla has left but she’s merely off camera. As she comes close again Ecco resumes e-chupping and bowing. Finally Carla flies away and Ecco stands up straight to watch her leave.

video from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh, 30 July 2023

Though the bowing looks like courtship they won’t be starting a family anytime soon. Ecco and Carla live at the Cathedral of Learning all year long and bow to strengthen their pair bond, even in July.

The pair is generally less active in the summer but they’ll perk up when fall migration begins in earnest as they watch birds flying south over Oakland.

You can still see them at the nest — if they’re there — via the snapshot camera.

(*) Carla swallows bits of gravel to help her digestion. Here’s why:

How Birds Chew

(photo and video from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Literally Outside My Window

Insects, Spotted Lanternflies, Weather & Sky
Sunrise with mammatus clouds, Pittsburgh, 29 July 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

5 August 2023

Some amazing things were quite literally outside my window last week.

Above, nearby thunderstorms at sunrise on 29 July produced these ominous mammatus clouds.

Two days later a complete rainbow with purple arcs filled the sky. The purple is too faint to see in this photo.

Rainbow in Pittsburgh, 31 July 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

It was also a week of large flying insects.

Larger elm leaf beetles (Monocesta coryli) have been flying by 60 feet above the pavement. This one rested on my window.

Larger elm leaf beetle, 29 July 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

And spotted lanternfly adults (Lycorma delicatula) fly higher than you’d think. Their numbers increased dramatically in the past week.

Spotted lanternfly outside my window, 2 August 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

No one’s talking about wildfire smoke but something was causing Code Orange air on Thursday. Air quality improved long before sunset.

Sunset, 3 August 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

(photos by Kate St. John)

In the Deep a Plastic Bag Floats By

Water and Shore
Coral community at Shostakovich Seamount (photo from NOAA Deep Sea Symphony project)

4 August 2023

Except for a few scientific probes, we humans know almost nothing about the deep sea, yet remote as it is it contains human evidence. Even in the deepest sea a plastic bag floats by.

Meanwhile, because the sea floor has no owner, mining companies are chomping at the bit to extract minerals from the deep sea in the absence of any rules to protect it. The companies claim the minerals to be used in electronics would mitigate climate change (really?) but what will the mining damage?

Last month the International Seabed Authority (ISA) met in Jamaica to discuss potential rules to allow deep sea mining. In the end they deferred the decision until next year. This video explains why the topic is so ‘hot’ right now and the potential dangers.

video embedded from China Global Television Network (CGTN) Europe

For a lengthy explanation see this 2021 video from the Economist: Mining the deep sea: the true cost to the planet.

(*) The deep sea floor has no “owner” because in international waters it is owned by all of us.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons, tweet and video embedded)

Tomorrow is International Owl Awareness Day

Birds of Prey, Books & Events
Great horned owl, Frick Park, April 2019 (photo by Steve Gosser)

3 August 2023

Every year August 4 is International Owl Awareness Day. Here are some owls to get you ready for tomorrow.

The three owls pictured here live in Pittsburgh’s city parks but are hard to find in August. The best time of year to see a great-horned owl, above, is in late winter or early spring. Steve Gosser photographed this one in Frick Park in April 2019.

Though barred owls have nested successfully in Frick Park, I didn’t see any this year. In July 2022 two youngsters ventured further from their parents at dusk, photographed by Charity Kheshgi.

Young barred owls, Frick Park, July 2022 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

This roost on the main trail in Schenley Park was the best place to find an eastern screech-owl in winter, but it has not been used for several years. Nowadays listen for angry songbirds to tell you about the owls. They told me where to find a young eastern screech-owl in early June.

Eastern screech-owl, Schenley Park (photo by Benjamin Haake)
Eastern screech-owl, Schenley Park, March 2016 (photo by Benjamin Haake)

Last week I mentioned the Eurasian eagle-owl, Flaco, who lives in Central Park, NYC.

This video history describes Flaco’s early days after he escaped from his enclosure last winter. He’s been thriving ever since.

video by BrutAmerica embedded from YouTube

p.s. If you’re in Houston, Minnesota visit the International Owl Center for special programs tomorrow.

(photos by Steve Gosser, Charity Kheshgi and Benjamin Haake)

What Makes a Tiger Successful? Personality Helps

Mammals
Siberian tiger at Zürich Zoo (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

2 August 2023

The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is the largest tiger subspecies and one of the most endangered animals on the planet. It nearly went extinct in the 1940s due to habitat loss and poaching, but conservation efforts in Russia allowed the population to increase to 400-500 in the wild. This map shows how their range contracted from the 1800s to the 2010s.

Range of the Siberian tiger in the 1800s (pink) and the 2010s (red) – map from Wikimedia Commons

Saving the tigers requires knowing more about them but there are so few in the wild and they are so spread out that studying them would be too intrusive.

Instead a recent study of the dispositions of tigers interviewed the caretakers of 248 semi-wild tigers living in two large wildlife sanctuaries in northeastern China. The goal was to learn the the tigers’ personality traits, the traits that work well and those that don’t.

The research team invited more than 50 feeders and veterinarians to fill out questionnaires with lists of 67 to 70 adjectives that described tiger personality traits for each cat in their care. These words ranged from “savage” and “imposing” to “dignified” and “friendly.” The researchers designed the questionnaires to mimic human personality tests.

… Two distinct personality types emerged that accounted for nearly 40% of the tigers’ behaviors. Tigers that scored higher on words such as confident, competitive, and ambitious fell under what the researchers labeled as the “majesty” mindset. Those that exhibited traits such as obedience, tolerance, and gentleness were grouped together under the “steadiness” mindset. Together, these two personalities explained 38% of the behavioral differences displayed by the tigers in the study.

— Science Magazine: Tigers have distinct personalities according to big cat questionnaire

The study then matched the personality ratings of the individual cats to their success in life. “Based on their weights and eating habits, the tigers with majesty mindsets were generally healthier than those with steadiness personalities. They hunted more, mated more often, had more breeding success and appeared to have a higher social status than the steadiness tigers.” — Science Magazine

So for most of the tigers it comes down to Majesty …

Siberian tiger at (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

or Steadiness.

Siberian tiger at Duisberg Zoo (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Understanding their personalities will ease tiger-human interactions in the wild.

BONUS! When I researched this article I learned there are more tigers in captivity in Texas than in the wild. According to some estimates, there are 2,000 to 5,000 tigers in Texas compared to 3,900 in the wild (total of all tiger subspecies).

Compared to most other states Texas has generous (some say “lax”) wildlife-as-pets laws. Pet tigers are supposed to be registered in Texas and the owner must carry $100,000 in liability insurance but the number of registered tigers is lower than the actual number that live in the state.

For instance, take the Bengal tiger who roamed the streets of West Houston in May 2021. Houston is one of the few places in Texas where pet tigers are illegal so of course the 9-month-old tiger, named India, was not registered. The tiger caused a stir after he jumped out of his enclosure and walked around the neighborhood. The owner bundled him into an SUV and drove away, evading police (mistake! The owner was out on bond in a murder case). Eventually the wife turned over the tiger to police and it was given safe haven at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch where there are other tigers. Read all about it in the Houston Chronicle: Everything we know about the tiger seen roaming a west Houston neighborhood.

p.s. What was it about escaped wild animals 2021? Three months later 3 zebras escaped in Maryland.

(photos and maps from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

Hummingbirds Know How to Stay Sober

Bird Behavior, Songbirds
Anna’s hummingbird at a feeder (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

1 August 2023

Fermentation happens in the wild when sugars in fruit are exposed to yeast and bacteria on the skin. A crack in the skin starts the process, then animals consume it with sometimes hilarious results. Groundhogs and squirrels fall over. Waxwings get so loopy they cannot fly.

Nectar ferments, too, which prompted UC Berkeley biologist Robert Dudley to wonder how hummingbirds react to it. Do they like it or avoid it? Do hummingbirds get drunk?

Dudley’s study, published this June in Royal Society Open Science, concludes that hummingbirds indeed drink fermented sugar-water but they drink responsibly. Hummingbirds know how to stay sober.

Anna’s hummingbird at feeder, Vancouver Island (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Dudley tasked several undergraduate students with experimenting on the hummers visiting the feeder outside his office window to find out whether alcohol in sugar water was a turn-off or a turn-on. All three of the test subjects were male Anna’s hummingbirds (Calypte anna), year-round residents of the Bay Area.

They found that hummingbirds happily sip from sugar water with up to 1% alcohol by volume, finding it just as attractive as plain sugar water, but they sip only half as much when the sugar water contains 2% alcohol. …

“They burn the alcohol and metabolize it so quickly. Likewise with the sugars. So they’re probably not seeing any real effect. They’re not getting drunk,” he added.

— UC Berkeley press release, Hummingbirds drink alcohol more often than you think

Hummingbirds regulate their alcoholic intake. This stupefied Bohemian waxwing, reeling from too much fermented fruit, needs to have a conversation with them.

Bohemian waxwing drunk on fermented fruit at Novosibirsk (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

p.s. Want to learn more about hummingbirds and see them being banded and in the hand? Come to Hummingbird Day on Saturday 19 August 2023, 9a-noon at

Powdermill Nature Reserve
1795 Route 381
Rector, PA 15677

Click here for event information and free registration. I’ll be there. More news later.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

Horsenettle and Cuckoos: Yesterday at Frick Park

Books & Events, Plants & Fungi, Songbirds
Horse nettle at Frick Park, 30 July 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

31 July 2023

Yesterday morning’s walk at Frick Park had great weather, lots of participants and good birds.

Members of the Frick Park outing on 30 July 2023 (photo by Joe Fedor who held my phone-camera)

Early in the walk we encountered horsenettle (Solanum carolinense), pictured above, whose flowers are similar to those of its relatives in the Solanaceae or Nightshade family including tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant (called aubergine in the UK). Though it’s not a nettle, its common name refers to the thorns on its leaves. Did you know the leaves smell like potatoes when crushed? Thorns prevent me from trying this.(*)

Best Birds were a very cooperative yellow billed cuckoo and an elusive green heron. The cuckoo posed for us, the green heron zoomed away. Later the heron zoomed in and landed above us near a second green heron. Two!

In the Nine Mile Run valley I marveled at this confluence of a muddy tributary with the main stem of Nine Mile Run. This, in microcosm, is like the confluence of the clear-running Allegheny with the muddy Monongahela River at The Point.

Main stem of Nine Mile Run (clear) is joined by a tributary, 30 July 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Our eBird checklist is here and shown below.

Frick Park–Nine Mile Run, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Jul 30, 2023 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM
1.75 miles, 24 species, 17 participants

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) 2 Good looks at one of them
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 1
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 2
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 3
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 5
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 3
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 5
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 3
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 2 Youngster chasing an adult for food
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 3
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 5
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 5
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 12
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 3
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) 1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 7
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) 4
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 2
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) 1 Female seen briefly
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 7
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) 3

(photos by/for Kate St. John)

(*)NOTE: This just in! An article about edible Nightshades in The Guardian includes potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jul/31/the-truth-about-nightshades-four-online-myths-about-potatoes-tomatoes-and-aubergines.)

On Cape Cod It’s Always Shark Week

Fish, Frogs, Water and Shore
Great white shark, South Africa (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

30 July 2023

This may be the last day of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel but on Cape Cod it runs all year. A new study published this week in Marine Ecology Progress Series tagged and counted great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and found that 800 individuals visited the area from 2015 to 2018. That means Cape Cod may have the highest density of white sharks in the world.

Fortunately all the sharks weren’t there at the same time. As lead author Megan Winton of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) explains, great white sharks are highly migratory. Their population peaks on the Cape from July to November when the water is warm, as shown in this screenshot from AWSC’s logbook for 2022. Individual sharks spend a few hours or a few weeks in the area. (Click here to see AWSC’s shark data and download their shark app.)

AWSC white shark logbook by month for 2022 (screenshot from AWSC)

The sharks are attracted to the Cape by the abundance seals, one of their favorite foods. A Google Haul Out survey of southeastern Massachusetts estimated maximum counts of gray seals at 30,000 to 50,000 animals in 2012 to 2015. Harbor seals arrive in the fall and add to the seal population. No wonder sharks show up. Gray seals provide a lot of meat, weighing as much as 800 pounds.

Gray seals at Nantucket NWR (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Gray seals at a haul out in Nantucket NWR (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

During our recent trip to Cape Cod I saw lots of seals at Chatham Fish Pier. Several swam by the fishing boats but the vast majority were hauled out on a sand bar across the harbor. See that lumpy line of gray blobs? Those are gray seals.

Gray seals line the edge of the sand bar across from Chatham Fish Pier on Cape Cod, 12 July 2023 (photo by Richard St. John)
Gray seals line the edge of the sand bar across from Chatham Fish Pier on Cape Cod, 12 July 2023 (photo by Richard St. John)

While on the Cape I didn’t see any sharks but I did see a No Swimming shark sign at Race Point. I was looking for birds and, as it turns out, diving seabirds give the hint that a shark may be nearby. Both feed on schools of fish, the birds from above, the sharks from below.

The abundance of sharks and seals in Cape Cod’s waters is an environmental success story. Gray seals were almost extinct in U.S. waters by the mid 20th century because of bounty hunting in Maine and Massachusetts from the late 1800s to 1962. The seal population began to recover, slowly, when the bounties ended. Sharks made a comeback because of the seals.

Learn more in this ABC News interview with lead author Megan Winton of Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

video embedded from ABC News on YouTube

p.s. Well, technically, it’s only Shark Week for 5 months on Cape Cod — mostly from July to November.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons and by Richard St. John, graph is a screenshot of AWSC’ logbook website; click on the links to see the originals)