Stephen's Backyard Creatures

Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar

2011-10-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Date Found: July 14, 2011

Common Name: Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar

Scientific Name: Manduca quinquemaculata

Found: In Finksburg, MD on my Mimi's tomato plant - one on the under side of a leaf, another on the stalk.

Fun Facts:

They live mostly in the Northern United States.

Commonly found in home gardens, and they attack tomato plants. They are also know to eat pepper plants, potatoes and eggplants.

Eggs are light-green in color and can be found on the top and bottom sides of leaves in the late spring.

It gets to be 3 1/2 - 4 inches as a full-grown adult.

Instead of building a cocoon, this caterpillar buries itself in the soil to pupate for 2 weeks. After that time, the Sphinx moth will surface, mate and lay eggs for round 2 that year. These second set of eggs will hatch and grow to adult, like their parents, but they will bury themselves and pupate over the winter. They will emerge as moths the in the spring.

Praying Mantis

2011-10-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

Date Found: October 17, 2011

Common Name: Praying Mantis

Scientific Name: Mantis religiosa

Found: On the screen of our back door, Hampstead, MD

Fun Facts:

It eats caterpillars, moths, flies, mosquitoes, bees.

The Praying Mantis can be found in meadows, on foliage and flowers in the Eastern US up to Ontario.

Mantids lay their egg sacks on sticks and twigs that are exposed above the snow. When the weather warms up in the late spring, all the eggs hatch. The tiny nymphs are carried away on the wind.

It's a Mystery!

2011-04-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

OK, two blogs in one day tells you that mom is helping out BIG time so I can get some playtime in. We're at my Mimi and Poppy's house in Finksburg, MD and look what Poppy found!

We don't know what it is yet because we found it already in it's chrysalis stage. Thankfully, my sister let me borrow her habitat to keep it in for now.

Here is what we do know - the rest will have to be added later.

Found: April 10, 2011 (by Poppy)
Cocoon location on a branch of Rosemary in the garden. You will have to check back to see if and when we solve this mystery!

Banded Woolly Bear

2011-04-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

This one will have stages and more pictures since it is a caterpillar. Also, the format may be different too as we try to show the different stages.

These two pictures are not our own.

Borrowed from http://tinkernaturepark.blogspot.com and http://wiseacre-gardens.com

Found: April 7, 2011

Common Name: Banded Woolly Bear Caterpillar

Scientific Name: Isia isabella

Found again in our backyard, in the grass, in Hampstead, MD. I brought this one inside, and mom let me keep it. After Google, we found out that it eats grasses and broad leaves, so I got a fist full of grass and a dandelion leaf. I put the caterpillar and grass in the habitat my Mimi gave me. Over night, it made itself a cocoon.

He choose to build his cocoon right up against the door of the habitat, so this was the best picture we could get. Chrysalis stage started Friday, April 9th. If it hatches, I will let you know, but here's a preview of the Isabella Tiger Moth that is should become if all goes well!

Borrowed from http://dailyapple.blogspot.com

Clicking this link will take you away from my blog - my info came from: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/activities/printouts/Woollybear.shtml

Destin, FL obsession - Coquina Clams

2011-04-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is me on the white sandy beach of Destin, Florida. I went here with my Mimi, Poppy, Uncle, mom and Sister in March of 2011. The water was still cold, and it was breezy, but that didn't stop me from playing at the edge. Here my sister and I found these little shell creatures. Mimi had a cup with her that I used. I filled the bottom with sand, added ocean water and my new treasures. Mom let me take my temporary habitat back to our room to see what would happen, and she took a few videos.

Found on: March 19, 2011

Common Name: Coquina Clams

Scientific Name: Donax variabilis

Found: while in Destin, FL along the edge of the water.

Fun Facts:

They vary in size from 10 - 25 mm. (about the size of a dime or penny).

Coquina are triangular in shape come in many colors, and their shells are hinged (known as bivalve).

Found along the beaches of the USA Atlantic Ocean and Gulf coasts.

They are filter-feeders, using siphons to eat - one celled alge, plant pieces in the sand, and detritus "(detritus is non-living particulate organic material. It typically includes the bodies or fragments of dead creatures as well as fecal material. Detritus is typically colonized by communities of microorganisms which act to decompose (or remineralize) the material". - courtesy of Wikipedia.

These little clams can be used for food - check out this video, found on youtube.com

EatTheWeeds: Episode 88

Mom will load her video of them in motion when she gets them off Mimi's computer, lol.
Clicking this link will take you from my blog - my information came from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/136997/coquina-clam

Red-backed Salamander

2011-04-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

Date Found: April 6, 2011

Common Name: Red-backed Salamander

Scientific Name: Plethodon cinereus

Found: This salamander was in the same place as the Black Salamander. In the back yard under a wet log and leaves that were left from Fall.

FUN FACTS:

This salamander grows to about five inches long.

Red-backed Salamanders lay their eggs in a cluster, like grapes, hanging underneath a rock or inside an old log. They are born looking like mini-salamanders, about an inch long.

Like the Black Salamander, the Red-backed Salamander has no lungs and breathes through its skin which must remain wet or moist at all times. It comes out after it rains to hunt for its food. They eat arthropods (animals with exoskeletons, jointed legs, and segmented bodies).

Salamanders help plants when they tunnel through the dirt, because it breaks up and mixes up the soil which allows the plants to get the nutrients easier.

Black Salamander

2011-04-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

Date Found: April 6, 2011

Common Name: Black Salamander

Scientific Name: Aneides flavipunctatus

Found: Under a piece of wood that was lying on the ground on top of wet leaves and mud.

FUN FACTS:

This salamander has no lungs. It breathes through its skin, and the tissues lining their mouths. They must keep these surfaces moist in order to respire, and so have to live in damp environments, such as beneath logs, in caves or in wet rock crevices, and only venture out in humid weather.

The Black Salamander lays its eggs on land. The babies are hatched full grown. They eat earthworms, slugs, snails, spiders and a variety of insects. They are nocturnal and hunt at night. In captivity, they can be fed crickets, earthworms and mealworms. They have 3 toes on the front feet and 4 toes on the back feet.

Be careful to wash hands before and after handling amphibians as they sometimes secrete poisons through their skin. It isn't poisonous to touch.