What to See This Week

The Arboretum has several species of katydid, many of which are impressive leaf mimics. Katydids are related to grasshoppers but a few things set them apart. Katydids have much longer antennae, sometimes longer than their body! They are also most active at night when you can hear their “katy-did” call.

These little pits were all over in some soil near the Visitors Center. They don’t look like much but these pits were built by antlion larvae. Antlions are insects that look similar to damselflies but are not closely related. The larvae sit at the bottom of the pits they dug beneath the surface completely hidden. Small insects walk too close and slide into the trap and straight into the antlion’s jaws.

Blewits are a fall mushroom that are both beautiful and edible. They have a purple hue and very closely spaced gills. The best way to confirm identification for blewits as well as many other species of mushroom is to take a spore print.

Black walnuts have plenty of nuts sitting on the tree with some ripening and beginning to fall. Black walnut husks do not split while hickory nuts naturally split into 4 clean pieces.

In the Deep Woods this perfectly neat and circular spider web was illuminated by the sun. These familiar, wheel-shaped webs are built by orb-weaver spiders.

Virgin’s bower is beautiful in flower but remains interesting into the fall. The developing seed heads will eventually become more feathery and be able to be dispersed by wind.

While in some natural areas this time of year like Dutch Fork Wetlands and the Red Barn Reserve, you may run into arrowleaf tearthumb. This plant grows quickly and has beautiful fall color but it is best to avoid touching it! Tearthumb has many sharp barbs covering the stems all pointing downward. 

This week includes another New England Aster just to show off the natural color variation that these wonderful fall-blooming wildflowers have. While purple is the most commonly seen, running into a plant with pink blooms is always exciting.