Why Not In My Back YardWhy Not In My Back Yard

MNHS Bird & Nature Walks are beginning again in April.

See page 4 for details

Snail-Killing Flies!

Public Is Invited

Spring 2004 Newsletter Spring 2004 Newsletter

Thursday, April 8, 7:00 PM Thomas Hall, Room 124, Marietta College Presenter: Keith Morrow Keith Morrow, Wildlife Management Supervisor with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is back to talk to us about threats posed by exotic animal species. He will be describing how exotic animal speciesdamage ecosystems and can transmit pathogens that threaten native species.

Thursday, May 13, 7:00 PM Thomas Hall, Room 124, Marietta College Presenter: Dr. Ben Foote Dr. Foote is a noted Dipteran expert and a retired entomologist from Kent State University. He will tell us about flies that attack slugs and snails on the forest floor; let’s learn more before we choose sides in this battle.

MMarietta arietta NNatural atural HHistory istory SSocietyociety

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Field Field Trip toTrip to

Al Parker, Education Director at The Wilds,will provide a behind the scenes look at TheWilds. Cost is $20 – MNHS will cover $10

of cost for members! Space is limited, socontact Marilyn Ortt (373-3372) by June 7 ifyou wish to go. This is a specially arranged

tour, so don’t miss out!

Thursday, June 10, 6:30 PM We’ll carpool from the

Hermann Fine Arts Center parking lot, Marietta College

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Marilyn Ortt Honored by Marietta College

Marilyn Ortt, MNHS Board member, was awardedthe Marietta College Community Service Award.The award recognized Marilyn’s numerous effortsto educate the Community about environmental

issues and natural history. These include over 10years of arranging monthly MNHS presentations,articles in the MNHS newsletter, columns in thelocal newspaper, and numerous other educational

programs. Congratulations Marilyn, from theMNHS!

Web ThreadsWeb Threads

Dinner with thespeakers

We will meet at 5:00 at the Levee House RestaurantCheck first with Diane (373-8031), Marilyn (373-3372) or Elsa (373-5285). to be sure speaker will be there. Members should make their own reservations.

Field of Physics Dreams. Baseball is us again. Well, mute the set and find out what’s really going on at AlanNathan’s Physics of Baseball website. A compendium of links and articles on the science of baseball. It’s all here – aerodynamics of the ball, the physics of pitching, acoustics of wood and aluminum bats – topics sure to occupy yourmind as the Yankees win (and the Bosox lose) another pennant. You can also learn why Sammy’s corked bat probablydid little more than get him in trouble with the Commissioner. Take a swing at http://www.npl.uiuc.edu/~a-nathan/pob/.

Invasive Fungus Decimates Butternut by Marilyn Ortt

Competition from non-native, invasive plant species areconsidered by professional land managers and rare speciesspecialists to be second only to outright habitat destructionas the reason that rare species are being driven closer toextinction. Recently, this column has dwelt on plant species thathave found living in an area with perfect climate with none ofthe predators, diseases, and other limitations of theirhomelands to be ideal for them – allowing them to out-compete native species that bear all those limitations.Few have not heard of the devastation zebra mussels arecausing native mussel species. Gypsy moth is anothernon-native species that has changed the composition ofmany forests as they have eaten a swathe from thenortheast. Some invasive species are even smaller - Sirococcusclavigignentii-juglandacearum is the name of the fungus thathas killed thousands of butternut trees. The humidity andrelatively low air movement along stream terraces, thenatural habitat of butternut trees, provide an ideal habitat forthis fungus that causes cankers to form on the roots, trunk,and limbs of the tree. The cankers cause girdling whicheventually will cause the death of the tree. This butternut-killer fungus, for lack of another commonname, apparently reached this country from Asia or Europe

on nursery stock. It was first discovered in Wisconsin in1967 and now occurs throughout the range of the butternuttree. A USDA book with a comprehensive treatment of treediseases published in 1971 does not even mention it. Because butternut grows in suchscattered locations and is not acommercial species, the gravity of itssituation was not quickly recognizedand the limited research and controlstrategies may be too late. Butternutwas placed on the FederalEndangered Species List as acandidate species in 1990. American elm and American chestnuthave fallen to exotic fungi, and it appearsthat butternut and dogwood may be following the samepattern. Meanwhile, it is more and more difficult to find abutternut tree let alone a healthy one. Butternut trees, Jug!ans cinerea, once grew asscattered individuals or in small groups on rich loamy soilson open stream terraces through the northern UnitedStates, westward to the Mississippi drainage. Althoughbutternut apparently was never a common forest tree, it iseven less so now. See Butternut, Page 4

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Heaven is under our feet as well as over ourheads. – Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)

Rare Venus Transit Visible This Spring On June 8, 2004, Venus can be observed to cross the face of the Sun – a Venus Transit.. This is among the rarest of planetary convergences – the lastoccurred in 1882, 120 years ago. The path of our sisterplanet will scribe a chord through the Sun’s southernhemisphere, and require just over 6 hours for thepassage. The entire transit is viewable from locations in theEastern Hemisphere, including regions near theMediterranean, the Middle East, and Africa. The easternpart of the U.S. including Ohio will be able to see only theegress of Venus, as it travels from the center of the Suntoward its edge. In our area, the transit will be visible from sunrise to around 11:00 AM. See Transit, page 4

May 2004 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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May-applesBegin

Blooming

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Eta Aquir-id MeteorShower

Peak

Mother'sDay

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CarolusLinnaeus

born 1707

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Dogwoods In Flower

Racoons And Skunks Bearing Young

Look For Ring-Necked Snakes Under Rocks

Box Turtles Laying Eggs

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VenusTransitsThe Sun

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Father'sDay

YuccasBloom

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Grey Squirrels Begin 2nd Breeding!

Chiggers Becoming Active -- Be WaryCrow Chicks Fledge

Daybreak Bird Songs At Their Peak

Peak Of Bullfrog Breeding

Hummingbirds Reach Peak Numbers

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-- Setclocksahead

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RedbudTrees In

Bloom

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JohnMuir's

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Carp and Bass Begin Spawning

Put Snow Shovel Away?

Look for Pendulous Flowers On Maples

Look For Emerging Swallowtail Butterflies

First Whip-Poor-Wills Calling

Scalet Tanagers Return From S America

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Suggestions, Comments orContributions for the Newsletter?

Send them to the Editor:625 5th St Marietta, OH 45750

Marietta City Bird WalksMarietta City Bird Walks. . . Will be starting again soon!

Tuesdays, 6:30 to 7:30 AM Leader: Lynn Barnhart

April 20 at Oak Grove Cemeterymeet near entrance to American Legion

April 27 at Jackson Park

meet in parking lot near pool

May 5 at Buckeye Parkmeet at picnic parking areaWear comfortable shoes and

dress for the weather. Binoculars

Frog’s ‘right’ of passage Large numbers of migrating frogs are a springobservance in many parts of Germany, and the little crittersrequire human assistance (often being carried in buckets) totraverse highways in order to reach their spawning grounds. Now Berlin is building special tunnels under a road thatrepresents a particular obstacle. The system will includelow walls that guide the frogs into 12 tunnels constructedunder the Schönerlinder Strasse, which lies within one ofthe city’s nature preserves. The money is coming fromtaxes earmarked for environmental protection, and theproject shows how the needs of wildlife can be addressedwith a reasonable amount of thought and effort.

Butternut, Con’t from page 2 The more common and better known black walnut,Juglans nigra, is a larger tree with dark bark and apparentlyis not affected by this fungus. Butternut bark has light-grayflat ridges between vertical fissures and an oval nutcompared to the more spherical black walnut. Theheartwood is light brown contrasting with the more familiardark wood of black walnut. The compound leaves are 14 to32" long, each with 11 to 19 oblong, fine-toothed leaflets 2to 3" long. A felt-like margin on the upper edge of the leafscar also helps separate it from black walnut. White walnut, as butternut is known in the south, wasan important mast tree for wildlife especially in thenorthern part of its range where black walnut does not grow.Butternut has been valued for paneling, furniture andcarving. Any healthy butternut tree should be reported to theState Heritage Program (in Ohio this is housed in theDivision of Natural Areas and Preserves, ODNR) so that itcan be mapped and protected as much as possible: Noteshould be made of its location (so that it can be relocated ifnecessary), habitat, estimated diameter at breast height,general health of the crown, and any sign the tree bore fruitthe past year. Since butternuts are not shade tolerant, disregard dead lower limbs which may have died because of shading. If there is no sign of canker, perhaps that specific tree has an effective resistance to the fungus and can be used as a seed source for reintroducing the species into appropriate habitats. Such efforts may provide the only hope butternuts will be part of our natural land-scapes in the future for squirrels and humans to enjoy.

Transit, Con’t from page 3 The venus transit can be observed by earthly observerswith a minimum of equipment. You can see Venus as adark spot moving across the Sun without the need formagnification, but you must use proper eye protection. Suitable eye protection include Number 14 Welder’s Glassavailable from welding supply outlets and aluminized mylarmanufactured for solar viewer (but not gardening mylar). Pinhole projectors are safe for indirect viewing, that is, byprojecting the image onto a surface. However, never look atthe sun directly through the pinhole. Well illustrated instructions for preparing and usingpinhole projectors can be found athttp://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/how.html. Muchabout safe solar viewing can also be found at the NASAEclipse Viewing Safety Website http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/safety2.html.

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Identification of insect galls on pages 6 and 7A – Spotted oak apple gall; Cynips centricola, waspB – Goldenrod stem gall; Eurosta solidaginis, flyC – Oak fig gall; Xanthoteras forticorne, waspD – Oak rosette gall; Cynips frondosa, waspE – Oak wool-sower gall; Callirhytis seminator, waspF – Maple Bladder gall; Phyllocoptes quadripes, miteG – Pine bud galls; Contarinia coloradensis, midge

Recent Acquisitions at the

Washington County Public Library

The BookWorm

Neil Boone. Mars Observer’s Guide. Firefly Books,Ltd. 2003. This book covers both the early history ofMars discovery and observation through recent orbitersand landers. There is a presentation of its generalplanetary characteristics and a guide to makingtelescopic observations by the amateur astronomer.

With NASA’s robotic explorers giving us the most detailed view yet of the surface and geology of Mars, andproviding the compelling evidence of a watery past, it is interesting to reflect upon some earlier notions onthis topic. The following is an article from a Marietta newspaper, dated June 26, 1888. Thanks to LynnBarnhart for providing this for us.

VIEWING THE RED PLANET

Speculations About the Canals in Mars and Their Builders

People who can obtain the privilege of looking at Marsthrough the Lick telescope should not neglect theopportunity. Several years have elapsed since thisremarkable planet could be seen to much advantage as atpresent, and it will be three years before we have an equalchance again. It has certainly never been examined througha telescope of such power as the monster reflector onMount Hamilton. It may be interesting to lover of astronomy to know thatthe eminent French astronomer M. Perrotini is engaged in aminute study of Mars, and that his discoveries confirm thoseof M. Schiaparilli in every particular. It seems actually truethat the longitudinal stripes which circle around the planetare bodies of water, which must, according to all laws ofprobability, be artificial. No one ever saw or conceived asystem of parallel rivers from 1,000 to 2,000 miles longand straight as plumb lines. Everything is possible, ofcourse, but such straight rivers it is impossible to reconcilewith the principle of cosmogony as we understand them. Onthis planet, at all events, nature abhors a straight line, and byanalogy it should do so on Mars. Yet, if these bodies of water are canals, as Schiaparillibelieved and Perrotin seems hardly to doubt, whatmonstrous works they must be. They are from fifty to eightymiles wide. Fancy the labor of digging such a canal, the timeit must have taken, and the number of workmen it musthave employed. The pyramids of Egypt are trifling incomparison. The Suez canal is 197 feet wide at the surface,and the Nicaragua somewhat wider. Our canals on this one-horse globe are considered long when they reach 100 milesin length. The Panama canal will be less than sixty mileslong. The canals of Mars reach a length of 2,000 miles, sayas far as from here to Omaha. What a traffic there must beto support such an enterprise! On the waterways of China,travelers describe the incessant ebb and flow ofmultitudinous crowds, but to require canals of suchdimensions as we have described, the movement of traffic inMars must be far more prodigious. In fact, they imply apopulation which almost staggers belief; considering that thevolume of the planet is only one-sixth that of earth, thediameter being 4,100 miles as against 8,000 miles, theywarrant the wildest conjectures as to the density with whichit may be peopled.

What manner of man lives in Mars, if there be menthere, has always been a favorable topic of speculation. Thelaw of gravitation tells us that he may be fourteen feet high,not such a son of Anak as the inhabitant of the asteroids, butstill one who would regard the Belgian giant as aremarkable dwarf. Possibly the enormous public works onMars may be explained on the theory that these tall fellowscan work in proportion to their stature that one citizen ofMars can shovel as much dirt as two and a half denizens ofthis world. Whether the grass on Mars is red, as the old astronomersaverred, modern telescopes have failed to decide. It is verydifficult to determine colors when an object lens collects300,000 times as much light as normally enters the humaneye. But the speculative astronomer is safe in asserting hisbelief that Martian cabbages are of the color of our beetroots, as no one can disprove the assertion.

[ Map in background is by Percival Lowell, 1895,Astronomer, Mars observer and believer in Martian lifeforms ]

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To have your house ...and eat it tooTo have your house ...and eat it too by Steven R. Spilatro

Among sciences conferred an “-ology” One discipline is quite an anomaly;A field over which few become frenetic; Unlike botany, zoology, and topics genetic;So much for dissertation and discourse; Yet a name for no college course;A wonder, a biological microcosm; Ignored in every curriculum;It’s galling; an offense festering inside of me; Why, that’s it! — Cecidology.

And that is the science of plant galls, those oddgrowths on plants familiar to many yet little understood. Unveiling the inner workings of plant galls requires ahighly interdisciplinary perspective, for plant galls are amarriage between different kingdoms of life. Thecharacteristics of plant galls are as distinctive andvaried as the different organisms from which thegalls arise. A plant gall is an abnormal outgrowth of planttissue in response to the activity of anotherorganism. The modified plant tissue, the gall,creates a shelter and nutritional supply for the incitingorganism. Plant galls can be induced by many types oforganisms, from single-celled microorganisms such asbacteria, viruses and fungi, to nematodes and insects.The galls produced are equally varied in sizeand form. This article will focus on the galls arisingfrom the interactions with insects. Many different insects are known to creategalls on many different plant species. One tally

found about 13,000 gall-forminginsects. The most common gall inducersare the tiny cynipid wasps, flies of theorder Cecidomyiidae (a name recognizingtheir gall-inducing propensity), midges,mites and aphids. The common galls seen on stems andleaves form around developing insect larvae. For example, the common goldenrod stem gallis induced by a fly called Eurosta solidaginis,named after the goldenrod genus, Solidago.The fly deposits an egg in the center of thestem, and as the larva develops, it inducesabnormal growth and enlargement of the stem.

The bulbous structure so created provides protection frompredators and nutrition for the developing insect. Insect galls can be found on most parts of the plant,including leaves, stems, bark, buds, and flower heads,

although they favor rapidly growingstructures — young leaves anddeveloping shoot tips. Often galls aregiven names that reflect their locationand appearance. Examples includeblister galls bubbling on a leafsurface, leaf-spot galls little thickerthan the leaf itself, bud galls on theplant termini, rock-hard bullet galls,and pouch galls of strategically foldedleaves. The interactions between insect and plant that generate

such a transformation are quite complex. It is nolonger believed that gall-inducing chemicals released bythe insect are solely responsible, though chemicalstimuli can be involved. Stimuli also can bemovements and feeding activities of the insect thatalter the characteristics of the adjoining plant cells. And so influenced, the plant cells themselves emithormonal signals to redirect development of thesurrounding plant tissue to form a gall.

Usually a gall does not completely obliterate theplant organ. More commonly, it is an exaggeration, a

perverse caricature of the original plant structure modifiedfor a new purpose. Goldenrod with the leafy bud gallappears to have produced leaves but forgotten to elongatethe intervening stem, whereas the goldenrod stem gallexpands this part of the plant bulb-like. Oak bullet galls are

woody as the stems on which they form. The response to some gall-formers is much moreextreme. A wool-sower gall suggests the effect ofRogaine on a plant stem. The oak apple gall — aname reflecting a vague semblance to an implausiblymisplaced fruit — has one of the most elaborate and

intriguing structures. Apple galls can be over an inch indiameter and form on leaves and stems of several

oak species. Initially translucent green in color,the gall becomes brown and dry after the founderdeparts. Remove the papery outer covering ofan apple gall and you will find innumerable fibersradiating from a central nucleus, the nursery of adeveloping wasp. An ordinary leaf transformed into ashrink-wrapped koosh ball — what else lies in thegenetic potential of a plant prompted by the rightstimulus? A gall is not a mutualistic symbiosis betweenplant and insect; the insect is a parasite of anunwilling plant host from which it draws nutrition. The larval chamber is often lined with a layer of‘nutritive cells’ that are consumed by thedeveloping insect. Such an arrangement is common for thegalls of cynipsid wasps. See Galls, page 7

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Galls, Con’t. Other insects induce the plant to secrete liquids rich inprotein and carbohydrate upon which they feed. Plants do not altruistically share these ‘bodily fluids’ withthe insect invader, though we might say that, evolutionarily,

many have learned to stop worrying and live with agall. One cecidologist has suggested that the

gall structure evolved to “isolate the gallinsect in time and space”, to assimilate itin a fashion least harmful to the plant.

The alternative might be the outrightmalevolence shown by voracious leaf-

eating caterpillars, wood borers andpathogenic fungi that dispassionatelyconsume and kill their hosts.

And gall-bearing plants pay a pricefor these free-loaders. Plants supporting

galls often show reduced productivity,stunted growth and diminished seedproduction. Indivi- dual leaves might be

observed supporting dozens of galls — hundredsof thousands for a large tree! But a balance

clearly is struck, for an insect that kills its host isbiting the proverbial hand. The lives of gall-inducing insects becomeirreversibly tied to the plants they inhabit, andtheir life cycles can be quite complex. Consider Biorhiza pallida, a wasp that inducesan oak apple gall. After emerging from thegalls in the spring, the adult wasps mate anddrop to the ground. Having served their solereason for existence, the males die, whereas thefemales burrow into the ground and deposit eggson tree roots. After hatching, the larvae induce a root gall inwhich they feed and develop for 2 or 3 years. All ofthese larvae develop into wingless, asexual females.After emerging from the ground in late winter, theseaerodynamically handicapped females must climb an oaktree and (without mating) lay eggs in a young bud. It is thelarvae from these eggs which later induce new leaf applegalls. The galls protect and provide nutrition for thedeveloping larvae until they again give rise to sexuallycompetent male and female adults to repeat the cycle. Apple galls are targets of squatters, parasites andpredators, as are many other types of galls. Many birdsknow what resides within a gall, and will tear into them forthe tender meal. Insects called inquilines take up residencein the galls, using them for shelter but otherwise leaving thewasp larva unmolested. In contrast, molesting the originalinhabitant is the goal and strategy of parasitic ichneumonwasps. These will lay eggs on the original gall-forming larva ,to consume it as food while using the gall as its own. Some galls support an ecological succession ofoccupants. Approximately sixteen insects have been foundin the oak galls first induced by Cynips quercusfolii, a

complex food web of inquilinesand predators, appearing in apredictable chronology over theseasons. Lack of biologicalinterest cannot explainthe dearth of Cecidologyin standard biologycurriculum. Possibly,little potential for profit-generating enterprise does. Careers in cecidology arescarce, either in harvesting theirbounty or suppressing theirgrowth. While severe infestations can disfigure valued ornamentaltrees, galls are not major threats to agriculture. Reports oftheir use as human food in historic or modern times arespotty at best. In the Near East, galls of the sage plant arereportedly used as a spice, but there are few descriptions ofother culinary uses. Probably this is because many gallsaccumulate tannins that afford a pungent taste discouraging

to animal and human consumers alike. Astringency does have its virtues. Medicinal handbooks dating back to the

Greeks and Romans recommend gall-derived balms for various ulcerations and hemorrhoids. Nevertheless, gall extracts are not likely to supplant the more modern salves. However, tannins of galls are historically notable for a more important use — as a

source of dyes and inks. The key constituent is gallotannic acid, which when allowed to react

with an iron-salt compound and mixed with othernecessary ingredients, forms a tenacious, durable

black ink. The Aleppo gall of oaks in Europe andwestern Asia was the favored raw material, lending Aleppo

Ink a name for the end product. Aleppo ink was the preferred medium for writing onparchment. Unlike modern papers which absorb ink,parchment was relatively impermeable. The acidity ofAleppo ink etched the surface of parchment, allowing theblack iron-gall pigment to better adhere. Chemical analysisof old manuscripts indicates that gall-derived inks wereused throughout much of recorded history. Pliny the Elderdescribed use of Aleppo ink during the first century AD. Itis found on manuscripts of DaVinci, compositions of Bach,drawings of Rembrandt, and the U.S. Constitution. Into theearly 20th Century, Aleppo ink was used by the USTreasury and Bank of England. With the introduction ofmodern papers and inks, the significance of Aleppo ink islittle remembered. If not Biology, might Cecidology 101 eventually find ahome in the History Department?[ Gall drawings are printed with permission of the New YorkState Museum, Albany NY 12230. See page 5 for gall

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The MNHS Missionii To foster awareness of and sensitivity to our environment and its biodiversityii To provide a place where people with these interests can gather for information and activityii To create a presence in our community representing these ideas

Marietta Natural History Society P.O. Box 1081 Marietta, Ohio 45750 (740) 373-5285