05-01-15 Phenology Field Note

05-01-15 Phenology Field Note

May 1, 2015

Rebecca Durham's phenology field note shows polinators, a myriad of flowers, and textured crustose lichen.

MPG Field Note Spring flowers, insects, and soil crust April 30, 2015 Rebecca Durham

A hairy spotted insect investigates shooting star (Dodecatheon pulchellum).

Something took a chunk out of this prairiesmoke flower. A small black beetle moved inside, though it’s unlikely that this tiny bug bored the hole. (Geum triflorum).

Diminutive blue-eyed Mary grows as one of the early annuals (Collinsia parviflora).

Puccoon petals show signs of insect browse (Lithospermum ruderale).

Bitterbrush seedlings burst from a cache (Purshia tridentata).

As yellowbell fruits fatten, yellow petals wither to white (Fritillaria pudica).

Spring draba, a non-native ephemeral, forms squat flat fruits termed silicles (Draba verna).

This crustose lichen’s white body (thallus) and black fruiting bodies (apothecia) strike the eye (Rhizocarpon sp.).

A fly probes cut-leaf daisy’s ray flowers and finds reward (Erigeron compositus).

This caterpillar hides between two mounds of biological soil crust.

Rocky Mountain maple flowers emerge with the leaves, and blooms remain inconspicuous to an untrained eye. One blooming maple above Woodchuck Creek attracted many visitors in the few minutes I observed it, including a spotted beetle (above) and flies (below). (Acer glabrum)