The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs: Discover Amazing Butterflies, Moths, Spiders, Dragonflies, and Other Insects!
144
The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs: Discover Amazing Butterflies, Moths, Spiders, Dragonflies, and Other Insects!
144eBook
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Overview
This fun book will have kids bugging out! Explore the fascinating miniature world of spiders, beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies, and more as stunning photography combines with expert information to create an up-close-and-personal look at the hidden lives of these tiny backyard residents. Watch each creature progress through different life stages as they eat, grow, and learn in a natural setting. Surprising and captivating, this one-of-a-kind introduction to the crawlers and flyers just outside the door is a delight for nature lovers of all ages.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781603427074 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Storey Publishing, LLC |
| Publication date: | 06/30/2011 |
| Sold by: | Hachette Digital, Inc. |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| File size: | 23 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Judy Burris is the co-author of The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs and The Life Cycles of Butterflies. She and her brother and co-author, Wayne Richards, have spent many years observing, raising, and photographing the amazing lives of insects in their own backyards in Erlanger, Kentucky.
Judy Burris and Wayne Richards, a brother-sister author team, have been intrigued with butterflies since they were children. They have spent many years observing, raising, and photographing these miraculous creatures. Judy and Wayne live in Erlanger, Kentucky.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Every living thing progresses through a series of developmental stages, or life cycles, as it grows and matures. Plants begin as seeds, mushrooms as spores, insects and animals as eggs. It's easy to overlook these tiny first stages of life unless you know what time of year to look, where and how to search, and what to look for.
Once you start paying attention to the many lives being lived all around you, you probably won't want to stop! Every year we feel a sense of wonder as healthy vegetables grow from the tiny seeds we sprinkle. We're fascinated by the fragile seedlings we nurture as they become tall sunflowers, providing food for songbirds, squirrels, and chipmunks. Again and again we're filled with awe and astonishment when we witness a metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis and then watch a butterfly emerge and take flight.
You can begin your discovery of life cycles by just looking outside.
SEASONAL Cycles
You may not have thought of it this way before, but every garden — whether it's a tiny city park, a roof garden, a big backyard, or a thousand-acre farm — goes through life-cycle stages. Each season affects it in a different way, creating a separate and unique identity and purpose.
1 In spring, plants, insects, and animals that have been dormant through the winter awaken as the days get longer and warmer.
2 The summer garden comes alive with creatures hunting for food and raising their young. Plants and trees produce leaves and flowers that help feed hungry caterpillars, rabbits, and deer.
3 In the fall, as daylight hours begin to wane, chlorophyll gradually disappears from plant and tree leaves, revealing vibrant reds, oranges, and golds. Some insects migrate; others prepare for their own kind of hibernation.
4 In winter, most plants drop their leaves, and trees and perennial plants send nutrient-rich sap down to their roots for storage. Insects store sugar in their bodies that acts like antifreeze in their blood, preventing their cells from bursting and keeping them alive during cold weather. Insects that overwinter in their adult form, such as ladybugs, find a sheltered area and hide there until spring.
PLANT LIFE Cycles
The broad seasonal changes that go on in every garden are easy to see. But each plant also has its own developmental stages that you can discover when you look more closely.
1 Seed. Every flowering plant begins as a seed. Each seed contains an embryo.
2 Germination. Water causes the seed to swell and germinate, bursting out of its hard coating. Oxygen gives the seed energy until its leaves develop.
3 Growth of shoots and roots. The stem and seed leaves push upward toward light. Roots push downward, absorbing water and nutrients and anchoring the plant.
4 Flower development. The plant gradually shifts its emphasis from stem and leaf growth to reproduction, developing flowers.
5 Pollination. Pollen grains contain male genetic information, equivalent to sperm. Insects transfer pollen from one flower to another. If pollen is deposited on the receptive female part, called the pistil, the flower is fertilized and produces seeds.
6 Seed development. Seeds grow inside the pistil, which eventually becomes the seedpod or fruit.
Protect Those Pollinators!
More than 80 percent of the world's flowering plants need insects or animals for pollination, the process by which plants reproduce. Bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, and flies are some of the best insect pollinators there are. Bats and hummingbirds are also very valuable for pollination. Without these insects and animals, production of fruits, vegetables, and nuts — foods we depend on to survive — would be threatened.
That's why we always encourage people to garden responsibly. Here are two important ways to protect the pollinators in your garden.
LIMIT OR DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF INSECTICIDES. Some of these poisons can kill not only the targeted insect pests they were formulated to eliminate, but also butterflies, honeybees, and other vital pollinators. Insecticides can make all parts of a plant toxic, including the nectar.
AVOID FILLING YOUR GARDEN WITH HYBRID PLANT SPECIES. Many hybrid flowers are genetically altered or selectively bred to produce certain colors, bloom sizes, or other traits. Unfortunately, this may result in flowers that have no pollen, nectar, or fragrance — the very things that insects and hummingbirds require.
Honeybees can fill the pollen baskets on the sides of their hind legs in just a few minutes. They bring the pollen back to their nest to use in making honey.
Many insects transport pollen from one plant to another as they search for nectar. The transfer of pollen enables the plants to make seeds.
SOIL LIFE CYCLES
Believe it or not, even the soil in your garden has a life cycle. The more you understand it, the better soil you'll have, and the better gardener you're likely to be. By "soil," we mean topsoil, the layer of earth that contains the nutrients and organic materials needed to produce vigorous, healthy plants. Many life-forms play a role in producing topsoil.
1 A plant dies.
2 Microbes move in. The decomposition process begins immediately. Microbes are microscopic organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, that attack and break down organic matter.
3 Decomposers go to work. Insects, snails, slugs, and worms also work on the dead plant, helping decompose it as it passes through their digestive tracts.
4 Water and warmth contribute. Rainfall and warm temperatures support and speed the decomposition process.
5 The plant becomes soil. Separated into various nutrients and organic particles, also called compost, the plant is now completely broken down.
6 The soil supports new life. Compost enriches the soil for future plants, and the cycle continues.
Earthworms ingest plant matter and produce mineral-rich excretions, called casts, that make soil more fertile.
Mushrooms are supported by an underground network of filaments called the mycelium. Resembling roots, the mycelium absorbs nutrients by secreting enzymes to assist in the decomposition of dead plants, fallen leaves, and trees. This in turn helps living plants absorb more water and nutrients from the soil through their roots.
Composting Companions
Composting in your backyard is a good way to manage decomposition and create a nutrient-rich soil enhancer to use in your garden. Compost releases its nutrients slowly and is an ideal additive to sandy or clay-heavy soils. We lay fallen leaves, grass clippings, and weeds we've pulled — those that have not yet formed seeds — around our garden plants. As earthworms, insects, and fungi begin to break them down, we gently work them into the soil.
Pill bugs (also known as sowbugs, woodlice, and roly-polies) are crustaceans that feed on dead plant matter, then return nutrients to the soil.
Snails and slugs also contribute to your garden's decomposition process by eating plants, algae, and decaying plant material. Land species have a tonguelike mouthpart, called a radula, that is covered with lots of microscopic teeth. The radula scrapes the food like a fingernail file.
LIFE CYCLES OF INSECTS AND SPIDERS
There are more than 100,000 insect species in North America and more than 3,000 spider species. That means there's probably a lot of bug life to observe in your garden, whether it's a showcase of beds and borders or a small vegetable patch.
All these creatures go through several stages of growth during a complete life cycle. Some undergo simple or incomplete; others go through complete metamorphosis. Depending on which stage it's in when you find it, it can be difficult to tell the creature's final form. We've taken hundreds of photographs of insects and spiders in different life-cycle stages. You can use them to help you identify the creatures in your own garden, or choose plants that will attract the insects and spiders you prefer. (For more information about host plants, see pages 119–122.)
EGGS
The adult Stink Bug lays her eggs in groups.
ADULT
The adult Stink Bug uses its piercing mouthpart to feed on flower buds.
NYMPH
The Stink Bug nymph has small undeveloped wings.
Incomplete Metamorphosis
Incomplete metamorphosis has three stages: egg, nymph, and adult. Spiders, praying mantids, leafhoppers, and grasshoppers all go through incomplete metamorphosis. The female adult lays her eggs, usually in a mass and often covered by an egg case for protection. The eggs hatch into nymphs, which look like small adults and eat the same food as the adults. The nymphs slowly and steadily transform into the adult stage.
1 Eggs. The eggs are generally laid in a protected place with a ready food source.
2 Nymphs. The nymphs shed their skin generally 4 to 8 times (20 times for some insects) as they grow, but they always look like smaller versions of the mature adults.
3 Adults. Adults are larger, sometimes with better-developed wings. Adults do not molt.
Complete Metamorphosis
Complete metamorphosis has four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The female adult lays her eggs either singly or in groups, and the eggs hatch into larvae, which often look like worms. Other names for larvae are caterpillars (butterflies and moths), grubs (beetles), and maggots (flies). When they reach a certain size, the larvae stop eating and molt one more time. They may spin a protective silk cocoon, find a place to hide, or burrow into soft soil and then shed their skin to reveal the pupa stage, during which they transform into adults with wings.
1 Egg. As with incomplete metamorphosis, insects lay their eggs in a protected place near a food source.
2 Larva or caterpillar. Active and hungry, insects at this stage can be destructive to human crops, structures, and belongings (Monarch butterfly caterpillars are not destructive, however). They shed their skin as they grow.
3 Pupa. During this stage, the insect doesn't feed or move around much, and it is often protected by a chrysalis shell or silk cocoon.
4 Adult. The adult insect emerges from its protective shell and looks completely different from the larval or pupal stage.
CHAPTER 2
THE SECRET LIVES OF INSECTS AND SPIDERS
No matter where you live, insects and spiders live there too: in your garden, in your home, all around you. You might be tempted to think of these creatures as either "good" or "bad." Butterflies are beautiful and harmless and therefore must be "good"; Black Widow spiders are venomous and are therefore "bad." But try to remember that all are part of a healthy and balanced garden.
In the pages that follow, you can take a peek at the secret lives of some of the more common and easy-to-find garden dwellers. Their habits and skills are fascinating. We think that the more you know about them, the more you'll appreciate the interconnectedness of all living things.
Some spiders eat their damaged web and build a new one every day.
This Goldenrod Soldier Beetle is an insect, but not a true bug.
INSECT, BUG, OR WHAT?
Some people use the words insect and bug interchangeably, while others use bug to mean any tiny crawling thing with more than two legs. Let's try to set the record straight before we go any further!
An insect is an animal with a hard outer skeleton, called an exoskeleton, and a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae.
A bug or true bug is a common name for the insect order called Hemiptera, meaning "half wings." Cicadas, aphids, Water Striders, Bedbugs, lacewings, and Stink Bugs are all examples of true bugs. All true bugs have mouthparts that enable them to pierce plant fibers, insects, or animal skin and suck their juices. Thus, all true bugs are insects but not all insects are true bugs.
Spiders are neither insects nor true bugs; they are arachnids. Nearly all arachnids have eight legs and two body divisions, and they never have antennae or wings.
There, does that help?
A Stink Bug is an insect, but it is also a true bug.
This is a garden spider, an arachnid.
About Beetles
Beetles make up more than a third of all known insect species. There are hundreds of thousands of beetle species, in seemingly infinite variations of shapes and colors, all over the world.
All beetles have chewing mouthparts; some eat plants; some are predators of insect pests; some are scavengers of animal and plant debris; and others are beneficial pollinators of flowers and crop plants. They're also a good source of food for birds, animals, and other insects.
All beetles go through complete metamorphosis: their larvae don't look at all like their adult forms, and all go through a pupal stage before emerging, transformed. All adults have hardened wings that cover the top of their body and meet in a straight line down their back.
GROUND BEETLES
Ground beetles live in damp habitats and are generally active predators at night. You can tell them from other beetles by the grooves etched on their wing covers. They eat worms, snails, and other insects.
The large, colorful Fiery Searcher Beetle (Calosoma scrutator), sometimes called the "caterpillar hunter," eats Gypsy moth caterpillars and Eastern tent caterpillars. Because these caterpillars are destructive to trees, the Fiery Searcher is very beneficial.
LEAF BEETLES
Leaf beetles spend their lives munching on various plants. We call them beneficial when they eat weeds; we call them pests if they nibble on our vegetables or prize roses. Leaf beetles are distinguished by their metallic, bright-colored elytra (hard front wings) and short antennae. They're generally very small, less than half an inch long.
The Dogbane Leaf Beetle is a small insect with shiny colors like metallic blue, green, and gold. It eats the leaves of dogbane and milkweeds.
LIGHTNING BUG
OTHER NAME: FIREFLY
Order: Coleoptera
By far the coolest bug in the garden, this glowing wonder brings back happy childhood memories. Do you see fewer of them these days? If so, it's probably because development is eating up their habitat.
Eggs
Each summer, females lay one brood just under the surface of the soil. The tiny white eggs — each about the size of a single numeral on a penny — hatch in a few weeks.
LARVA
When newly hatched, the larvae live and tunnel near the surface of the soil, eating slugs, worms, and snails. When disturbed, they curl up in a ball and play dead.
They grow slowly all summer and into the fall. Even when fully grown, they're usually too small to notice by chance.
PUPA
During the late fall the larvae stop eating, burrow deeper into the dirt, then hibernate. In the spring, they become active again, eating all they can and growing quickly, then form pupae when temperatures start to rise.
ADULT
When warm summer weather arrives, the lightning bug emerges from its pupal shell.
At first the lightning bug is pale colored, and its delicate-membrane wings stick out from protective covers.
As they dry and harden, the outer wings develop their familiar black color. Their glow is bright and fully developed.
LADYBUG
OTHER NAMES: LADY BEETLE, LADYBIRD, LADYCLOCK, LADYFLY, LADYCOW
Order: Coleoptera
The ladybug is one of the best loved and most recognizable of all garden insects. There are more than 450 ladybug species in North America, and their shells, spotted and unspotted, can be yellow, pink, red, orange, or black. Ladybugs are favored by gardeners because both their larval and adult beetle forms gorge themselves on aphids, mites, scale insects, and other pests. Many cultures consider ladybugs good luck, and some believe that they are endowed with the ability to grant wishes.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs"
by .
Copyright © 2011 Judy Burris and Wayne Richards.
Excerpted by permission of Storey Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Preface,
Part One: INTRODUCTION,
Seasonal Cycles • Plant Life Cycles • Soil Life Cycles • Life Cycles of Insects and Spiders,
Part Two: THE SECRET LIVES OF INSECTS AND SPIDERS,
LIGHTNING BUG,
LADYBUG,
CLAVATE TORTOISE BEETLE,
FALSE POTATO BEETLE,
DRAGONFLIES,
DAMSELFLIES,
GREEN LACEWING,
HOVERFLIES,
STICK INSECTS,
CHINESE MANTID,
WASPS,
BEES,
ANTS,
GRASSHOPPERS,
KATYDIDS,
CRICKETS,
CICADAS,
APHIDS,
SPITTLEBUG,
STINK BUG,
LEAFHOPPERS,
AMERICAN COPPER,
AMERICAN SNOUT,
BALTIMORE CHECKERSPOT,
CLOUDLESS SULPHUR,
EASTERN BLACK SWALLOWTAIL,
HACKBERRY EMPEROR,
MONARCH,
MOURNING CLOAK,
SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER,
SPRING AZURE,
TIGER SWALLOWTAIL,
WILD INDIGO DUSKYWING,
CECROPIA MOTH,
IMPERIAL MOTH,
IO MOTH,
LUNA MOTH,
POLYPHEMUS MOTH,
PROMETHEA MOTH,
ROYAL WALNUT MOTH,
SNOWBERRY CLEARWING HUMMINGBIRD MOTH,
ISABELLA TIGER MOTH,
TOBACCO HORNWORM MOTH,
GIANT LEOPARD MOTH,
BLACK WIDOW,
Easy Comparison Guides,
Our Top Host and Nectar Plants,
Glossary,
Index,