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Northeast School of Botanical Medicine

Northeast School of Botanical Medicine

Northeast School of Botanical Medicine

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Delta spotted spiketail dragonfly

Delta spotted spiketail dragonfly

This is a photo of the insect galls made by the El

This is a photo of the insect galls made by the Elm-grass root aphid, also known as the elm sack gall aphid (Tetraneura ulmi). And here is its very complex life cycle.
When describing a lifecycle, one could start anywhere. For this aphid story, we will start in September, when the winged aphids fly to elm trees after leaving the roots of grasses from their previous stage. They now produce nymphs that feed on the Elm bark. The female aphid lays one egg that overwinters in the bark and hatches the following spring. Once hatched, the nymphs mature into a form called a fundatrix. These are a parthenogenic aphid meaning that they produce clones of themselves, or as another website put it, they are born pregnant (which is common for many aphid species).
These fundatrices feed on young leaves of most Elm species. (Note that their species name is ‘ulmi’ and Ulmus is the genus of Elms.) Feeding on these leaves causes them to eventually form the pink sack that you can see in the photo. Inside of these sacks (galls) the aphids give birth to a new nymph brood. These new aphids continue to live inside the galls and give birth once again to a new generation of aphids, which have wings. (We are up to 5 life cycles). When the gall opens, these winged aphids fly to a number of grass species and burrow down and feed on their roots (hence the name ‘Elm-grass root aphid’). They then produce the next generation of aphids which look very different from any other, sort of like a small orange balloon blob. At this stage, the aphids are farmed by ants, though the ants also eat many when they emerge as winged adults (stage 7 or so). The winged aphids then fly back to the elm trees around September to lay the next generation. Quite a lifecycle.
While they cause the Elm leaves to have an unsightly appearance (I find them intriguing), they do not usually cause any harm to the tree.
I opened a few of these galls, and you can see about 5-7 small (1-2 mm) winged aphids crawling inside (if you have a magnifying glass).
I gleaned much of this information from the NC State Extension website.
I hope you were able to follow the information and enjoyed this aphid experience.

There are ticks about, please check yourself at le

There are ticks about, please check yourself at least once a day, probably right before going to sleep. Get a small strong flashlight and shine it on you to help contrast the ticks against your skin when checking.
This is the nymph stage of the Deer (Black-legged) tick. They can transmit the Borrelia bacteria that causes Lyme disease. See how tiny they can be at this stage? The other photo is an enlargement of the same tick.
Enjoy the outdoors, but please be cautious.
~7Song, Ithaca, NY. June 8, 2021

My good friend Bevin and her young’ins came to v

My good friend Bevin and her young’ins came to visit for a few days. It was great to catch up with Bevin (we’ve known each other over 25 years) and to re-meet the kids. This is a photo of Cassia with an Eastern comma butterfly that we released from my home. June 7, 2021

Eastern comma butterfly (Polygonia comma). June 7,

Eastern comma butterfly (Polygonia comma). June 7, 2021

Pearl crescent butterfly. Brooktondale, NY. June 2

Pearl crescent butterfly. Brooktondale, NY. June 2, 2021

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7Song, Director
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