Eastern Tent Caterpillar

Eastern Tent Caterpillar web

While my naturalist training group was at Andorra Meadow in Roxborough, we took a walk through the meadows into a cool lush upland forest. The forest is located behind the Andorra Meadow area. This combination of meadow and forest side-by-side is an example of how the land of Philadelphia is naturally.

The forest that we walked through is, at most, 150 years old. I don't think many forests or woodlands in Philadelphia are much more than that. Slightly before that time, the settlers who came to this area went on a tree-cutting frenzy. And most of the trees in the state were cut down.

The forests that you see in the state are most likely to be second growth forest.

In the forest we saw the web of the Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum).  The female moth lays her black packets of eggs on twigs. After the caterpillars hatch, together the caterpillars weave these communal webs in the fork of tree branches. The caterpillars prefer trees of the Rose family. The web in the photo is a cherry tree, a member of the Rose family.

The Eastern Tent Caterpillar rarely eats all the leaves off the trees, like Gypsy Moths do.

This native moth gets a bad rap from people who unknowingly confuse it with the Gypsy Moth Caterpillar.

The Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) is a European insect brought over to New England as an alternative silk producing moth. The Gypsy Moths will eat all the leaves off trees, leaving the tree unable to produce food for itself. And the Gypsy Moth larvae don't weave the silken web that the Eastern Tent Caterpillars will.


Find more information at on Gypsy Moths at http://www.invasive.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=165 

Summer Solstice!

I know this sounds weird but "summer" is finally here. If you have read my Beltane post, you know how I feel about the Solstice.

Houston Meadow

Houston Meadow, Fairmount Park

My naturalist training group went to the Houston Meadow (also called Cathedral Meadow). The meadow is near Houston Playground between Cathedral Road and Bell's Mill Road in the Andorra section of the city.

The land in this section of the city is upland forest and riverine forest with natural patches of meadows where trees fall and open the forest canopy. 

The land that Philadelphia is in, is a patchwork of forests, meadows and wetlands. And more survives then most people think and less than what would be ideal. 

Indigo Dogbane Beetle on Dogbane

To find this natural meadow in the city of Philadelphia was a shock and a joy. We spotted a rare beetle, the Indigo Dogbane Beetle on Dogbane. The beetle is rare because the Dogbane plant is rare. And the beetle feeds on no other plant.

A nesting Box for an American Kestrel was placed in the meadow. This raptor needs open areas such as meadows to hunt in. I suspect if a Kestrel is nesting there that the meadow provides plenty of small mammals and insects to feed its young. If we had seen a Kestrel it would have been the perfect way to cap off the visit.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The meadow had many native grasses, flowers, native fruits and nuts. And Butterflies and Moths. Including Eastern Tent Caterpillar in the nearby forest, Silver Spotted Skipper, Cabbage White and Eastern Swallowtails in the Meadow. The butterflies certainly need the Meadow to survive and reproduce.

Houston Meadow has been a natural meadow for several hundred years. The Fairmount Park Commission removed many invasive and alien tree, shrub and plant species when it cleared and renovated the meadow this past spring. The meadow was expanded from about 15 acres to 47 acres. Good move. The species that require sunlight and open areas would not be able to survive in a shaded forest. This means no American Kestrels nesting in the city and less butterflies.

Visting Houston Meadow is a great nature-centered "Thing to do in Philadelphia".

I really look forward to leading groups and showing residents and visitors the natural wonders that lie within the city limits.  I look forward to the day Philadelphia is visited not just for the historic human-centered places, but also for the fascinating natural places.