A-6 • APRIL 9, 2012 • HALLS/FOUNTAIN CITY SHOPPER-NEWS
Loopers for lunch NATURE NOTES | Dr. Bob Collier
W
e had an uninvited guest at dinner just the other night. Well, uninvited to me; unwelcome to Grandma. Upon aiming for my first bite of salad, I spied something walking down the right sleeve of my shirt. Not walking, exactly, either, but getting along by a mode of travel the caterpillar people call “looping” – front feet out and down, bring the back ones up, repeat. Yep, a nice, vigorous inchworm was heading down the sleeve, trying to get to the salad bowl ahead of me. They must be fond of salad. We recalled an episode when I found an inchworm in my salad at the now long-gone Olive Garden on Merchant Drive. Just sat him over on a nearby potted fig tree, and continued to eat the salad, so as not to cause a fuss. Anyhow, caterpillars make butterflies, so after dinner I got out my trusty “Field Guide to the Caterpillars of Eastern North America” by David L. Wagner, an excellent guide, full of illustrations that just aren’t in the usual butterfly books. I hoped to find just what inchworms morphed into after their worm stage. As is the usual case with things I decide to check into, what I knew paled into insignificance compared with what the field guide knew. First, there wasn’t an inchworm: there were photos of 84 different species of them, with a reference to a U.S. Forest Service bulletin showing 187 species of them. And then, to add to my feelings of inadequate savvy, the book said that inchworms don’t even turn into butterflies; they all become moths! Now, all the butterflies and moths are in the order of insects called Lepidoptera. There are around 11,230 species of Lepidopterans in North America. By far, the most familiar Lepidopterans
are the spectacular, colorful butterflies. But there are only 760 species of butterflies and the remaining 10,470 species are moths. All those inchworms? They turn into part of that horde of 10,000 species of North American moths as adults. So do a bunch of other familiar “worms”: the troublesome tobacco hornworm, the dreaded tomato hornworm and all those tent caterpillars that are munching on your cherry trees right now. If moths outnumber butterflies by nearly 14 to 1, how come we see so few of them? One main reason is that moths are mostly nocturnal, going about their lives on the 11-7 shift, so that even the big spectacular ones are rarely seen. And then, over half the moths are in a group called “microlepidopterans,” are very small and inconspicuous and have lifestyles that keep them hidden and out of sight. Think clothes moths, eating your favorite wool sweater. But back to the inchworms. As a group, they are masters of camouflage and disguise. Their colors are mottled or striped browns and grays, and they sport various bumps and knobs to make them look remarkably like sticks and twigs. One, the camouflaged looper, actually attaches little bits of leaves or blossoms to its body for disguise; they should be the envy of any turkey hunter, trying his best to look like a tree. But this is spring migration time! So this quote from the field guide really caught my eye: “In terms of abundance and biomass, loopers are among the most important forest lepidopterans in eastern North America. They are an especially important component of the spring caterpillar fauna of deciduous forests, where they are the staple in the diets of many forest-nesting birds.” Well, there you have it! Inchworms are warbler food! All those
little worms that are riddling the new tree leaves with holes, and dangling in front of your eyes on threads attached to some twig higher above, plus all those scores of species of inchworms, are amazingly timed to hatch out just as the fresh green leaves appear. Which in turn, at least in an average year, happens to be just when all those hungry, migratory birds are arriving here for the season or fueling up to continue to nesting places farther north. Biologists tell us that if the birds didn’t show up for some reason, many or most of the trees would actually be defoliated by the millions of worms per acre munching away at them. This year, it will be interesting to see how it goes, with the leaves and worms coming out two or three weeks ahead of the main waves of migrant birds. It’s that glorious time of year when birders around these parts rejoice and head out the door with a gleam in their eye. Excellent birding sites abound. This year, try some birding at the Halls Community Park, Schumpert Park, Ijams Nature Center, House Mountain, Eagle Bend Fish Hatchery or Cove Lake State Park. Don’t forget the Smokies and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Another great spot is the Sharp’s Ridge Park. It is a nationally-recognized migrant area that often has scarlet tanagers, Baltimore orioles and more than a dozen species of wood warblers in a single morning. Again this year, there will be a series of Thursday morning bird walks led by birder Tony Headrick, accompanied by numerous friendly and beginner-helpful members of the Knoxville Bird Club. Walks will leave from the parking area at the old ranger’s house at 8 a.m. on April 12, 19 and 26 and May 3. You may call Tony’s cell at 621-9836 for information or directions. The big annual Knoxville Bird Walk, which happens each year during the Dogwood Arts Festival, will begin at the J.B. Owen Overlook on Sharp’s Ridge at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 21. Beginners are welcome and encouraged to attend. Be sure to bring a pair of binoculars! The next time you encounter an inchworm, please be nice to it. It is important and high-quality bird food!
I know not how CROSS CURRENTS | Lynn Hutton “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:5b) I know not how that Calvary’s cross A world from sin could free: I only know its matchless love Has brought God’s love to me. I know not how that Joseph’s tomb Could solve death’s mystery: I only know a living Christ, Our immortality. (“I Know Not How,” Harry Webb Farrington)
A
s I write this, we are still deep in Holy Week. The gloom gathers, and the shouts of “Hosanna!” darken to the cries of “Crucify him!” The clouds are dark, both figuratively and literally. The lightning flashes and the thunder rolls, and water pours from the skies. There are epic tornadoes in Texas, with 18-wheelers whirling in the air like matchbox cars tossed by a child’s hand. The world weeps. The first time I took notice of this pattern of natural phenomena, I was in high school. An earthquake of calamitous proportions shook Alaska on Good Friday. Forty-four years after that earthquake I was there, in that magnificent, astounding landscape, seeing with my own eyes scars that had been left on the land. I understand the unease of nature in spring. I know that the transition from winter to spring is a turbulent time. However, to my mind at least, these storms, this unease of nature, are echoes of the events of Holy Week. Surrounding the events of Good Friday and Easter morn-
ing, Scripture tells of clouds, darkness and earthquakes. Nature responded to the drama that was being played out in Judea. However, all of this sound and fury was simply prelude. The storm and the darkness, the cry of dereliction and the death are but Acts I and II. Then there is the entr’acte: the burial and the sad, silent Sabbath. The sun rises on the third day, and nothing – nothing! – is ever the same. Those of us who have always lived on this side of Easter have trouble grasping the impact of that morning. We have known the end of the story since we were children. But for the women at the tomb, for the mourning disciples hiding behind locked doors, for all those who had hoped he was the One sent from God, the angels’ message that “He is not here, but has risen” was wonderful, ridiculous, incredible, absurd, unbelievable, fantastic, joyous, worldchanging, life-giving news. And it still is, dear friends. It still is. He lives! Happy Easter!
Serving Knox County since 1985
Count on our people. Rural/Metro emergency service providers are highly trained and skilled professionals dedicated to providing compassionate care.
Count on our technology. We have the latest, life-saving technology to respond to an emergency and to help hospitals prepare in advance for a patient’s arrival.
Count on our standards. Rural/Metro is the only CAAS-accredited service provider in the state of Tennessee, providing the gold standard of care through a fleet of 49 ambulances.
Fast, professional, reliable service . . . when seconds count. In case of emergency, call 911. For non-emergency transport, call (865) 675-0775.
www.ruralmetroetn.com