The El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist Wildscape at the Bird and Bee Farm was a beehive of activity Saturday afternoon. Quite a few members from the still-in-training to the very experienced showed up to prepare the place for the coming spring bloom and take stock of the damage from the ice storm.
Pruning in progress
Damage was minimal – just the archway – but the plants were in need of haircuts and pruning. Plenty were on hand to get it done. But some has been left for those who couldn’t be there Saturday. The next workday is planned for March.
“I’m perplexa, and I’ve been lost in the scientific wilderness for nearly 90 years. Can you help me find my siblings?”
Most who have done taxonomic research have run into at least one of those “lost” species that once identified seem to be forgotten. Some are later determined to be a synonym for an earlier species. Others apparently disappear from the ecosystem. Whatever the reason, the Lycosidae family is littered with more than its share. One of those species is doing well enough in Milam County to be found in a second location early this February. It has also been found in a few scattered locations in Texas as well as one in Ohio. Is it exceptionally rare? Is it as sneaky as the Texas panther? It’s impossible to know.
Schizocosa perplexa is a medium sized wolf spider. Its tans, browns, and blacks are a bit richer than other Schizocosa species, and the legs are orange-red under the covering hairs. Its black tummy (venter) is uniquely spectacular with a thin, pale tan stripe down the middle and dozens of pale tan spots and dashes on either side. The unique venter pattern makes species identification easy, but a ventral view is needed to be see it. When I finished taking photos, I let the spider walk out of the container into my hand. I could feel him move slowly to the edge of my palm, pause for an instant, and then hop onto the ground which was about 9″ lower. An awesome experience with a “lost” species.
Here is the species history from the human perspective:
1. 3/25/1935 male only collected at Garland Swimming Pool in Dallas by S. Jones 2. 12/36 male only first described by Elizabeth B. Bryant at Cambridge, MA 3. 1937-1977 crickets? 4. 1978 C.D. Dondale and J.H. Redner decide to exclude perplexa from their revision of the Schizocosa genus, probably due to lack of information. 5. 1979-2017 crickets? 6. 4/14/2018 Sara Jane Rose finds one in Ohio 7. 5/21/2018 Sara Jane Rose uploads and observation on iNaturalist 8. 5/26/2018 Scott Snyder sees a female with egg sac near Temple and uploads observation on iNaturalist. Not identified until 2 years later by me. 9. 5/27/2020 I start seeing these and soon suspect they are perplexa based on Sara Rose’s observation. 10. 3/15/2021 I finally get a ventral view and confirm species. 11. 5/1/2021 Meghan Cassidy (who tentatively identified mine early on) finds a female at Lewisville Lake and uploads observation on iNaturalist.
An early lack of interest and/or funding was likely why it took 83 years to find out what a female looked like. The species deserved more follow up than it got, and that’s something amateur scientists have helped with. As far as I know, I’m the only one who has seen these in the wild on a regular basis. Little is known about their lifestyle, but I can speculate. Evidently, they have a huge range, but only a few locations are known. This year I found late perplexa juveniles at the edge of vernal ponds in wooded areas. A common, smaller Schizocosa species was also present. The smaller species may have been there in search of aquatic insect larvae, and perplexa in search of the smaller Schizocosa. Based on previous observations, the perplexa adults have a greater tendency to be found among died leaves and wander about. If vernal ponds in wooded areas are essential to perplexa growth, flood control projects have probably resulted in insignificantly reduced habitat for them. At the same time, the large number of ponds and lakes have greatly benefited Pardosa wolf spiders.
I am sure I am not the only one here in Central Texas who lost trees in the recent ice storm. It was a masterpiece of art, with everything encased in ice. A magical scene for sure. But also, a terrible thing, and deadly for nature.
I have many trees down. I will miss them all. But one was very special to me and Linda.
The tree with ice on it.
She was the mother of all the standing tree people who lived on our property. I talked to her and listened to her breathing every day.
Trees communicate with each other through electrical impulses. This has been proven. So the other trees were aware of those who fell. But I know there is much more than just a mess to clean up, if you love and listen to nature.
After it warmed up.
The trees watch our busy lives and never complain. They stand quietly as the years go by. I will miss her and all the others and thank them for being here.
Facts from the US Forest Service also place monetary and health value on trees.
The value of a single tree can provide $73.00 worth of air-conditioning, $75.00 worth of erosion control, $75.00 worth of wildlife shelter, and $50.00 worth of air pollution reduction.
A single tree can produce 260 pounds of oxygen each year.
There are some beautiful poems about trees, just too long to print here. Poets Joyce Kilmer and Maya Angelou have some very nice ones.
I have shed tears about my friend, and on Earth Day, I shall plant another friend to replace my fallen one. I have done this since 1970.
This is a good thing for everyone to do on Earth Day, which is April 22nd.
Carolyn Henderson is one of the many folks in our Chapter who participate in a program to track the rain on our properties. It’s sponsored by CoCoRaHS, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. Our data is collected daily to create one amazing database of precipitation!
Ideally, reading the rain gauge (or precipitation collection device) must happen daily, or we sure try to do it every day. Carolyn shared this with us yesterday:
“Here is what the CoCoRaHS precipitation collection device looks like. It looks like about .75 in the inner section with about .5 inch frozen where it enters.”
If you have tales of citizen science during the ice storms in Milam County, feel free to share them with us. We can be reached at ecrmnsecretaryATgmailDOTcom.
January 31: My first Purple Martin to arrive at my site. It was an adult male. Oh, I was excited…
The scouts are first to arrive. They are normally the older birds. They are really not scouting anything. Who gave them that name?
So, my little friend first sat on top of the gourd rack until the bluebirds ran him off. After many more Martins arrive, the Bluebirds give up and mind their own business.
He then flew to the front pasture, where the apartment house is. He stayed there an hour.
I watched him with my binoculars until I remembered to go and get my camera. In the few minutes I was away from the window he left and has not returned.
The picture was for the blog only, not for me. After over 50 years I know what they look like pretty good!
So today, February 1st, we had an ice storm…no wonder he left. I might like to leave too. I hate cold weather!
So, what happens if the Martins cannot find food for five days or so? It’s not a good thing. They usually do not survive. They are picky eaters, only using live flying insects as their food.
And when it is bad weather, especially ice, the bugs don’t fly. Just like airplanes. They are grounded.
So sad. Yes, I have tried dried meal worms and throwing up live crickets to them. No success. By the way, the crickets that went up in the air and back down on my face now reside here with me in the pasture. I can hear them singing in the summer months.
I stepped just outside for a few minutes and took these photos of the ice on the Martin housing. All I can say is burrrrrrr.
I may not pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I may not pass this way again.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 