John was really trotting out his extensive vocabulary this week. Enjoy my favorite picks:
Heliotropic
- Adjective. Turning or growing to a light source.
- The goatsbeard plant faces east in the morning and follows the sun until about noon, before closing it up for the day.
Pruinescence
- Adjective. A dusty or frosty-looking coating on top of a surface.
The chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly demonstrates pruinescence as its adult form matures, gaining a thick layer of chalky markings on its thorax.
A chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly sits on a lichen-covered branch in Cook County on June 22, 2022.
Exsanguinate
- Verb. To drain of blood.
- It would take a scourge of mosquitoes two hours to exsanguinate an unconscious, naked human.
- “If you are in an area with real heavy mosquito occurrence, keep your clothes on,” John advises.
Photinus and Photuris fireflies
- Nouns. Two genera, or closely-related groups, of fireflies found in Minnesota. Photinus fireflies eat a diet that gives some protection against bird predation.
- Photinus and Photuris females use distinct “codes” (patterns of flashes) to attract a mate within their genus.
- Once they’ve successfully mated, Photuris females will switch codes to attract male Photinus species.
- When the ruse is successful, the Photuris female eats the hapless Photinus male. By doing so, she gains some of his bird-repelling chemistry and much-needed protein to sustain her through the rest of the reproductive cycle.
There's a lot more where that came from, my friends. Listen to the whole report above or find your favorite topics below!
Topics
- Introduction (0:00-0:28)
- An early spring turns to an average one (0:25-1:16)
- Non-woody plants (1:16-10:42)
- Orchid species (1:16-2:07)
- Lupine (2:09-2:48)
- Tall buttercup (2:48-4:02)
- Sweet Cecily (4:02-4:39)
- Sweet rose (4:39-5:23)
- Pale pea and American vetch (5:23-5:53)
- Oxeye daisy (5:53-6:03)
- Hawkweeds (6:03-6:33)
- Berries (6:33-6:55)
- Solomon seals (6:55-7:34)
- Goatsbeard (7:34-8:12)
- Bog-loving wildflowers (8:34-9:10)
- A mystery invasive plant, celandine (9:10-10:42)
- Shrubs (10:42-11:20)
- Insects (11:20-16:15)
- Chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly (11:20-12:18)
- Biting insects (12:18-14:24)
- Fireflies, code-switching, and cannibalism (14:24-16:15)
- Birds (16:15-17:25)
- Bald Eagle nesting update (16:15-16:41)
- Crow corpses on roads (16:41-17:25)
- Conclusion (17:25-18:14)
What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.
That does it for this week! For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.
Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
