Living Conservatory Quarterly

Fall 2009

In this issue:
• Volunteer News
• Mystery Caterpillars in the Conservatory
• Coming Soon!
• Upcoming Volunteer Events
• BugFest 2009
• Call for Contributions

Volunteer News
Volunteers at Prairie Ridge Ecostation get a chance to interact with
monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) through all the stages of
their lives. Prairie Ridge is a Monarch Waystation
(http://monarchwatch.org/waystations/), and participates in the
Monarch Larva Monitoring Project ( http://www.mlmp.org/), the
Monarch Watch program (http://monarchwatch.org/), and the
MonarchHealth Project (http://www.monarchparasites.org/).

Conservatory volunteer Kim Goll has been working with the Prairie Ridge staff since
spring, and has had some great experiences helping with the monarch project.

At the beginning of the summer, volunteers would go to the milkweed patch in the
morning, take a section of milkweed, and search each leaf in their section for eggs and
caterpillars in different instars. There was not much to see in the first few weeks, but as
summer progressed, eggs started to appear. Toward the end of August, there were lots
of eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed. Kim said they went from finding as few as zero
eggs, to finding as many as 37! The egg search lasted an hour on average, partially
because they would talk with Prairie Ridge staff about all the other interesting plants
and animals found there. “In the milkweed patch, there were little frogs, different bugs
(lot of stinkbugs), aphids, a whole ecosystem.”

At the end of August, as the milkweed died away, volunteers

began tagging monarchs by attaching tracking stickers to their
wings. Kim and the other volunteers learned to capture
butterflies in a net, which involved a lot of “running like crazy!”

Monarchs often have parasites that leaves spores on the

belly, so volunteers and staff collected the spores to track the
parasites for the MonarchHealth Project. Kim says, “If we saw
an adult monarch, we would capture it and get spores by
touching a sticker to its body.”

Kim works an 8:00 – 11:30 a.m. volunteer shift, on Wednesday mornings at Prairie
Ridge. If you are interested in participating in the monarch projects, or are interested in
Prairie Ridge in general, please contact Charles Yelton at 919-733-7450 ext 672.
Mystery Caterpillars in the Conservatory
You’ve probably noticed that Andy filled the nectar bed
with lantana and pentas for BugFest. About a week after
planting, we noted that there were at least two different
species of caterpillar on the lantana. Holes in the leaves,
along with a small pile of caterpillar frass, gave away their
existence.

One of the caterpillars is

an inchworm, which
means it is a moth in the
Geometridae family. It was discovered chewing the
leaves of the lantana. We have not identified the
precise species yet, but it may be in the genus
Leptostales. If so, we might have a tiny pink moth in
the Conservatory soon. Lepostales crossini

The other caterpillar was not an inchworm, and

was discovered eating the lantana berries, rather
than the leaves.

Martha shared pictures of this larva with the

Caterpillar with lantana berry
International Association of Butterfly Exhibitors
and Suppliers and the TILS - Leps Talk Yahoo
groups. Martin Feather of the San Antonio Zoo
responded that certain Lycaenid butterflies were
introduced to Hawaii specifically for the purpose of
controlling lantana, and suggested our caterpillar
may be one of those.

Martha then contacted David Wagner, the author of

Caterpillars of Eastern North America, and Associate
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the
University of Connecticut. She received a confirmation as to
the identity of our friend: it is a corn earworm (Helicoverpa
zea) – also known as the tomato fruitworm and the cotton
bollworm. As you can see from its many different common
names, Helicoverpa zea is a very common agricultural pest,
and very polyphagous. Find out more on Bugguide at
http://bugguide.net/node/view/5718, or on the University
of Florida Extension site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IN302. Helicoverpa zea

Coming Soon!
Journey Through the Arctic Refuge
Make time to visit this free special photographic exhibit, a pictorial expedition through
Alaska’s 19.2 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Images feature wildlife,
wilderness vistas, evidence of Arctic climate change, kayaking and trekking scenes
within the refuge. It will be on display from October 17 through January 10, 2010. For
more information go to: http://naturalsciences.org/exhibits/special-exhibits
Upcoming Volunteer Events
Saturday, October 17, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Chemistry Day
First floor of the Museum. Free. For more information, visit the Museum’s website:
http://www.naturalsciences.org/programs-events/?select=1093 or to volunteer for the
event contact Kari Wouk at 919-733-7450 x502

Sunday October 18, 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Night Life at Prairie Ridge!
On a hopefully sparkling fall evening we will gather in the Prairie Ridge Classroom for a
nocturnal exploration of Prairie Ridge Ecostation with Scott Robertson, Public Programs
Staff and NCSU doctorial candidate. Our emphasis will be bats and coyotes, but the
night time ramblings of other creatures will be explored as well. Bring a flashlight and
dress for hiking in cool weather. To keep everyone toasty we will provide hot cider and
chocolate. RSVP to Jan Weems at 919-733-7450 x615

Tuesday October 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Discussion begins at 7:00 followed by Q&A
Science Café: Crossing the Line? Biomedical Technology in Sports
Free. In this talk, National Humanities Center digital media specialist Phillip Barron
explores ways that advances in biomedical science and technology are challenging our
traditional notions of acceptable sports practices and offers some suggestions for how
we can create rules of sport that sustain these technological innovations.
Meet at Tir Na Nog, 218 South Blount St, Raleigh, NC 919.833.7795
For more information contact Katey Ahmann at katey.ahmann@ncdenr.gov or 919-733-
7450, ext. 531.

Friday, October 23, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Going Native with North Carolina Plants
Prairie Ridge Ecostation. Free. To register, please complete a registration form with the
NC Wildlife Resources Commission. For information, visit the Educator Trek page on the
Museum’s website: http://www.naturalsciences.org/programs-events/?select=1201.
Questions may be directed toward Kim Smart, Kimberly.smart@ncdenr.gov or Ann May,
ann.may@ncwildlife.org.

Wednesday, October 28, 8:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m.

Breakfast with a Side of Science: Bats in Peril?
Fourth floor of the Museum in the Acro Cafe. Free. Curator of Mammals Lisa Gatens
talks about white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed at least hundreds of
thousands of bats since its discovery in 2007. No registration required!

Tuesday, December 1, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Volunteer / Staff Party - Mark the Date – More information to come!!!

Monday, December 7, 10:00 a.m. – noon

Potluck Brunch with Speaker - Mark the Date – More information to come!!!

*** Be sure to check out the Museum website (http://naturalsciences.org) for

all the interesting programs, events, workshops and treks available! ***
BugFest 2009
This themed BugFest was fun and busy, as usual – the
Conservatory had about 2500 visitors! The theme this year
was Lepidoptera – butterflies, moths, and skippers. The
Conservatory received 433 pupae(!) to prepare for BugFest, and ran a station called
“The Butterfly Effect: Alternative Advertising”, about butterfly mimicry and crypsis. There
was also a drawer of butterflies and moths available called “I Can’t Believe They’re Not
Butterflies!”, where visitors could try to guess which of the specimens within were
butterflies and which were moths. Thanks to our volunteers Jane and Archie Cowan,
Stephanie Gorski, and Cutler Kornegay, and to our Weekend Captain Alison
Rosebrough, for their invaluable assistance throughout the event!

433 chrysalides for BugFest!

Martha admitting visitors Andy’s Crypsis station

Stephanie talking to visitors The sloth was very active for Bugfest
 Cutler fielding visitor questions
Jane and Archie explain Mullerian and
Batesian mimicry

Call For Contributions

All volunteers and weekend captains are invited to contribute to the newsletter. If you
have any events, experiences, pictures or relevant knowledge to share with us, please
let us know!

Conservatory Contacts
Martha Flanagan, Coordinator of the Conservatory
(919) 733-7450 ext 603
martha.flanagan@ncdenr.gov

Andy Kauffman, Curator of the Conservatory

(919) 733-7450 ext 625
andy.kauffman@ncdenr.gov

Claire Secrist, Conservatory Specialist

(919) 733-7450 ext 624
claire.secrist@ncdenr.gov