{"id":678,"date":"2013-07-12T17:49:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T21:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/?p=678"},"modified":"2014-04-07T01:09:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T05:09:01","slug":"giant-black-beetles-jamaica-pond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/giant-black-beetles-jamaica-pond\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant Black Beetles at Jamaica Pond"},"content":{"rendered":"

We came across two large black beetles yesterday just off the path around Jamaica Pond. The beetles were possibly engaged in the act of mating. If so, the female beetle was much larger than the male and her orange belly was showing.<\/p>\n

\"Pair
Pair of broad-necked root borer beetles<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n
\nAfter some research, I think what we saw was a male and female broad-necked root borer beetle (Prionus laticollis<\/i>). The larvae of these beetles feed on shrubs and trees<\/a>. Sounds right; we saw a small hole in the ground near the beetles from which they may have emerged.<\/p>\n
\"Indian
Indian pipe growing from leaf litter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Continuing on our walk, we saw the ghostly silhouettes of Indian pipe<\/a> (Monotropa uniflora<\/i>). Indian pipe lacks the chlorophyll that makes most plants green. Instead of making its own food, it steals nutrients from a fungus that in turns takes it from a tree.<\/p>\n

We saw a couple of eastern chipmunks on the leaning mulberry tree. I’ve seen chipmunks nest in the trunk of this tree and these two may be continuing the tradition.<\/p>\n

\"Chipmunk\"
Chipmunk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our lonely American coot continues to wander the Pond on his own. Looks like he will spend the summer here and wait for his friends to join him come fall.<\/p>\n

\"American
American coot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A red-eared slider basked on a branch and eyed us warily.<\/p>\n

\"Red-eared
Red-eared slider<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Creeping
Creeping bellflower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We saw two purple wildflowers, both invasive. Creeping bellflower<\/a> (Campanula rapunculoides<\/i>) is the more innocuous of the two. We found this plant on the side of the path away from the water. <\/p>\n

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria<\/i>), on the other hand, loves the water. This plant is highly invasive<\/a> in Boston. The Neponset River Watershed Association has released two species of beetles<\/a> to control it. We only saw a couple of plants around the Pond, so it is not a major problem here.<\/p>\n

\"Purple
Purple loosestrife<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara<\/i>) berries are ripening. The fruit look appetizing but are said to be poisonous. Do not eat!<\/p>\n

\"Red
Bittersweet nightshade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata<\/i>) on the west side of the Pond is in full bloom. This tree gets its name from its profusion of yellow flowers, which form a golden carpet beneath it as the petals fall. In a couple months, we will see fruit capsules, which look like small lanterns.<\/p>\n

\"Goldenrain
Goldenrain tree in flower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bees love the flowers of goldenrain. This particular one may be a carpenter bee.<\/p>\n

\"Carpenter
Carpenter bee?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A mother mallard walked the shore with two baby mallard ducks. The babies are growing fast! We think we saw about a dozen baby ducks last time though, so we’re not sure where the rest of them went. Maybe this is a different family.<\/p>\n

\"Baby
Baby mallard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, we ran into two white-breasted nuthatches swingin’ low on tree trunks.<\/p>\n

\"White-breasted
White-breasted nuthatch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We came across two large black beetles yesterday just off the path around Jamaica Pond. The beetles were possibly engaged in the act of mating. If so, the female beetle was much larger than the male and her orange belly … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65,284,279,58,190,299,231,86,72,63,302,300,67,101,493,298,60,43,119,120,301,5,123,106],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1407,"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678\/revisions\/1407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sicloot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}