11-08-08 Slug Eggs?

Here, the Future Scientists have discovered what looks like slug eggs underneath a rock. The photographer was wily enough to make the picture quality of the eggs just fuzzy enough so that it is difficult to dispute the true identity of the white spheres.

Slugs actually display a fascinating mating process. They are hermaphrodites, meaning that each individual has both lady and dude parts. You may see them do a writhing dance in mid-air, suspended from a thin bungee cord of mucus if you are lucky enough to see them get their groove on.

If you have a maturity level rated at a 6.5/10 or above, you may click here to view amazing footage of slugs getting it on. This youtube clip is footage from "Life in the Undergrowth", narrated by David Attenborough, who is the MAN for those who don't know. His British accent alone enhances scientific fascination by 13%.

After the slugs have copulated, they will lay thirty or so eggs in a moist area, such as in the leaf litter or under a rock or rotting log, which is consistent with what we see in our picture. The Future Scientists declined searing up a slug egg omelette...although the pinwheel mushrooms might have been just the right size garnish for the miniature breakfast delight.

[NOTE: The author does not truly endorse human consumption of slug eggs or other gastropod excreta.]

11-08-08 Planet Pinwheel UPDATED!

The Future Scientists found a leaf that supported a little town of pinwheel mushrooms, which are appropriately named after their distinctive caps resembling... pinwheels. Other descriptive common names include the "collared parachute mushroom" or the "horsehair mushroom" based on the distinctive look. Notice how each mushroom is smaller than a fingernail - good find!

You can see much better pictures of this mushroom here, at mushroomexpert.com.

Click here to see the mushrooms the author first mistook them for.

Interestingly, one distinguishing feature of the mushrooms we found is the fact that they like to grow on oak leaves. CHECK. The other pinwheels prefer sticks and logs.

One cool beans fact about both types of pinwheel mushrooms is that they shrivel up when it is dry, but rain will revive the little guys, making thousands of them seem to sprout up overnight! Aren't we lucky that it's been raining?

11-08-08 Loch Ness Salamander

The Future Scientists are all about identifying mysterious creatures of the deep. And mysterious creatures of the deep are all about grainy film quality.

This particular mystery monster was a redback salamander, which is a beast that the Future Scientists have succeeded in finding for three weeks in a row now. This is not too surprising considering the fact that the redback salamander might be the most common terrestrial (i.e. landlubber) salamander in the Great Lakes region.

What is interesting is the fact that the Future Scientists only seem to find these salamanders colored in the leadback phase. The two most common phases of this salamander are "redback" and "leadback", basically depending on whether a red stripe runs down the back or not. Other color morphs may also occur, including a fiery all-red morph. However, when it comes to finding amphibians, so far the Future Scientists have restricted their salamander-palette to dirty brown/grey doodads.

This salamander did not rest on human flesh for very long, as pictured above. The Future Scientists realized that the salamander is lungless and breathes entirely through its moist skin. After the photo-op, the lil' sally was doused with some leafy creek juice, and put back under the wet leaves. Back to a busy day of lurking in the shadows for you, salamander buddy!

11-08-08 Fishing Spider

The Future Scientists were keen enough to spot a fishing spider, despite its excellent camouflage.

Fishing spiders are often mistaken for wolf spiders, but the fishing spiders have longer, slenderer, lady-likerer legs. Some of the fishing spiders may be the largest spiders in Ohio.

True to their name, sometimes these spiders will catch small fish and other vertebrates such as tadpoles or small frogs. However, insects are the most common happy meal for these eight-legged monster-beasts. Some species of these spiders may zip underwater if disturbed, and may even stay under for thirty minutes! The Future Scientists are a civilized bunch, and did not disturb the spider.

The fishing spiders are in the "nursery web spider" family. After the big momma spider lays its eggs, it will carry the egg sac in her jaws wherever she goes. Then, when it is time for the spiderlings to be born, the big-momma will spin a "nursery web" with its silk and perhaps throw in some leaves. The egg sac is then gently placed into the nursery, and mommy spider will stay with the sac until almost all the spiderlings are born and dispersed. Nursery web spiders do not use their silk to catch prey, only to pad their babies.

11-08-08 Lodi Fossils

The Future Scientists went retro this weekend, as in 350 million years ago Mississippian Period retro, when the in-thing was having a shell or tube-feet if you were living large in Ohio. Here, the Future Scientists can be seen prying ancient sea-life loose from rocks in this creek bed at Lodi City Park in Medina County.

The Future Scientists were able to find many brachiopods, bryozoans and crinoid stems. Other non-fossilized, living wildlife were also found, and they will achieve their fifteen minutes of fame in a future blog.



Brachiopod city!

11-01-08 Mystery Caterpillar: Case mostly-closed

The Future Scientists found a cute little caterpillar along the forest trail.

It had a racing stripe, but it was very obviously not built for speed. What a faker.

The caterpillar was not identified in the field, so a picture was taken to document its existence. Human fingers are provided for scale.

The Discover Life team has created a cool, easy way to identify caterpillars on the web. Just plug in your main caterpillar features (i.e. body color, hairiness, astrological sign etc.) and find out who your scrunchy little bug friend is!

Click here for the caterpillar guide!

Plugging this little guy into the website, the best i.d. option turned out to be a type of tiger moth caterpillar Haploa clymene. The adult moth is quite strikingly beautiful (see images here). Young caterpillars of this species are found in the fall (hence the teeny size), and they will overwinter and mature in the early spring or early summer. The yellow racing stripe of the caterpillar is especially prominent in the fall, during the young stage. 

DISCLAIMER: The writer of this blog has is 90% confident about the i.d. of this caterpillar. If you have more enlightened information, please comment below!

11-01-08 HH Two more creek shots

In the above picture, you can see the Future Scientists in a tranquil state, milliseconds before that tree in mid-fall crashed to the ground and scared the bejeezies out of everyone.

That didn't really happen, but you can tell people that it did.