Animal and Plant Interactions

Observations: What animal species or guild seems to be abundant in my ecosystem?

Vernal Ponds are forested neighbors to Wetlands. As a good neighbor, they serve as temporary pools of water and provide habitat for salamanders, frogs, toads, aquatic beetles, aquatic insect larvae, and even birds such as wood ducks. Since Vernal Ponds are isolated from rivers or lakes, they dry up annually and are flooded seasonally. You will not find fish in this habitat. Due to the summer season, my Vernal Pond is slowly drying. The species I see now may not be here during the Spring season when spring rains fill the pond and serve as a prefect habitat for amphibians, invertebrates and turtles to lay eggs. 

Even in the middle of summer, I still have several species that thrive during these times. I was able to witness a Green Stink Bug feeding from the fruit berries of a Bittersweet Nightshade vine. I noticed that the Stink Bug spent several minutes feeding on the fruit, all the while I was quickly trying to take photos of this Hopperlike Insect. Using the mouthpart, know as a proboscis which acts like a straw, the Green Stink Bug is able to suck out the fruit juice for nutrients. If you look at my picture below REAL CLOSE you can see the proboscis! 

Species Identification:

Common Blackberry- Rubus allegheniensis- Common blackberry is a shrub-like wildflower. It is most easily identified by its juicy, black, clustered berries and pinnately-compound leaves. White petal flowers are in a raceme structure and supported by very prickly, robust stems. Flowers are about 1” wide and the petals are longer than the sepals. Commonly found in dry fields and open clearings.

Bittersweet Nightshade- Solanum Dulcamara -is a beautiful flowering Vine. Solanum species have a flower that resembles a Sun and its Rays. This plant is toxic. Only certain species are adapted to withstand this toxicity. The Bittersweet Nightshade has a purple flower with a yellow center. The flower has berries that are oval in shape. When the berries are ripe, they turn red. The Bittersweet Nightshade thrives in rich, wet soils with plenty of nitrogen. The Vernal Pond, with all its decaying matter on the ground provide the perfect nutrients.

Green Stink Bug- Acrosternum hilare- has a bright green colored shield shaped back. It is thinly outlined by yellow, orange or reddish edges. In this picture it is visible that the three outermost segments of his antenni are marked with black. The Green Stink Bug gets its name due the amount of foul smelling discharge they exert when disturbed. Both adults and nymphs possess large stink glands on the underside of their body. This Bug thrives in areas such as, cropland, fields, orchards and gardens. These habitats can all be found adjacent to or near the surrounding Vernal Pond. It is considered a pest and causes damage to Corn and Soybean. Both of those crops are rotated seasonally in the adjacent farm field to the South and East of the Vernal Pond.

Ramshorn Snail- Biomphalaria- this small to medium size snail is an air-breathing, freshwater snail, from the family of Planorbidae. After much research, I am unable to identify the species of this snail. A Ramshorn Snails calls this discordial shell home. This snail has a dark brown shell was slowly moving across the dirt road. It was headed in the direction of the Vernal Pond. I watched the snail make its way by sticking out its head and neck, securing itself on the ground in front of itself and pulling the shell forward to meet its current position. This snail has one pair of slender tentacles and it is found throughout North America. Their ideal habitats are ponds, lakes, slower streams or rivers, usually in aquatic plants.  They feed on bacteria. 

Creative Additions: Insects discovered near the Vernal Pond