Well still no luck at finding the Missing Linden Tree, but an endangered species was located on the Sundays At Two bioblitz or Nature Connect adventure. Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides napa is an adorable small butterfly that also has some moth like features in the appearance of its body. Though it is classified as a skipper. This little Woodland Skipper is not found in Saskatchewan, is tracked by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Ranked S2 by SCDC
Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides
This little Woodland Skipper is tracked by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre, and is considered S2 which translates to
Imperiled/Very rare
At high risk of extinction or extirpation due to a very restricted range, very few populations, steep declines, threats or other factors.
Master Gardeners Association of British Columbia [MGABC} says “the name Ochlodes is Greek for turbulent or unruly, from the swift, erratic flight of the members of this genus. The name sylvanoides is derived from the Latin silva (woods or forest).” MGABC also confirms that the larvae feed on many species of grass, which makes the afforestation areas rather handy. The adults also like the nectar of Cirsium (thistles), Taraxacum officnale (Dandelion).
The nifty thing is that they receive their name skipper because they have a unique skipping pattern when they fly says Prairie Pollination Virtual Museum.
Usually they are found in western Canada and USA, and are not usually found in Saskatchewan at all according to the Bugguide.
To date there are a number of endangered or species at risk in the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas as documented by photographs, or observations via e-Bird or iNaturalist and various observers.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Learn about butterflies day!!! Sunday March 14 is the day to take some time out of your schedule, not to smell the flowers, but to learn about butterflies. We have some amazing butterflies here in our province, if we choose to preserve their habitats, and work towards establishing pollinator ribbons and pollinator gardens.
Keep your eyes peeled this spring for the Black Swallowtail Butterfly. The Cabbage Butterfly is almost always flittering around and about a purple native flower. Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies are amazing. And Checkered Whites are a treat to see. Perhaps you prefer a Clouded Sulphur Butterfly or a Common Ringlet. There is a Common Wood-Nymph butterfly which brings to mind magical and mystical creatures living in the forest and meadows. There are so many more butterflies here in our province, but only if we look after their eco-system. They need pollinator plants which are not affected by herbicides. A pollinator plant with herbicides on it will kill the butterfly, the eggs and larva ;-(
There are also butterfly species at risk to consider also. Please consider making a donation to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. to help protect the butterflies and their much needed habitats.
Try your luck at spotting Monarchs, and call Nature Saskatchewan at 1-800-667-4668. Capture your sighting with a photograph on iNaturalist. Download the iNaturalist.pdf pamphlet
So, you say why in the dickens should I stop to learn about butterflies in Saskatchewan in the winter when the snow is melting? Well, there are times, when it is necessary to start a pollinator garden inside, now when the snow is on the ground, so that the little sprouts are ready to place tenderly into the soil when the snow is gone. That is why!!!
Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well
Naya Rivera
The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly
Save a Spider Day is coming right up! And ick! and eww! all those with arachnaphobia say. But, well, perhaps ticks are a larger ick! right now, and did you know spiders will kill ticks. Yay! So, Save a Spider Day is an awesome idea.!
Look for spider webs this spring when you are out in the early morning light when the dew is still on the grass. In the golden hour, the light captures all the intricate designs and details of the spider web. Make a note if the spider web is vertical, and would hang nicely on the wall as if it were a picture. These nice typical round orb webs are typical of a family of orb-weaver spiders or Araneidae. Or, is the spider web laying horizontal between the blades of grass, as if it was a hovering Persian flying carpet? these types of webs are typical of the long-jawed Orb Weaver of the family Family Tetragnathidae. These two aspects mark two different spider genus which you will see out in the afforestation areas. Pay attention to both the webs, and the spider. Also take a picture of the threads which connect the webs to the blade of grass or the twig. Marvelling at the spider webs, and these amazing engineers and architects is quite amazing.
As Sask Arachnids says “Save a spider, and kill a bunch of mosquitoes!”
Here is a nifty iNaturalist.pdf pamphlet to record all your photos as you take a walk in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or in George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
March 14 is Save A Spider Day. As you learn about spiders, get ready for an amazing walk if you but only keep your eyes open.
In giving spiders their ability to weave webs and to sail through the air, God showed concern ‘for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, even the insects.’
Jonathan Edwards
Angulate And Round Shouldered Spider Genus Araneus
The soul dwells in the body like a spider in its web.
Greek Philosopher
All things are interrelated and interdependent; nothing exists in isolation. The entire universe is one ecosystem, similar to a spider web— if one part is touched, the entire net shimmers.
This week until Aug 30 work with the Nature Conservancy of Canada NCC as a conservation volunteer!
Contribute to community science in your own afforestation area!
Grab your smartphone, tablet or camera and contribute to online community science by searching for plants, animals and insects in your backyard or local green space. Track your observations using iNaturalist to help contribute to conservation!
Get outside in your own backyard or local green space and see how many different species of plants, animals and insects you can find.
Download the iNaturalist app to your smartphone or sign-up online.
Head outdoors and take photos of all the different species you can spot.
Upload your images to the app or online, use their identifying software to help identify what you see, and add your submission to the global network of species observations.
Please note
Participation in this event requires that you observe the direction of provincial health authorities. Stay 2 meters away from others, wear a face covering while in public spaces and wash your hands frequently.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
Canada Helps
“The future of the planet concerns all of us, and all of us should do what we can to protect it. ” Wangari Maathai.
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nations saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“Canadian cities see millions of imports and shipping containers arrive daily. They arrive on wooden pallets and wooden crates to storage yards and towns all across Canada. Even with international treaties in place to prevent it, live insects and fungi still arrive on these pallets, crates and other wooden material associated with international shipping. Estimates are that about 0.1% to 0.5% of all solid wood packaging material carries unwanted pests…. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but let’s first multiply by all those of pallets and crates that come in each year…” Source
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
White-tailed Deer Fawn
Fire. File Photo. 2016 Spring Fire Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
Jack Rabbit Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Fire. File Photo. 2016 Spring Fire Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
International Year of Plant Health. International Plant Protection Convention “FAO Conference approved a draft resolution requesting the General Assembly of the United Nations to consider declaring 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH).”
During this International Year of Plant Health declared by the United Nations General Assembly, please take care of all the plants, the terrestrial and aquatic environment at the Richard St. Barbe baker Afforestation Area, and George Genereux Urban Regional Park in Saskatoon!
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence . . . We need silence to be able to touch souls. ~Mother Teresa
“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Today, April 26 marks the beginning of Stewardship Week. This week we are reminded of “our individual responsibilities to care for our natural resources.” The theme for 2020 is “Where Would We BEE Without Pollinators?” There are free school booklets, worksheets, and educator guides available for download.
Heart health forest walking
Bee
Bee
Bee
Bumblebee on rose
If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” ~Albert Einstein
“We are developing all sorts of technologies based on what we have learnt from birds, animals and soils. Pollination is worth billions. But it also highlights how nature is so interconnected.”~Tony Juniper
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
Canada Helps
Not at the top of a mountain, nor at the bottom depths of the ocean. Not in Cambodia nor in Greater Meekong. A new species has been discovered by Daniel L. Hubert, Morgan D. Jackson, and James J. Smith of the Michigan State University and University of Guelph. Wow!!!
“Speciation is the process by which life diversifies into discrete forms, and understanding its underlying mechanisms remains a primary focus for biologists. …The speciation mechanism he proposed described a situation where a subpopulation of a herbivore specialist species begins to oviposit (lay eggs) in a host plant species other than its own, and within a “sufficient number” of generations, the laws of inheritance reinforce this subpopulation’s fidelity for that host such that it becomes a ‘phytophagic variety’ distinct from its ancestors. ”
Rhagolitis Bushi a new species of Tephritidae and the bush Shepherdia argentea, commonly called silver buffaloberry bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry. CC-BY-SA-3.0 credit Julia Adamson
An absolutely beautiful little “Peacock fly” referred to as Rhagoletis Bushi is the name of the new species. The Tephritidae fly family are often referred to as “Peacock Flies” due to their colourful and intricate markings. This nick name is quite puzzling as the Greek root tephros translates as “ash grey.” Rhagoletis Bushi is not ash grey at all, but rather has a russet or ruddy head, white wings with russet banding, and striping across the thorax longitudinally from head towards abdomen. Wheras the abdomen has circular striping colors and similar markings of dangerous arthropods such as wasps which may help Rhagoletis Bushi avoid predation. Rhagoletis Bushi is a fly and does not have a stinger. Ironically the natural enemies include tiny wasps belonging to the family Diapriidae and parasitoid wasps of the Braconidae family.
God knows Himself and every created thing perfectly. Not a blade of grass or the tiniest insect escapes His eye. Mother Angelica
Rhagoletis Bushi has a unique wing banding pattern which other tabellaria species do not have.
The other identifying feature is that Rhagoletis Bushi loves the fruit of the silver buffaloberry (S. Argentea).
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
— Robert Heinlein
Shepherdia argentea, commonly called silver buffaloberry bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry. CC-BY-SA-3.0 credit Julia Adamson
To locate a cute little Rhagoletis Bushi, find a patch of Silver Buffaloberry (S. Argentea) shrubs. These small trees grow 1-6 meters [3-20 feet] high, and have large thorns. The berries can be formed into cakes, smoked over a wood fire, and eaten, or added to pemmican [a combination of berry and buffalo meat]. Though the Silver Buffaloberry fruit is described as sout or bitter similar to the chokecherry [Prunus viriniana L.], it is great for pies, james, jellies and wine and have a high Vitamin C content. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide introudecs presentation of the berries, for beverage, sauce, dessert or jelly.
Besides Rhagoletis Bushi, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, grouse, and birds love the berries of the Silver Buffaloberry. As a matter of fact, the buffalo berry is a staple food for the Sharp-tailed grouse diet, the provincial bird of Saskatchewan.
Shepherdia argentea, commonly called silver buffaloberry bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry. CC-BY-SA-3.0 credit Julia Adamson
The Silver Buffaloberry improves the habitat, and has been used for watershed management. Thickets of buffaloberry arise from root stocks which produce clones of dense bush and vegetation affording both food and cover for wildlife. Additionally Silver Buffaloberry is nitrogen fixing for the soil. Look for the Silver buffaloberry across the prairie parklands as it is a native bush, along wet meadows, marshy areas, near streams, and rivers.
Quite often in nature plants will support endangered species. Mardon skipper (Polites mardon) butterfly, and Zerene fritillaries (Speyeria zerene) are two butterflies which depend upon the Early-Blue Violet (Viola adunca) for instance. In this case, the thorny buffaloberry Shepherdia argentea supports Rhagoletis Bushi, a specialized frugivore [fruit eater], with a particular taste for this host plant. The buffaloberry fruit is about 5 to 6.35 mm in diameter or 0.2 to 0.25 inches
According to Hulbert, “the flies themselves don’t cause too much trouble for the buffaloberry especially considering they’re both native to North America and have evolved with each other over the course of millennia or more.” In regards to the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area, he continues to say; “This fly is one (albeit small) part of the area’s richness!”
Insect Hotels keep good bugscozy according to Susan Mulvihill. So if you are set on aiding the plight of pollinators and beneficial insects, one way is to construct an insect hotel, or create a botanical garden with native species of plants. And another is to plant Silver Buffaloberry (S. Argentea)
This autumn, when you are out walking past the Silver Buffaloberry bush, keep your eye peeled for the new species just discovered, Rhagoletis Bushi. “In North America the genus Rhagoletis, is represented by 24 species widely distributed in temperate regions of Canada and the U.S.A. (Bush, 1966; Berlocher & Bush, 1982; Berlocher, 1984; Foote
et al., 1993).[2] “And now there are 25 species!!! Generally speaking, Tephritidae are small to medium-sized (2.5–10 mm or 0.0984-.39 inches) flies, so keep your eyes peeled; the coloration and markings of Rhagoletis Bushi will make the search quite worthwhile!
So Happy New Year, with a New Species
All the best to you and yours in 2018
Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. Henry David Thoreau
Kingdom — Animalia. Animal
Subkingdom Bilateria
Superphylum Ecdysozoa
Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, “joint” and πούς pous, “foot”) an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton (external skeleton), a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages
Subphylum Hexapoda: Insects from the Greek for six legs featuring a consolidated thorax with three pairs of legs.
Class Insecta – insects
Subclass Pterygota [Greek pterugōtós, “winged”] includes the winged insects.
Superorder Holometabola. Endopterygota Holometablous complete metamorphism, with four life stages – as an embryo or egg, a larva, a pupa and an imago or adult.
Wings develop within body during pupation
Immatures (larvae) do not resemble adults
Order Diptera {from Greek di- “two”, and pteron “wings”} True Flies bearing considerable ecological and human importance.
Suborder Brachycera
Infraorder Muscomorpha
Section Schizophora
Subsection Acalyptratae having the alula or calypter small or absent. This alula [calypter is defined as a small membranous flap at the base of the hind edge. Alula is latin for winged, and acts as a “Thumb” to help prevent stalling when landing or flying at low speeds. Where Calypter comes from the Greek kalypter translated as covering, or sheath.
Superfamily Tephritoidea also from the Greek a- and Calyptratae.
Family Tephritidae “true fruit flies” or “peacock flies” not to be confused with genus Drosophila “common fruit fly” (in the family Drosophilidae)
Subfamily: Trypetinae
Tribe: Carpomyiini
Subtribe: Carpomyina
Genus: Rhagoletis. Morphology described in source [1]
If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.
— Edward O. Wilson
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Foote, Richard H. The Genus Rhagoletis Loew South of the United States. [Diptera: Tephritidae] United States Department of Agriculture. Technical Bulletin Number 1607. Prepared by Science and Education Administration. http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/157851/files/tb1607.pdf Retrieved December 28, 2017
2. Hernandez-Ortiz, Vicente and Daniel Frias L. A revision of the striatella specis group of the genus Rahgoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae) 1999. Insecta Mundi.Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida. 322. University of Nebraska. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1321&context=insectamundi Retrieved December 28, 2017
3. Hulbert, Daniel L., Morgan D. Jackson and James J. Smith. A New Species of Rhagoletis [Diptera: Tephritidae] in the tabellaria species group: morphology, molecular phylogenetics, and host-plant use. Insect Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Laboratory Michigan State University, and University of Guelph. 2017. Scientific Conference ~ The Entomological Society of America annual meeting.
6. Species Rhagoletis tabellaria. Bug Guide. Iowa State University. Department of Entomology. 2003-2017. https://bugguide.net/node/view/15265 Retrieved December 28, 2017 {Shows images of Rhagoletis Tabelleria}
“A single swallow, it is said, devours ten millions of insects every year. The supplying of these insects I take to be a signal instance of the Creator’s bounty in providing for the lives of His creatures.”
— Ambrose Bierce
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger
“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust
From a youngster, I have loved the bee with a love that even the mild impertinences of others around me could not quench. Scarce any sound in Nature is, to my ear, more soothing than the “murmuring of innumerable bees” heard in an hour of idleness walking through the native prairie summer blooms. Scarce any sight is more pleasant than the reiterated pilferings of my choicest blossoms by these ever-welcome little pillagers. Nor has my love been a sordid one. I have always felt a keener admiration – an admiration touched with reverence – for the living and breathing producer of the sweet product of the honey-bee’s industry. My love for the bee is a purely personal one. Of me, the untiring worker can say, as of Lord Ronald, Lady Clare –
He loves me for my own true worth,
and that is well.
It does not matter how you take a bee. She is full of interest all over. In the head are eyes simple, and compound; feelers with great delicacy of touch and smell, and a tongue, silent, indeed, which gallantry compels me to regard as a defect, but otherwise well fitted for its special task, to sip the sweets of life; in the mid-region of the body or thorax are four delicately veined and closely interlocking wings, and six legs adapted for progression on surfaces rough or smooth, and as full of additional contrivances as I may have in my pockets; in the abdomen are wax organs, and that “centre of painful interest,” the sting. Nor are its habits less interesting that its structure. Full of that concentrated unconscious wisdom which we call instinct, she displays also, at times, mental powers of a more plastic kind.
I have not by any means exhausted the points of interest which my little friend presents. I have said scarce anything about the tongue with which they sip the nectar of flowers; nothing of the manner of the beautiful petal-mouthed honey-sac. I have scarcely alluded to the delicate hooks which serve to connect the upper and under wings in flight and have not described the foot-pads and hooklets which enable a bee to cling to almost any surface smooth or rough. I have left unnoticed the pollen-baskets, and made no point of the sting. As to the internal anatomy – I have not had space to say aught of the delicate nerve-chain, or the many-chambered heart. But perhaps I have said enough to kindly (or re-kindle) and interest in the honey-bee, and may now leave the reader, if so he will, to seek fuller informations of the honey-bee itself.
Prairie Forest Virtual App Programming by
Gratitude goes out to
Mel Franciz Andes Jonah Barrett Brady Warford Erik Froc Jonah Barrett Jordan Rekunyk Justin Waselyshen Mel Franciz Andes Jeremiah Corda Riley Chometa Sarah Radke
Computer Systems Technology students Saskatchewan Polytechnic under Instructor Wade Lahoda
Have you never gazed into the eyes of your favourite dog – those melting eyes which seem to bespeak such deep devotion and trust, and wondered what might be the nature of the thoughts which course each other through the labyrinth of his mind? Or looked into the broad and mild face of some dear old placidly ruminating cow, and tried to guess how this strange and beautiful world presents itself to her intelligence? From a child, I have been wont to do so. And if through the lustrous eyes of the dog, the friend and companion of my race, I can see but a very little way, and that dimly, into the hidden recesses of his soul, how stands it with yon forest spider which as spread her silken web across the snowberry hedge? What of her inmost soul can I hope to see through those eight small shining beads, by means of which she looks out on a world rendered interesting by flies? Each bead-like eye of this little insignificant spider is a peep-hole through which I would pry into the mystery of life. This it is which renders for me every speck of pulsating living matter, a subject for careful study and reverent meditation.
I shall take it for granted that you already know something about spiders; that they differ from insects in heaving eight legs instead of six; that they are provided with poisonous jaws; that they spin their silken fibre from the hinder end of the body and not from the mouth like a silkworm; and that many of them, like the common forest spider, form webs for the entrapment of unwary insects. Not all spiders form webs like this; some of the hunt and stalk their prey.
Of the web, I think I must say a word or two because misleading and erroneous statements are often made concerning it. The silk which is wonderfully elastic and strong, is produced by the spinning glands in the swollen hinder end of the body. And in these glands a clear viscid fluid is secreted, which, when it is drawn out into the air, in most cases hardens into a silken thread. The fluid produced by one of the glands, however does not harden in this way, but remains viscid and sticky; and this is shed by the spinner on the spiral thread which runs round and round from the centre to the circumference of the web.
To distribute the threads there is beneath the spider’s abdomen, an apparatus of six little movable organs like minute mobile fingers, and each of these is beset with hairlike tubes from the openings of which the silk is drawn from the glands with which the tubes communicate. Some of the tubes are much larger than others, and from these among which the web is stretched, the spider employs finer and more delicate threads produced by different glands.
The particular wonder of insect beauty and spider artifice is but an individual gleam of the universal wonder-radiance of Nature. Both structural beauty and fitness and unerring instinctive performance we now believe to have been alike evolved through natural selection and other agencies. The cunning workmanship of the spider results in the geometrical skill of the spider architect.
Should you spot a circular spider web, it is more than likely from one of the Orb-weaver spiders; members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word orb can mean “circular”, hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
If you see a tangle web, more commonly known as a cobweb, this jumble of threads are most commonly associated with the house and ogre-faced stick spider belonging to the family Theridiidae.
Sometimes you may see a sheet web, lying flat between blades of grass. These sheet webs may be the work of the bowl, doily or platform spider of the family Linyphiidae.
Another spider web are funnel webs which a also horizontal webs, but are formed rather like a tunnel with openings at both ends. The hobo spider of the Agelenidae family may have made this kind of funnel web.
Long Jawed Orb Weaver Spider Tetragnathidae
Spider Eight Legs, Arachnid
Angulate And Round Shouldered Spider Genus Araneus
A Noiseless Patient Spider
I marked where, on a little promontory, it stood isolated; Mark’d how to explore the vacant, vast surrounding, It launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself; Ever unreeling them-ever tirelessly speeding them. And you, O my soul, where you stand Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space, Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them; Till the bridge you will need be formed – till the ductile anchor hold; Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my soul.
-Walt Whitman
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Mel Franciz Andes Jonah Barrett Brady Warford Erik Froc Jonah Barrett Jordan Rekunyk Justin Waselyshen Mel Franciz Andes Jeremiah Corda Riley Chometa Sarah Radke
Computer Systems Technology students Saskatchewan Polytechnic under Instructor Wade Lahoda
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 