Turtlehead Flowering & Being Pollinated By Bumble Bees
Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) can be found growing along stream banks and wetlands throughout eastern North America. This plant gets its common name from the flower’s long arching upper lip, or hood, which overlaps the lower lip like a turtle’s beak.
The male parts of the flower mature before the female parts, and when pollen is being produced these lips are very hard to pry open. Pollinators are primarily bumble bees, which are some of the only insects that have the strength to open the flower. When the female pistil matures, the lips relax a bit, so entry is easier. However, access to the nectar at the base of the flower is restricted (by a sterile stamen) to long-tongued insects. Thus, it is specifically long-tongued bumble bees that are able to both enter the flower and to reach the nectar. (Photo: bumble bee collecting pollen (see filled baskets on hind legs) from Turtlehead) Thanks to Jody Crosby for photo op.
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Caddisfly Eggs Hatching
The Mystery Photo was of a caddisfly’s egg mass which had been deposited on the leaf of a Turtlehead plant that was growing adjacent to the water, so that when the eggs hatch, the larvae will drop straight down into the water. (Congratulations to “bcottam2014,” the first person to correctly identify the Mystery Photo!)
Almost all caddisflies lay their eggs in the water, but in New England there is a family of northern case makers (Limnephilidae) whose members deposit an egg mass above the water on vegetation (see photo). After hatching and dropping into the water, these caddisflies will spend anywhere from two or three months to two years as aquatic larvae and pupae, emerging as adults with about a thirty day lifespan.
While they are larvae, most northern case-making caddisflies have silk glands with which they construct portable cases or attached retreats. Each species of caddisfly builds the same type of case, out of similar material, thus, it is possible to identify the species of caddisfly you’ve encountered from the appearance of its case. Some species use pebbles, some bits of leaves, some sticks. Vegetative material must be chewed into just the right size and shape pieces. The caddisflies use these cases as a source of camouflage, physical protection and as a means of acquiring food. When it comes time to pupate, they build cocoons within their cases.
Emergence of adults eventually takes place and for the next month or so they live a terrestrial life. Like their close relatives, butterflies and moths, adult caddisflies have wings, but they are easily distinguishable from moths and butterflies due to the tent-like slant the caddisfly holds its wings in when not flying. (Photo: caddisfly larvae hatching from egg mass; inset – older caddisfly larva inside pebble case it built)
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Baltimore Checkerspot Larvae Feeding On Turtlehead
At this time of year, just as Turtlehead is flowering, a butterfly known as the Baltimore Checkerspot is mating and laying bright red eggs on the underside of Turtlehead’s leaves. This is the only plant on which Baltimore Checkerspot eggs are laid, and the only plant which the larvae eat. When the eggs hatch, the tiny larvae proceed to spin a web that envelopes them and the leaves of the Turtlehead plant that they are eating. They eat profusely, enlarging the web as they expand the area to include uneaten leaves. Eventually, as fall approaches, they will spin a pre-hibernation web where they remain until late fall when they migrate down into the leaf litter. While most butterflies and moths overwinter as eggs or pupae, the Baltimore Checkerspot remains in its larval stage until spring, when it forms a chrysalis, pupates and emerges as an adult butterfly.
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Turtlehead Flowering & Being Pollinated By Bumblebees
Turtlehead, Chelone glabra, a member of the Plantain family (Plantaginaceae), can be found growing along stream banks and wetlands throughout eastern North America. Its long arching upper lip, or hood, overlaps the lower lip like a turtle’s beak, giving Turtlehead its common name. The male parts of the flower mature before the female parts, and when pollen is being produced these lips are very hard to pry open. Pollinators are primarily bumblebees, which are some of the only insects that have the strength to open the flower. When the female pistil matures, the lips relax a bit, so entry is easier, but access to the nectar at the base of the flower is restricted (by a sterile stamen) to long-tongued insects. Thus, it is specifically long-tongued bumblebees that are able to both enter the flower and to reach the nectar. If you look on the sides of the flowers, occasionally you will find where impatient bumblebees have chewed through to the nectar, avoiding the struggles involved in entering the flower in the traditional manner.
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