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| DIAMONDBACK
TERRAPIN DRAGONFLIES GREENHEAD CONTROL MONARCH BUTTERFLIES ARE IN TROUBLE |
SALT MARSH MOSQUITO PINE KILLERS AT WORK TERMITES AT THE BEACH TOAD |
Sallie Phillips No 2 / 1995
During our interview for the Winter Newsletter dredging article, the Bean/Weeks Project Engineer, from Louisiana, asked, "What kind of turtles do you have around here?" That prompted us to find out more about our barrier beach resident - The Diamondback Terrapin.
Terrapin is Native American for "little turtle" and Diamondback Terrapins max out at about 9 inches in length and 2 pounds in weight. A turtle of the salt marches and estuaries from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Diamondback is named for its distinctive upper shell which features deeply scored diamond shaped rings. Some shells have brightly contrasting light and dark colors that bring out the patterns. Other shells are solid dark brown or black. The shell of an adult Diamondback varies in size from four to seven inches in length. The female's shell may be almost twice as large as a male's shell and in both sexes it is wider at the back than the front.
This terrapin's lower shell, legs and head are speckled with black dots. The Diamondback actually belongs to the family of freshwater turtles but it lives in salt and brackish water near the North American Atlantic Coast. It will rarely go far upstream beyond the mouth of a river. In fact, a Diamondback which is kept in fresh water will develop a skin fungus which will disappear when salt is added to its habitat.
A Diamondback spends most of its day floating just below the surface of the water with only the tip of its snout exposed. It steadies itself by paddling slowly with its webbed hind feet. However, all four of its strong, muscular legs are adapted for swimming quickly when necessary.
Diamondbacks can often be seen on land basking in the sun during the hotter mid-day. They bury themselves in the wet mud at night. They also dig into the mud to hibernate for the winter but will emerge during mild spells long enough to feed and build up their fat supply.
Diamondbacks feed primarily on small fish, snails, crabs, worms and plant shoots. They feed by day using their hard horny beaks and powerful jaws to rip and cut their food into small, edible pieces. Smaller prey and insects are swallowed whole. The Diamondback will drink only fresh water, unlike its marine turtle cousins, who can excrete the salt from saltwater.
The mating of Diamondbacks occurs in the spring, with the warmer temperature being the triggering factor. A female, which matures around seven years of age, can lay fertile eggs for several years after a single mating. She has the ability to store live sperm that is later used to fertilize eggs. Depending upon her size, the female may lay as many as five times per year.
In warm weather, she leaves the water to dig a nest just above the high water mark. She gouges a hole about a foot deep with her hind legs. After laying 7 to 24 small white eggs, she covers them with mud and sand. The eggs will take about 90 days to hatch. The hatchlings, which are more brightly colored than their parents, immediately scramble down to the marsh to take cover in the thick vegetation.
Diamondback Terrapins were once hunted to near extinction for their tasty meat. In the 1700's it was considered a cheap source of food for slaves but by the 1800's it became a delicacy. In the early 20th century diamondbacks were sold for as much as $120 a dozen.
After conservation and protective measures, Diamondback Terrapins are on the increase. Commercial farms are now the primary source for turtle meat. Gulls and foxes also prey on the Diamondback Terrapin. Left to its solitary lifestyle, it will live about 30 years in the wild. In captivity some Diamondbacks have lived for 70 years.
Many Babylon Barrier Beach residents have remarked about the increase of dragonflies this season. This is good news on two fronts. First, because dragonflies eat mosquitoes and second, because they share the mosquito environment and their presence indicates that the Vector Control biological applications (see Vector article under Mosquitoes) are not harming the good insects.
“Dragonfly” is the common name for any member of an order of predaceous insects. There are over 4000 species of dragonflies, including damselflies, and several varieties are known to be in our area. Damselflies differ from true dragonflies. Damselflies hold their wings above the body when at rest; dragonflies spread their wings out when resting. Damselflies are usually smaller and frailer than true dragonflies.
Both species have large heads with large compound eyes and short antennae. They have mouths which are well adapted for biting. Their abdomens are fairly long and their legs are situated toward the front of their bodies. The legs, seldom used for walking, are used as a basket to gather up their victims as they dart through the air. Their nearly identical two sets of wings are gauzelike and seem to shimmer in the sunlight as they hover in the air hunting mosquitoes and other insects.
Dragonflies undergo “incomplete metamorphosis” during their development. Some species drop their eggs into the water (freshwater) or attach them to aquatic plants. Some species split open the stems of plants at the waterline and deposit their eggs inside. The eggs then hatch into nymphs which mature in the water while feeding on various forms of aquatic life, including mosquito larvae. The nymphs, like their parents, are accomplished predators with hinged lower jaws, armed with hooks at the end which can shoot out quickly to snatch up the prey. Depending upon the species, the nymphal period is from one to three years, during which time the nymph molts many times. When the nymphs have fully matured they emerge and begin their lives as graceful winged adults.
A common true dragonfly in the United States is the green darner which has clear wings and a green head and thorax. The black-wing damselfly, which has black wings in the male and brown wings in the female, is also common in our area.
DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES
Sallie Phillips No 3 / 2003
Some of the most welcomed summer visitors to the barrier islands are dragonflies and damselflies. They are one of the oldest types of insects. Fossil records show that they were flying more than 300 million years ago - 100 million years before dinosaurs and 150 million years before birds. Since their appearance the only thing that has changed about them is their size; in prehistoric times some of them were as large as hawks. In many parts of the world dragonfly fossils have been discovered with wingspans about 30 inches across.
In the animal kingdom species are divided into Phyla, Classes, and Orders. Of the phylum Arthropoda and class Insecta, worldwide insects comprise the largest group of animals and generally they are creatures with three part bodies; each has a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. The thorax has three pairs of legs and usually two pairs of wings. Dragonflies and damselflies are insects of the order Odonata. There are 5,300 different species of odonata. On our continent there are two suborders of odonata: Anisoptera - dragonflies and Zygoptera - damselflies. Odonates are not difficult to distinguish from other insects. Each adult has a pair of prominent compound eyes that takes up most of its head. It has a compressed thorax with two pairs of almost equal sized large delicate membranous wings and three pairs of legs. And, it has a long slender abdomen. The abdomen is flexible, divided into 10 segments, and is at least as long as the length of one wing. Both males and females have clasping organs at the end of their abdomens. Odonates, unlike other insects can beat their wings independently; the front ones can be up while the back ones are down. They can hover and fly backwards as easily as forward. Their legs are strong enough to perch or hold prey but not strong enough to walk. As adults they breathe through holes in their abdomens but in the larval stage they live in the water and breathe through gills.
Generally dragonflies are larger than damselflies. Dragonflies are strong fliers while damselflies display a weak fluttery flight. The most noticeable distinction is how they hold their wings when at rest. Damselflies can hold their wings back over their abdomen but dragonflies cannot, so they hold their wings straight out from their thorax at almost a right angle. For the average person it's really not easy to distinguish the species of odonata but experts have identified 164 different varieties from 9 different families in New York State. Among them there were 23 bluets, 23 clubtails, 18 darners, 15 emeralds, 10 spreadwings and 10 skimmers. They vary in size, color, configuration and markings.
Regardless of the species, all odonata are large flying carnivorous insects with strong biting mouthparts. They mostly hunt flying insects, which they catch on the wing, and they do a great job of controlling mosquitoes. They have very large compound eyes with as many as 30,000 individual lenses so they have exceptionally good eyesight for spotting their prey. They rely on their vision rather than their senses of touch or smell. Their antennae are small and not well developed. They neither sting or bite and are completely harmless to humans but they often seem attracted to humans. It's probably the mosquitoes, seeking their blood meals from mammals, which really attract the odonata. It's easy to understand why the barrier beach people are delighted at the presence of dragonflies and damselflies and discourage newcomers and visitors who, in fear, might try to kill off these large insects. In addition to controlling mosquitoes, odonata are useful in assessing the quality of the environment. Most of their lives are spent in the water and their existence is greatly affected by different factors like pollution, vegetation, and water flow. Increased numbers of odonata will indicate improved environmental factors. Also, the presence of odonata suggests that mosquito control spraying is not harming other non-target species.
All insects evolve from eggs. Most experience a metamorphosis which is the evolution from one form to another. Some insects have three stages of life after hatching. Odonata have two stages: larval and adult. The larval stage is the growth stage of an insect's life. In the case of odonates, it is the longest period of their lives, from three months to more than four years, depending upon the species. As previously mentioned, larvae live in water and breathe through gills. By squirting water, their gills also provide their means of propulsion through the water. Odonata larvae feed on fish spawn, tadpoles, and the larvae of smaller insects, like mosquitoes. Most larvae are free ranging, detecting their prey by sight, and catching it with a speedy extensible grasping lip apparatus. As they grow they repeatedly shed their outer cover to grow a new one. The period between these molts is called an "instar" and odonates experience between 8 to 15 instars depending upon the species. A larva will continue to develop until in its last instar it has all of the organs and characteristics which it will need to survive as a flying insect.
When the larva has completely developed and circumstances are right, it leaves the water and starts its life as an adult non-aquatic insect. Most odonata species require a vertical surface, like a stem or reed, to climb out of the water. When it is completely out of the water, the new dragonfly uses its claws to attach itself to a firm surface to finish its transformation. Its larval casing breaks away; its body expands; and its wing-buds spread out into the beautiful transparent wings which, when dry, will allow it to fly away from the water.
You never see dragonflies on cold and rainy days because adult odonata need sunshine and warmth to get around. They must warm themselves and dry out their wings before they can fly. To take advantage of the sun's rays they perch at right angles to the sunlight and they shiver their flight muscles to create heat. Once in flight, dragonflies can fly as fast as 30 miles per hour. Odonata can sometimes be seen flying in swarms. This is either because of excellent feeding conditions in the area or a mass migration.
As an adult, the dragonfly or the damselfly will go through two periods: dispersal first and then reproduction. The first period takes from a few days to three weeks and it is the time when the odonate heads away from the water to acquire its full coloration and sexual maturity. It will not return to the water until it is ready to mate. Its reproductory period takes from one to three weeks.
Mating of odonates is unique because males possess two sets of sexual organs. Before mating the male must transfer his sperm from the primary sexual apparatus, located on the 9th segment of his abdomen, to the secondary apparatus, located on the 2nd abdominal segment. When he encounters a receptive female he will grasp her behind her head with the claspers which are located on his abdomen. She also has claspers at the end of her abdomen and the pair forms a "wheel" position as both partners curve their abdomens to engage her genitalia to his sexual organ. Mating can last from a minute to more than one hour. Sometimes a male will remove any sperm deposited by a previous suitor. Immediately after mating, the female will deposit her eggs, sometimes attended by her mate, and then she will fly away from the water until she has another batch of eggs ready for fertilization. The female of certain species has an ovipositor under segment 9 or 10 of her abdomen.
Depending upon the species of odonata, eggs are laid either inside the living tissue of an aquatic plant, by using the ovipositor, or dispersed onto the water or the mud around the water. Eggs are normally laid in a batch, which could contain thousands of eggs. In the Middle Atlantic States eggs generally overwinter and don't hatch for several months.
Bud Maaser, No 3 / 1999
The salt marsh greenhead fly, tabanus nigrovittatus, as we know is an abundant and bothersome summer time pest along eastern coastal marshes. Because the female greenhead bites during daylight, and because of its high numbers, long flight range, and persistent attacks, these pests can limit one’s enjoyment of gardening, picnics, and other outdoor activities throughout much of the summer.
Conventional methods of biting-fly control such as those used for mosquitoes, are either environmentally unwise or economically impractical. Both adults and larvae of greenhead flies are large by comparison to other non target organisms. In general, the larger the insect, the heavier the dose of insecticide needed to control it.
A greenhead fly box trap was designed to resemble a large four legged animal. The green flies go underneath the “belly” of the trap to bite and they get caught in the screening and die. These traps were built and used by some beach residents and later used by the Town of Babylon along the Amity Cut and near the public beaches with great results, indicating that they capture greenhead flies in sufficient numbers (up to 3000 flies a day) to noticeably decrease the problem.
The trap provides an ecologically safe, inexpensive effective means of control. Traps should be set out during the last week in June and kept operational through August. Maintenance is simple. Tears or holes in the screens or sides should be patched or plugged. Trapped flies usually die in less than twenty-four hours. Removal of dead flies is unnecessary because they dry and decompose rapidly.
Trap location is quite important; success varies between sites. In general traps should be placed on the marsh edge near the upland or along the open edge of wooded or shrubby areas. Clusters of two or three traps in a fly path tend to capture more flies than the line of isolated traps. Vegetation beneath and around the trap should be kept low, 4 to 6 inches, for about a 12-foot radius.
The trap is basically a black, four sided box on legs, having a screen top and inverted V-shaped bottom. Flies enter the trap from below through an entry slot at the top of the V. The sides of the box can be made of nearly any kind of paneling, including plywood or plastic sheeting tacked to wooden framing.
The trap dimensions have been developed through experimental trial and error, and the builder should try to stick to the 16-inch by 32-inch dimensions. Larger and smaller box traps were found to be less efficient. These dimensions allow four sides to be cut from a standard 4’ by 8’ panel with minimal waste, which is good to know if you are making more than one trap. Greenhead fly traps could be a great community project and one that will surely pay off next year.
Wood:
1 sht. 1/2” ext. plywood
1 pc. 1 x 2 x 12’
1 pc. 1 x 1 x 12’
1 pc. 2 x 4 x 14’
Hardware:
3’x 7’ metal screening
6d nails
8-1’ #6 screws
1” brads
4d nails
glue
Glossy black paint
Construction method
1. Cut four 16-inch by 32-inch pieces of 1/2-inch exterior plywood. Form a box frame by butting two end pieces against two side pieces and nail it together using 6d nails. Cut two 2-inch-square pieces of 1-inch stock, then cut each in half on a diagonal, producing four triangular braces. Attach one in each corner of the box frame, at the top, using two 1-inch #6 screws.
2. Working inside the frame, locate the vertical center line of the ends. Cut four 2-inch lengths of 1 x 1 stock. Using 1-inch brads, fasten two inside each end of the frame, locating them, as shown, 4 inches below the top and 1/2 inch apart, parallel to the center line (one a 1/4 inch to each side of the center line). Now measure from each vertical strip to the closest corner, as shown, and cut a strip of 1 x 1 to fit, mitering the butt ends to ensure a snug fit against the side of the vertical strip and in the frame corner. Each of these strips should be 17 3/4 inches long. Fasten in place with 1-inch brads. Finally, measure from vertical strip to vertical strip, across the box, and cut two horizontal screen supports from 1 x 1 stock and fasten in place, using the 1-inch brads. Each horizontal support should be about 31 inches long.
3. From 2 x 4 stock, cut four 38-inch legs. Attach them to the trap box, locating them 2 inches shy of the top edge of the box and positioning them with a broad face against the side of the box and flush with the corners. Drive several 4d nails through the box into each leg.
4. Construct a frame to hold the top screening. Cut two 34 1/2-inch lengths and two 33 1/2-inch lengths of 1 x 2, making the cuts through the broad face of the stock on a 45-degree angle. Assemble the slightly over-square frame, using mitered corners, with glue and 4d nails.
5. Paint the trap inside and out with glossy black paint.
6. Once the paint has dried, cut metal (not plastic) insert screen to fit and staple it to the bottom edge of the 1 x 1 supports inside the trap. The screen should extend down the vertical strips and along the descending diagonals to the bottom edge of the frame. The two horizontal braces will hold the screen the proper 1/2-inch distance apart. Cut screen to fit over the top frame and staple it in place. Then carefully fit this screened lid over the open top of the box trap.
MONARCH BUTTERFLIES ARE IN TROUBLE
Bud Maaser, No 2 / 2002
For perhaps 10,000 years the monarch butterflies have been wintering in the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico. The butterflies stay there from November through March. Monarch's live in the pine trees on the mountain slopes and dine on different species of milkweed. Mexican farmers are striving to get rid of the milkweed that the larvae need and woodcutters are eliminating trees the butterflies need for winter roosts. Monarchs are protected from being eaten by birds because early in life, while still caterpillars, they dine on milkweed. Milkweed contains poisons that make the birds vomit violently, a memorable experience birds aren't eager to repeat.
The monarch butterfly is an intrepid little creature, migrating up to 3000 miles from Mexico to Canada and the Northeastern United States. The butterflies mate in the spring, then lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves as they journey north. The parents die en route, but the offspring know to carry on northward. The eggs hatch in three to five days. For the next 9 to 18 days, the larvae feed on milkweed leaves and become on to two inch caterpillars. The caterpillar then attaches itself upside down to a twig, sheds its skin and becomes a chrysalis. Nine to twenty days later it emerges as a butterfly, inflates its wings, and after they stiffen it is ready to fly.
This year our area will not see nearly as many monarch butterflies as we have in the past. The forest floors of the mountains in Mexico are covered with millions of dead monarchs due to a snow storm in November that dumped 4 inches of snow on the ground. To make matters worse, later on in the month there was rain and a quick freeze. Some experts feel that logging may have contributed to the winter kill by reducing the forest canopy that shelters the monarchs. You can think of the forest as a blanket that covers the butterflies from storms, if the blanket has holes in it, wind, rain, snow and sleet can come in. Experts warn that the butterflies are just not going to be able to make it if the logging continues. There is too much damage done to the butterfly forest already. The say it must stop.
Seeing these beautiful creatures migrate through our area in the spring and fall is something I look forward to. Let's hope some of them survived the terrible winterkill.
Roy Reynolds, No 2 / 1992, reprinted No 1 / 2000
In the war against the annoying (or worse) salt marsh mosquitoes, the best defense is knowledge of the insect’s life cycle and habits, especially since millions of these pests can be produced in just a few days.
The common salt marsh mosquito, Aedes sollicitans, has a life cycle that is adapted to the environment of the marsh. Like all mosquitoes, the immature stages need water, but the salt marsh mosquito, unlike other species, has young that are tolerant to the high salt levels in the coastal marshes. This tolerance to salt permits them to utilize vast acreage of marsh without competition from other mosquito species.
The female salt marsh mosquito deposits her eggs on moist mud at the edges of receding tidal pools. The female generally chooses areas where the vegetation is thick enough to exclude predatory fish. She also chooses areas of the salt marsh that are high enough to remain dry during the daily tidal cycles and are only flooded during spring tides which occur every two weeks. Each female lays approximately 100 eggs which quickly develop hard shells. The shells permit the egg to dry completely on the marsh surface and withstand the hot sun which sometimes bakes the surface mud to the consistence of hardened pottery.
When the marsh does flood, the eggs become covered with water, the cue for them to hatch. Within several hours, millions of larvae break from the shells and begin feeding on the microorganisms in the tidal pools. The diet is rich and larval growth is rapid, necessary since the tidal pool will dry up again in a short time. If the water in the tidal pool is warm, the mosquito passes from egg to larva to pupa to adult in as little as four or five days. The adults emerge from the water in the drying pool.
The adult mosquitoes remain on the marsh for a day or so to mate, and then they migrate in great hordes to the uplands. The females require blood to produce a healthy batch of eggs and the salt marsh may not provide enough wildlife for all of the females that hatch. Since the eggs hatch virtually simultaneously, the adults also emerge simultaneously and the resulting hungry mosquitoes descend on the communities within their flight range. Salt marsh mosquitoes are exceptionally strong fliers and are capable of traveling more than ten miles in a quest for blood. Coastal residents are overwhelmed every time a fresh brood of salt marsh mosquitoes hatch. The females are aggressive biters.
Each female mosquito that is successful in obtaining her meal of fresh blood tries to return to the marsh to deposit her eggs. The cycle is then completed with the fresh eggs available to produce another brood the next time the marsh floods. Cold weather interrupts the cycle, but the last batch of eggs deposited in the fall, produces the first generation in the following spring. In a typical season, six or more broods emerge in our coastal areas causing a nuisance that extends from early June to late September.
The mosquito by virtue of its feeding habits, represents a health hazard. The female salt marsh mosquito needs blood to reproduce, and she is not terribly fussy about where she obtains it. She may “visit” more that one warm blooded animal and thus transmit diseases and parasites from the first to the second.
When the female mosquito sucks blood, she does more than extract a small quantity of blood. Her mouth parts are composed of tiny needles that must be kept clean to function properly. When the mosquito feeds, she generally inserts her mouth parts directly into a small blood vessel and spits out saliva to clean her needles. The saliva contains an anticoagulant, and in some species, also an anesthetic so the bitten animal does not feel the puncture.
Salt march mosquitoes feed on a variety of animals in nature, with humans representing only one of many choices. The average female marsh mosquito lays 3 batches of eggs and thus needs 3 blood meals. She may take blood from several different kinds of animals for each batch. The regurgitation of saliva cleans out the waste, which includes bits of blood, from a previous meal. In some cases, the remnants include blood parasites from the previous host. Diseases such as encephalitis are known to be transmitted in this manner. The mosquito is also involved in the spread of dog heartworm. Considering that mosquitoes transmit diseases carried in the blood, their control has been a major concern of public health agencies and should not be taken lightly.
In Suffolk County mosquito elimination is handled by Vector Control. (Phone number 631-852-4270).
Bud Maaser, No 3 / 1998
The June 21, 1998 issue of the New York Times had a very good article about MOSQUITOES. I thought I would share some selections from the article with you.
“A whine in the air. A sudden silence. That unmistakable stinging moment.
“It is a sequence that has not changed, scientists say, for more that 100 million years, since the early descendants of the tropical Ur-mosquito were buzzing the Cretaceous era enjoying a bit of Tyrannosaur tartare.
“This year, the stinging, slapping and complaining have been gaining momentum. An El Nino-induced early spring gave the breeding season a jump start, and it has also been repeatedly drenched in mosquito friendly rains. Whether the plague will continue is largely a matter of day-to-day weather conditions, the experts say, with occasional heavy rain promoting mosquitoes. But the indications are all extremely favorable. For the mosquitoes.
“‘It’s hard to see how we’re going to get out of this without a whole lot of mosquitoes,’ said Dominick Ninivaggi, who heads Suffolk County’s $2 million mosquito control program, the largest in New York State with several thousand acres of its extensive salt-marshes known to be breeding sites.
“The counteroffensive has mobilized. Mondays and Tuesdays, inspectors in Suffolk and Nassau hunt for larvae. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they check their traps for adults. Thursdays, from trucks and helicopters, workers fling larvacide pellets into standing pools of brackish water hiding among the dunes along Jones Beach, into Long Island’s vast stretches of salt marsh, and into the freshwater red maple swamps of Suffolk County. If all else fails, they fog adult mosquitoes with toxic mist.
“But the whats and the whens and the whys of mosquito control are all different from - and far more environmentally sensitive than - what they used to be.
“Prevention is the first order of business and it takes the form of year-round wetlands management so environmentally friendly that nature conservancy agencies and groups have been willing partners.
“Last winter, 1300 acres of sensitive salt marsh was restored in the first year of a decade-long, $10 million cooperative effort involving the state conservation department, the Suffolk County mosquito unit, the Long Island National Wildlife Refuges and Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands preservation group. Another 700 acres are being considered for restoration next winter, some of them in Nassau County, as part of the same effort, known as the Long Island Wetlands Restoration Initiative.
“Workers have removed dikes from abandoned salt-hay farms, encouraging daily tidal flow, and have plugged ditches that drained the marshes twice daily. Although it increases the amount of standing water, this process helps to assure that fish can penetrate breeding areas. Workers even dig ponds so the fish can stay in mosquito friendly spots even when water levels are low. The fish eat the larvae. The returning shore birds eat the fish. An ecological system gets healthier.
“Wetlands management also discourages an invader weed called phragmites, which edges out the native wetlands grass, spartina, and is a better host to mosquito larvae.”
Sallie Phillips, No 2 / 1998
In a conversation with Dominick Ninivaggi, Superintendent of Suffolk County Vector Control, I brought up some concerns about mosquitoes and the methods employed to control them.
The effect of Vector Control’s application of ALTOCID on the Gilgo meadows and the possibility of making someone sick was discussed first. Mr. Ninivaggi stated that ALTOCID, a hormone growth inhibitor had been thoroughly tested by the Environmental Protection Agency before it was used and it has been in use for 20 years. The Vector Control personnel have never shown any ill effect from their handling of the substance which is applied on the wetland meadows at one ounce per acre. The World Health Organization has approved ALTOCID for the treatment of drinking water. ALTOCID is an important weapon in the war on mosquitoes. But, Mr. Ninivaggi states, anyone who is concerned about illness or ill effects should contact him or the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Asked whether ALTOCID is killing off the Killies, Mr. Ninivaggi reported that Suffolk Vector Control treats the National Wildlife Refuge and their personnel maintain various species population counts and have never reported a reduction in the Killifish count.
I asked about controlling mosquitoes that breed in the swale north of Oak Beach Road. Mr. Ninivaggi said that the area would be a good candidate for sustained release ALTOCID pellets for which the DEC had recently given permission. And, he also mentioned VECTOLEX which is a live bacteria in granular form which should be effective for six weeks per application. When the mosquito larvae ingest VECTOLEX they die when the bacteria infects their gut. That same bacteria is released back into the environment from the dead larvae, thereby giving the longer affect.
Vector Control has also targeted an area west of the Sore Thumb as a mosquito breeding site and that area will be treated during the coming season.
When asked about the congested mosquito ditches on Oak Island, Mr. Ninivaggi stated that they would have to be cleaned out by hand or with Vector Control’s amphibious ditcher at some time in the future.
Of interest to the West Gilgo Beach people is the fact that Nassau County has a mosquito control program now and is actively addressing their breeding problems at the JFK Bird Sanctuary and Tobay Beach.
Mr. Ninivaggi reported a concern about the current provisions of a bill pending in the Suffolk County Legislature calling for notification 24 hours prior to application of pesticides by the County agents. The difficulty, as Mr. Ninivaggi sees it, is the duplication of effort involved in going to a site 24 hours in advance of treating it. Additional personnel will be required to maintain the previous year’s effort or fewer sites will be treated. Hopefully, something will be worked out with the legislators to address their obvious concerns about pesticide spraying.
· REMOVE all debris which collect water, i.e. cans, bottles, old tires and buckets.
· EMPTY water cans, flower pots, toys, swimming pools (when not in use) and other outdoor objects.
· FLUSH birdbaths, fountains and troughs twice weekly.
· CLEAN clogged roof gutters and drains.
· COVER all cesspools completely.
· REMEMBER mosquitoes prefer shady areas, plan your landscaping accordingly.
· BIRDS, such as purple martins and swallows, are strong predators of adult mosquitoes and may reduce local infestations. These birds can be encouraged to nest if the homeowner constructs the appropriate birdhouse.
· CALL Vector Control at 631-852-4270
If you see an infestation of biting adults.
If you see stagnate water which could be a mosquito breeding site.
Royal Reynolds, No 3 / 1994
In the last 50 years the Japanese Black Pine has been the most widely planted tree on the Long Island Barrier Islands. Although many considered it native, it is actually an introduced species from Korea and Japan.
For the last 10 years these trees have been dying in very large numbers. At first it was believed that older trees exposed to the harshest conditions were more susceptible to problems. Now it appears that that is not always the case. There are several culprits at work killing the trees, but the Black Turpentine Beetle seems to be the most active destroyer of the pines on the South Shore of Long Island.
The Black Turpentine Beetle bores into the host tree, usually in the bottom 4 feet or in a major root, causing resin to flow, harden, and produce pitch tubes. An egg cavity is gouged on the inside of the bark and a row of eggs is deposited there. In two weeks or so, legless, white larvae hatch and begin to feed continuously on the inner bark.
When the larvae mature they each build a pupal cell between the bark and the sapwood. The pupation period is about two weeks. When the adults emerge through the bark the cycle starts over again. The whole cycle takes about three months. On Long Island the first beetles appear in Mid-April and will occur through the warm weather as the broods overlap.
As the inner tissue of the tree is destroyed by the feeding larvae the tree begins to fail and the foliage acquires a reddish-brown color. During the final stages of decline the needles will fall. The length of this death process may vary but it could take only two or three months after the initial Black Turpentine Beetle boring.
Often a blue-stain fungus is introduced into the tree by the beetles. This fungus kills the cambium thus increasing the injury caused by the Black Turpentine Beetle.
Hearty trees are generally not subject to beetle attack. To prevent attack the trees should be protected from stress or injury. Proper nutrients are helpful in maintaining a healthy tree. Avoid excessive or unnecessary pruning, since this may attract beetles to the tree. Trees that have died should be removed from the site.
Insecticides that are used for control of the Black Turpentine Beetle are lindane and chlorpyrifos. More detailed information on Japanese Black Pines and what's killing them is available from the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
James Morriss, No 2 / 1997
When we first moved to Oak Beach we were told termites would not be a problem since they didn’t live in sandy soil. This, as it turns out, is amyth. Thousands of termites are presently devouring an old pine stump in the sandy soil on the ocean side of our property and we recently discovered our house was infested with termites as well. In this short article we would like to share with you some of the information we gained from our experience and research.
A shocking figure appeared in Popular Science August 1993: “ For every human being on earth there exist 1,500 pounds of hungry, wood--eating termites.” This enormous hungry biomass is foraging all the time. They bring benefits to nature by eating dead wood and recycling trees in a forest, yet to them your house is just dead wood.
There are 2,000 species of termites worldwide. Forty species are found in the US where approximately $1.5 billion is spent annually on termite control. Subterranean termites, Reticulitermes flavipes, account for 80% of this expense. By examining DNA samples of termite tissue trapped in amber 25-30 million years old it has been found that both the termites and another common household pests, cockroaches, evolved from a common ancestor. Termites are the only insect, other than ants, bees and wasps, that form true societies.
Termites are blind and communicate by physical contact and chemical signals known as pheromones. Sound may also be used. The colony is divided into castes which include the king and a queen, who lays eggs continuously at a very rapid rate, an enormous number of workers and the soldiers, who make up only 5% of the total colony, but provide protection against ants, the main predator of termites. When the colony reaches a critical mass some of the termites develop into reproductives, become winged and fly together in a mating swarm, founding new colonies. It was a swarm alerted us to our infestation.
The common method of termite control has been the use of a toxic chemical called Chlordane. However it was determined that this pesticide caused cancer and all above ground applications were banned in the US by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1987, but it is still buried in soil around a home to create a barrier preventing termite entry. However, this chemical barrier does not effect the colony itself which could be located several hundred feet from the infested structure. Since subterranean termites require a constant source of moisture they don’t live in the dry wood they are mining, but must return to the moist soil outside the house where there is a vast underground foraging gallery connected by tunnels. Termites are experts at the art on concealing themselves.
When they infest a home the only evidence of their presence may be the tiny mud tubes they build on foundations or walls either external or internal. If you spot these slender mud tubes, you know you have termites.
There are some environmentally safe methods of control. Some are more effective that others. When our house was first treated, in order to avoid the use of toxic chemicals, we were advised to use a biological method. A solution containing parasitic nematodes that feed on termites was injected into the soil around our home. However, we had no satisfactory results and have since learned that this method often meets with little success and is now considered ineffective in dealing with subterranean termites.
In our research we discovered several other non-toxic environmentally safe methods of termite control. One drapes the area to be treated with a tarp and sets up convection heaters to blow hot air through a portable ductwork. When the wood reaches a temperature of 130 F the temperature is held steady for about 35 minutes and the termites are killed. Another method involves the use of electricity. A power supply releases high voltage electricity through a probe called an electrogun. The probe is run over the surface of the wood electrocuting the termites. Termites can also be frozen with liquid nitrogen. This technique is used primarily for the drywood termite species and not the more common species of subterranean termites. Another environmentally safe method that has just been developed is called Bio-Blast. It injects a powdered form of fungi mixed with water into active termite galleries. The fungi is deadly to termites.
The new environmentally safe method of termite control we are now using in our home has just recently been developed by DowElanco. It is called the Sentricon Colony Elimination System which involves the use of bait traps containing a paper-like material soaked in Hexaflumuron, a non-toxic substance that disrupts the molting process in termites by inhibiting the synthesis of the insects hard protective outer skin, composed of a material called chitin that is similar to human fingernail. Worker termites exchange food among themselves and carry the food they ingest back to the colony to feed the queen and the young. As more and more workers feed on the bait the whole colony is eventually wiped out. This is the only method that claims to eliminate the colony itself. We’ll have to wait to see if it is successful.
Are there termites at the Beach? You bet! Check for tunnels, folks, and watch for swarms as Spring arrives.
Royal Reynolds, No 1 / 1996
The typical toad found here on Long Island is the Fowler's Toad, technically called Bufo woodhousii fowleri. The Fowler's toad is reported to be extremely abundant in the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Long Island to North Carolina. However, in the barrier beach communities such as Gilgo, West Gilgo and Oak Beach, once a haven for such toads, there is a perception that they are all but extinct.Toads and frogs, collectively, range from above the Arctic Circle to the southern tips of Africa, Australia and South America. They are the most widely distributed of all the amphibians. The typical toad (Bufo) has a warty skin and short legs for hopping; and the typical frog (Rana) has a moist, relatively smooth skin and long legs for leaping. In most cases, toads can be readily distinguished from frogs, however, telling the different kinds of toads from each other can be more complicated due to the hybridizing of different species with each other. Therefore, the recourse is checking the shapes and sizes of the shoulder (parotoid) glands and cranial ridges, the number and prominence of warts, and the difference in coloration and patterns. A typical Fowler's Toad has (1) three or more warts in each of the largest dark spots; (2) a virtually unspotted chest and belly; (3) no greatly enlarged warts on tibia; and (4) a parotoid gland that touches the cranial ridge behind the eye. At least three of these characteristics should be present for classification as a Fowler's Toad. The general dorsal coloration is brown or gray.
On Long Island toads breed during the Spring and, depending on the weather conditions, at about the same time. The adult animals come into breeding condition and migrate to ponds and ditches where they pair up in a position known as amplexus; and as the female lays her strings of spawn, the male releases his sperm simultaneously to fertilize them. After the adults have left the water, the eggs hatch into tadpoles, eventually grow legs, lose their tails and emerge from the water to disperse into surrounding areas.
In their adult stage, all toads and frogs are carnivorous. Due to their size, most toads are limited to a diet of small invertebrates such as ants, termites, beetles, slugs, snails, earthworms and so on. Since toads must swallow their prey whole, they are limited to a mouth wide size meal.
Toads and frogs appear on the menu of a huge array of other animals. Their more obvious enemies include snakes, many of which prey exclusively on them, wading birds such as egrets and herons, and larger members of their own clan. Other predators include several large invertebrates such as spiders, fish (which devour eggs, tadpoles and adult toads), turtles and small mammals such as fox and raccoon. The tadpoles are eaten by a variety of animals, including aquatic insects and their nymphs, fishes, newts and their larvae and other toad and frog larvae. The eggs may contain substances which make them distasteful and the jelly surrounding them provides some protection, but as a race, their main defense against this onslaught is fecundity (toads produce enormous numbers of eggs). Individually, the most effective defense for the toad is to escape notice altogether; toads are extremely secretive, usually hiding during their period of inactivity beneath rocks, logs, in crevices in trees or buried in leaf litter or soil. To the untrained eye they will be all but invisible owing to their resemblance, both in color and texture, to the substrate on which they are resting.
So the question is: Where are all the toads? As we can see they could have fallen fate to any number of prey, either at the infant stage or during the adult stage. An over abundance of predators could have thrown the balance against the toad. On the barrier beach of Jones Island reductions in habitat or disruptions in breeding migration are most likely not a cause, since there has been virtually no habitat reductions or major physical changes since the 1930's, after which the toads were prolific. A more subtle cause would be changes in environmental conditions, such as changes in salinity in breeding waters or the possible effects of manmade contaminants or additives on larvae development. My bet is with the predators; however, we may never know the answer or extent of the problem, unless someone decides it is worth studying. Interested?
The American toad, bufo americanus, is divided into two subspecies: Eastern and Dwarf. The eastern American toad is a medium sized toad, about 3 to 3? inches long. Its color varies: brown, brick-red, or olive green. It has spots like other toads, but each spot contains only one wart (definitely no more than two warts per spot). This species also has enlarged warts on the lower leg, below the knee. The American toad has unwarted spots on its belly with more speckles in the forward half.
In springtime the male toad finds a water pool and calls for the females. He creates his trill by stretching out the pouch (dewlap) at his throat. Females, attracted by the call, arrive at the water and mating commences. A female toad will lay thousands of eggs, in long strings, in the water. The eggs become attached to underwater plants. In about a week tadpoles hatch from the eggs. Feeding on the plant material the tadpoles grow for about a month and then they emerge from the water as young toads. Adult American toads have lungs to breathe out of the water but they stay near the water, like all amphibians, to keep their skin moist.
American toads are very active at night when they feed on insects, worms, snails, slugs, and anything that fits in their mouths. They cast out their sticky tongues to grab their prey. During the day toads mostly hide under logs, rocks, or any loose ground cover. In cold weather they burrow underground to hibernate.
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