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One of the things that I like about gardening is that there is a lot of science behind it, sometimes we don't even think about it. An example of this is something that we will all be seeing ongoing from now until the first snows come in our area -- how plants and insects survive our winter. We all know what our own personal coping methods are to keep warm and moving in our winters. But have you ever thought about how insects survive in the winter? We know Monarchs fly south as do some other butterflies, but what about those insects that can't fly south?
In the column, "Tough Buggers: Insect strategies to survive winter in Minnesota" by Cira, Christenson, Hanson, Hefty, Morey, Nail, Rosenberger and Venette, we learn just what it is that insects can do to make it through some of the colder winters in Minnesota. This information helps us to determine where invasive species may establish themselves to what kind of impact insects may have on certain crops. In the home garden, it maybe helps us understand why all those insects move into our homes in the fall. Right now, we are all battling the mosquito population and it often seems that even bug spray doesn't seem to help us out.
Snow is also a key component for insects to survive our winters just as it is for our plants and some of our wild animals.
There are three basic ways for insects to survive winter: avoid it, supercool yourself or let yourself freeze. We certainly have our share of insects that choose to avoid it by entering our homes with quite a few of them living together in groups. Some insects supercool themselves by making chemicals to prevent themselves from freezing. The last group uses special proteins to allow themselves to freeze in a certain way to avoid the most damage from freezing. Monarchs leave us for the winter. Certain honeybees and Asian ladybeetles gather together in groups in sheltered areas to keep warm. Insects that supercool themselves are Emerald Ash Borer, Codling moths, Forest Tent Caterpillars and soybean aphids. I found this interesting because it seems this group gets the most press about the damage they cause every year. And, finally, one caterpillar many of us are familiar with, the Woolly Brown Caterpillar lets itself freeze. For those of you who are into good stories, Woolly Brown (Bear) Caterpillars will also "predict" how severe a winter will be. The middle part of this caterpillar is light brown while its ends are dark brown. The bigger the light brown band, the milder the winter will be. Well, this is great fun to share this with the kids but there is a scientific reason why the light brown band is bigger or smaller.
According to the National Weather Service, "even though it is widely believed that the woolly bear caterpillar can predict the upcoming winter's severity, the truth is that this caterpillar can't predict what Old Man Winter has in store for us in the upcoming winter. The woolly bear caterpillar's coloring is based on how long caterpillar has been feeding, its age, and species. The better the growing season is the bigger it will grow. This results in narrower red-orange bands in its middle. Thus, the width of the banding is an indicator of the current or past season's growth rather than an indicator of the severity of the upcoming winter. Also, the coloring indicates the age of the woolly bear caterpillar. The caterpillars shed their skins or molt six times before reaching adult size. With each successive molt, their colors change, becoming less black and more reddish. In addition, there are approximately 260 species of tiger moths (the adult of the woolly bear caterpillar) in North America, and each species has slightly different color patterns and hair coverings. As a result, some of the color and hair variations that we see each fall are a result of these different species."
So, there you have it, another myth debunked. But, I still like to guess what our winters will be like, just by looking at a caterpillar. For more information about gardening, please email me at s.dejaeghere@me.com. Remember! The Lyon County Master Gardeners are signing up folks right now until Oct. 1 to become a master gardener. For more information, you can email me for more information.