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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2020)
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Tales from a Sisters Naturalist by Jim Anderson There’s no such thing as a free lunch Just about everyone who reads, watches or listens to nature stories is familiar with the plight of monarch butter- flies in the Western United States. Their numbers have dropped from millions to thousands in the last 20 years for a variety of reasons, most wrapped around habitat and their food plant, milkweed. Well, there I was over at Clarno, on the banks of the John Day River, visiting and delighting in the large milk- weed growing operation the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service have teamed up on. They were growing milkweed for replanting on their lands in hopes of producing hundreds of monarch butterflies. Imagine my horror when I was photographing a very beautiful, fat and healthy caterpillar on the milkweed when suddenly a big paper wasp flew by, carrying one of the caterpillars off. My first impulse was to knock the wasp out of the sky and save the caterpil- lar, but thank goodness I checked that action and just watched it go by, headed for its huge nest in a cottonwood right alongside the monarch garden. As I watched the huge wasp nest I could see other wasps returning with their prizes, so I got out my binocs, sat down in the edge of the monarch garden to watch the show. As I was observing it, a magpie suddenly came flying through my field of vision, and as I watched it snatched one of the fully-loaded wasps out of the air. I thought of the old say- ing, <There9s no such thing as a free lunch in the world of nature.= Sure, when things are going smoothly, the cater- pillar will be getting a free lunch from the plant9s life (and the plant may be get- ting fertilized by the caterpil- lar9s frass/poop). But, then a wasp comes by, snatches up the caterpillar and hauls it off to feed its babies, and then along comes the magpie who grabs the wasp out of the sky and hauls it home as food for its babies. The pages keep turn- ing, and along comes a bird hawk/accipiter, who sees the magpie and decides it would be just the right thing to feed its young, and the tale goes on and on& And, if a bird doesn9t get the wasp, a fence liz- ard watching from a nearby rock may swallow the wasp, not bothered a bit by all the stinging going on 4 and then a kestrel comes along and grabs up the lizard to feed its hungry nestlings. But let9s go back to the wasp: The paper wasp is clas- sified as a predatory wasp, in the vespidae family, known as killer wasps. They are very good at ridding a cash crop of insects that interfere with a farmer9s trying to make a liv- ing, and way better than pes- ticides. And there9s no chem- ical residue left lying around to kill everything else. For a bigger caterpillar, wasps will use their stinger to subdue it and then after feed- ing on it themselves, roll it up into a ball and haul it back to their kids for breakfast, lunch or evening meal. For harm- ful larvae, such as the cab- bage butterfly, for example, that9s an end to the farmer9s problem. I9ve been told it is pos- sible to purchase parasitic wasps from a garden shop that sells insects, and use them to destroy caterpillars causing serious damages to a cash crop. The wasps lay their eggs in caterpillars, then when the caterpillar enters the chrysalis stage to become an adult insect, the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the developing butterfly, then metamorphose into an adult wasp then exit through a tiny hole and fly off. My wife Sue and I saw the evidence of that phenomenon back in the 1980s when we brought 10 or so California tortoiseshell butterfly chrys- alids home with us from a huge hatch near Tumalo Falls. We wanted to obtain emerging butterfly photos. However, we observed (and photographed) only jewel- like adult parasitic wasps emerging from the chrysalid cases, not the butterflies we hoped for. I don9t think anyone offers paper wasps for sale, as they can become a serious pest when they build their big paper-like bag nests near people. Any perceived threat to the wasps9 welfare will cause a lot of buzzing and summer at suttle lodge FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE 2ND & 4TH FRIDAY – EACH MONTH Join us 3-4 p.m. at the intersection of Hwy. 20 (Cascade Ave.) & Larch Streets PHOTO BY SUE ANDERSON Becker’s White butterfly caterpillar about to become food for an Oregon Sand Wasp. stinging on humans nearby and that makes everyone unhappy. If you get bored with tele- vision, and the library hasn9t got the book you want to read, take a hike out to the nearest tent caterpillars9 nest, set your picnic chair and lunch close by and watch the action. But remember, when the wasps complain about your presence and snack on your peanut butter and jam sandwich, <There ain9t no such thing as a free lunch in nature&= FREE LIVE MUSIC Friday & Saturday Nights 6:30 p.m. Now Open 8 a.m. for Breakfast! Open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. 175 N. Larch St. 541-549-6114 hardtailsoregon.com Facebook darcymacey Entertainment & Events AUG 5 WED AUG 6 THUR Black Butte Ranch Live Music with Julie Southwell and Friends 6 to 8 p.m. Socially distant on the lawn near The Lakeside Bistro. For information call 541-595-1282 or go online to www.blackbutteranch.com. Paulina Springs Books Virtual Event Books In Common Regional Literary Event Series with Larry Watson 6:30 p.m. The author will share from his new book “The Lives of Edie Pritchard.” For more info call 541-549-0866 or go to BooksinCommonNW.com. Chops Bistro Live Music with Rhonda Funk 6 to 8 p.m. Limited seats. For information call 541-549-6015. The Suttle Lodge Thursday on the Deck Summer Wine Series Seatings every 30 minutes from 1 to 4 p.m. Wine paired with small-plates from the chef. Reservations required at www.thesuttlelodge.com/happenings. Food Cart Garden at Eurosports Trivia Night 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. Family-friendly trivia. Socially-distant. Free. For additional information call Eurosports at 541-549-2471. WEDNESDAY COOKOUTS rotating breweries & BBQ SPECIALS every Wednesday 5-7 PM FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED ALL AGES AUG 5 AUG 12 AUG 7 FRI Everybody’s WAYFINDER BEER Chops Bistro Live Music with Tony Lompa 6 to 8 p.m. For information call 541-549-6015. Hardtails Bar & Grill Live Music with Juju Eyeball 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Beatles tribute. Free. No cover! For more information call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com. Food Cart Garden at Eurosports Friday Car Show 5-6:30 p.m. Bring your cool or vintage car for the free Friday car show. For more information call Eurosports at 541-549-2471. DEMAND ACTION ON CLIMATE CRISES Sidewalks only • Bring your masks & signs AUG 8 SAT Nashville Songwriter & Recording Artist Rhonda Funk Thursday, August 6, 6 to 8 p.m. | Performing outdoors, seat seats are limited - Chops Bistro - Or join i us d during i regular l di dining i h hours T Tuesday d th through h S Sunday Lounge & Dining Room open at 4:30 p.m. 370 E. Cascade Ave. | 541-549-6015 THURSDAYS ON THE DECK AUG Every Thursday, different wines from the Willamette Valley & PAIRED small-plates SUN SEATINGS 1-4 PM RSVP REQUIRED AT SUTTLELODGE.COM/HAPPENINGS AUG 6 AUG 13 DAY WINES BETHEL HEIGHTS 13300 HWY 20, SISTERS 9 9 AUG 12 WED Hardtails Bar & Grill Live Music with Nightlife 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Portland classic rock & more. Free. No cover! For more info call 541-549-6114 or go to hardtailsoregon.com. Chops Bistro Live Music with Bob Baker & Mark Barringer 6 to 8 p.m. For information call 541-549-6015. Fir Street Park Sisters Farmers Market 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Every Sunday: fresh local produce and more. Pre-order and details at sistersfarmersmarket.com. Chops Bistro Live Music with Bill Keale 5 to 7 p.m. For information call 541-549-6015. Black Butte Ranch Live Music with Julie Southwell and Friends 6 to 8 p.m. Socially distant on the lawn near The Lakeside Bistro. For information call 541-595-1282 or go online to www.blackbutteranch.com. Events Calendar listings are free to advertisers. Submit items by 5 p.m. Fridays to lisa@nuggetnews.com ?