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
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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
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