Flora and fauna: Ladybugs; mushrooms and fires; wolves and ranchers; tomatoes; animal senses; Vermont loons

Painting by Ed Steed, The New Yorker

Aphid eaters and adorable, ladybugs, or Coccinellidae, are like little summertime friends. A "swarm of ladybugs is collectively called a loveliness," Françoise Mouly writes for The New Yorker. Mouly interviewed artist Ed Steed, who decked out the magazine's June ladybug cover, about "the joy of painting, an affection for the little things, and the luck of the ladybugs." Mouly asked him if each ladybug had its own personality. He told her: "That's the good thing about painting by hand. No matter how hard you try to make things look the same, each comes out unique. So each one ends up having its own character. Just like in real life, no two of anything can be the same."

Mushrooms could be an answer to megafire prevention. "Slash piles are an increasingly common sight in the American West, as land managers work to thin out unnaturally dense sections of forests. . . [The piles] have inadvertently increased the risk of devastating megafires," reports Stephen Robert Miller of The Washington Post. Hauling the slash piles out of the woods has been one solution. Letting mushrooms do the job is another. "Like a flame, saprophytic fungi break organic material into carbon compounds. Mycelium, the often unseen, root-like structure of the fungi, secretes digestive enzymes that release nutrients from the substrate it consumes. . . Whereas a flame destroys nearly all organic nitrogen, mycelium can fortify nitrogen where it's needed in the forest floor."

Gray wolves in California, where they are a recovering
endangered species. (Shutterstock photo)

In areas where ranchers and gray wolves must coexist, some states compensate ranchers for predator damages, reports Shea Swensen of Ambrook Research. "To aid the ranchers who deal with the impacts of wolf presence, states like New Mexico, Oregon, and California started programs that pay them back for the financial burdens of losing their animals. The programs offer reimbursement for direct livestock loss due to wolves or non-lethal on-ranch tools — like fences, guard dogs, or even extra staff."

Pink Pounder hybrid tomatoes
(Garden Plants online photo)

With names like Beefsteak, Big Beef, Bucking Bronco or Pink Pounder Hybrid, summer tomatoes are fun, but more importantly, they are delectable. Try out these meaty varieties. Rejoice in learning how to make all the best tomato recipes. Find out about the infamous Southern tomato sandwich. Enjoy!

Sometimes it can be hard for humans to grapple with the tremendous gifts other animals have. They don't go to school, YouTube it or read how-to manuals. "Pit vipers have infrared vision, bees can view ultraviolet light, and electric eels use their zaps to 'see' through the murky waters of the Amazon," reports Jason Bittel of Popular Science. He adds five animals that can sense things humans can't. They are just born that way.

A parenting loon gives the chicks a ride. Male and
female loons co-parent. (Shutterstock photo)

Vermont's oldest loon, known as "Neward Pond Male," died at age 31. For the past 45 years, The Loon Conservation Project "has helped bring the common loon back to lakes across the state and made huge strides in research, education and advocacy, reports Hannah Cho of the Valley News of West Lebanon, N.H., and White River Junction, Vt. "When Newark Pond Male was banded, the loon was still on Vermont's endangered species list (it wouldn't come off until 2005), but the population had already begun to rise."