Flora & Fauna: Stealthy Eastern hellbenders; eavesdropping on forests; off-bottom oysters; what do wasps do?

Spotting an Eastern hellbender takes time, luck and 
snorkeling. (Adobe Stock photo) 

Taking a swim in an Appalachian river is the only way to get a glimpse of this stealthy animal that looks like it's part salamander and part alligator: the Eastern hellbender. "These rare salamanders, which can grow to over two feet long, lurk in the wild rivers of Appalachia. To spot one, you’ll need a snorkel, and some luck," reports Mihir Zaveri of The New York Times. "Hellbenders, which can live for 30 years or more, vaguely resemble large underwater lizards. . . . I heard a muffled yell from [my guide] who was floating upstream. I popped out of the water. 'Hellbender!' he shouted. 'Hellbender!'" Zavari's adventure with hellbender-in-action photos is here.

Researchers who want to know more about what's happening in Wisconsin forests have launched an eavesdropping system designed to record the sounds of birds, animals, people, weather and leaves 24/7. "Once a month, researchers hike through the woods in the Baraboo Hills to check on small boxes strapped to tree trunks. The boxes hold microphones that are running 24 hours a day, capturing the soundscape of the forest," reports Bridgit Bowden of Wisconsin Public Radio. "Bioacoustics enable researchers to get a fuller picture of the forest, the species that inhabit it and how they change over time."

Scientists seek ways for bees to spread pesticides that 
are safe for pollinators. (Offrange graphic)

To help crops stay safe from pests and molds, scientists suggest letting pollen-gathering bees do what they do best: The work. "A bumblebee prepares to leave its hive. But first, it passes through a dispenser and picks up a dusting of biofungicide, a pesticide made of mycelium, that it will soon pass on to every strawberry flower it visits," reports Leah Borts-Kuperman for Offrange. "The pest-control formula will then be transmitted from flower to flower by pollinators who will hopefully prevent the farm’s strawberries from developing the gray mold no one wants." Read more about "bee vectoring" here.

An off-bottom oyster harvesters pulls his crop from floating cages. (Photo by E. Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator)

Beset by changes in climate and natural disasters, some of Louisiana's oyster industry is delving into the off-bottom oyster business. "On-bottom culture, where oysters attach to reefs or substrate on the water’s bottom, is and has been the most popular method of oyster harvesting in Louisiana’s waters," reports Elise Plunk for New Orleans Public Radio. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lists the state’s strong interest in off-bottom oyster cultivation as a way to help build resiliency into an industry under threat from sediment diversions. . . . Whether this technique can beat back worsening hurricanes, climate change and the impact of sediment diversions is still undetermined."

When I grow up, I want to be a garlic nerd. A stinky, vampire-busting garlic nerd who grows garlic from garlic seeds, which isn't common. Most garlic doesn't grow from seeds. "Ever since people began cultivating garlic — six millennia ago by some estimates. . . scarcely a single plant was coaxed to produce one solitary seed. And so it forgot how," writes Katherine Cusumano for Offrange. "About 15 years ago, a Missouri farmer named Mark Brown began trying to coax true seeds from his garlic — an attempt, essentially, to undo thousands of years of domestication." Brown's example has been followed by many garlic-obsessed planters working on their own seeds and ideas for improving the spice plant. 

The common wasp is an insect hunter.
(Adobe Stock photo)

Besides building nearly indestructible mud or paper nests and terrifying adults and children alike with the threat of their searingly painful stings, do wasps have a purpose? Ecology researcher and wasp expert Seirian Sumner wants people to know that in the world of insects, wasps are an apex predator. She told CNN News, "Wasps are nature’s pest controllers. Without wasps. . .we would be inclined to use more chemicals to control the populations of the other insects and creepy crawlies that we don’t like: caterpillars, aphids, spiders, beetles – you name it – there is a wasp that hunts it. So wasps are really important top predators in regulating all of those insect populations within the ecosystem.”