<html><head></head><body><div class="ydpcc665ac3yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family: courier new, courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span><p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> One of the biggest
mistakes I see in determining the plants SLF feeds on is confusing the plants
egg masses are found on with food sources. The Reading Eagle published an
article yesterday which may have had a couple facts right, but for the most
part what they said does not agree with what I find in the field. The most
glaring apparent error is assuming egg masses are found only on food sources
and a few random objects. Yesterday in Blue Marsh near mile 22 on the loop
trail I saw many egg masses on an a maple (not sure the species) with a large <i>Ailanthus</i> tree which was the food source,
due to its abnormally darkened bark, about 8 feet away with few if any egg
masses on it.</span></p>
<p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> SLF egg masses are
always vertical or close to it. They appear to be laid from bottom to top often
with a "tail" where the last of the covering matrix dribbled out of
the female. On many trees you will see horizontal blotches often on the same
tree as SLF egg masses, they are not egg masses.</span></p>
<p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> Another trend,
though far from absolute, is that egg masses are often laid in (small) clusters
on trees, as if once an egg mass is deposited other females key in on it when
laying their egg masses. Or perhaps sometimes the females cluster and lay the
eggs as a group. This is consistent with the strong tendency of SLF to cluster
together as adults. (This clustering tendency will be something to study with
nymphs this summer.) This is far from absolute, but a tendency I find in the
field just as often I see single egg masses on trees.</span></p>
<p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> The most common
exception is <i>Ailanthus </i>to the non-food site of egg laying.
While on trail Monday just north of where I was yesterday some <i>Ailanthus </i>trees
had huge clusters of eggs. This is not an absolute rule. Along with this, there
are many trees where SLF were apparently feeding, but no egg masses nearby. Apparently,
just because there are feeding SLF does not mean that they are also
reproducing. I may have seen this yesterday in a large stand of older <i>Ailanthus</i> trees with a younger stand
attached to it.</span></p>
<p class="ydp8121775MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> </span></p>
<div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> The only way I
know for certain that a plant is a food source is when I see wet spots from sap
leakage and SLF adults either on that spot or nearby. Again, there are a couple
exceptions, especially wild grape where the nature of its bark makes sap
leakage hard to see.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"><br></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> <span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">As in all things biological and ecological SLF is messy. What appears to be hard fast rule is often broken and the unexpected occurs.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"><span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> A final thought is
that agriculture by its nature is about tinkering. As an ecologist my nature is
to observe and study before even thinking about tinkering. Land Grant schools
such as Penn State were often founded to "improve" agriculture so are
biased towards tinkering. Somewhere, Science was hijacked from observing
natural phenomena to engineering natural phenomena. This is just a thought
about the differences between my approach and the approach of other people.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"><br></span></div><div style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Courier New;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> Richard Gardner</span></div></span></div></body></html>