Thursday, October 20, 2011

Leaf Motels and Restaurants

When you rake leaves this fall, take a moment to check out the leaves before you dive in or mulch them.

Do any of them have chew marks from insects? Do they have holes where a bug munched? These are leaf restaurants. Many different kinds of insects eat leaves. Were the insects big or little? How do you know?

What leaves to you eat? We eat all sorts of leaves such as lettuce, spinach, kale, and seaweed.

Look closely at the leaves and you might see bumps on them. The bumps are where insects make their homes. Many times it is a mother insect laying eggs under the skin of the leaf. Her babies will hatch out in a safe spot and burrow out or start eating the leaf. This is a leaf motel where the insect stays for a while.

If you want to save your leaves you can dry them in a book and then paste them in your own book or iron them between two pieces of wax paper. But before you do, make sure your leaf isn't an insect motel!

2 comments:

  1. What a great idea! It is so much easier to find things in the leaves that have come off the tree.

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  2. Thanks for commenting, Roberta! Leaves on the ground are soo much easier to work with and you also know that the tree is completely finished using them.

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