NYBG EcoQuest May 2018 - Week Three
May 1–21
Mayapple Observations: 470
Observers (27): @elizajsyh, 194; @heathdog, 56; @plnthunter22, 53; @spritelink, 37; @nycnatureobserver, 28.
Boroughs: Manhattan, 353; Bronx, 106; Staten Island, 7; Brooklyn, 4.
iNaturalist is fantastic for mapping species distributions, but it is not designed to show absence. So we really don't know whether Mayapple is absent from Queens or just not observed. A systematic survey is required for that; or a whole lot more random observations.
@ansel_oommen observed Mayapple petals with holes chewed out of them and suspected snails were responsible. Susan Hewitt agreed with his hypothesis based on the slime trails left behind. As Ansel points out, this is especially interesting because all parts of Mayapple are reported to be highly toxic. Did the snails die?
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Comments
Actually I thought slugs (not snails) were probably responsible for those holes in the Mayapple petals.
And plants that are poisonous to mammals, or even to all vertebrates, are not necessarily poisonous to invertebrates such as mollusks. It depends on what the biochemical basis of the poisoning is, and whether the biochemical pathways that the poison disrupts even exist in creatures such as mollusks.
I agree with Susan but would like to add that very few invertebrate herbivores have been documented on mayapple. Of the small documented handful are the mayapple borer, the obliquebanded leafroller, and a sawfly species. The reason for such little documentation could be that mayapple is not commonly studied or possibly because the podophyllotoxin in the plant is toxic to invertebrates, or a combination of both.
Ah OK -- interesting!
Oh course the problem with slugs is that they come out at night during damp warm nights; they do their damage, and then they usually disappear before the sun comes out, and therefore it is difficult to document them at work.
Also, you know, the usual problem -- so many species that need studying, and not enough observers out there like you Ansel, who take the time and make the effort to make the necessary observations. :)
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