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City Cast Houston

Let us help you find Mother Nature in this concrete jungle.

It might be hard for you to spot a Walking Stick because 

they easily camouflage into their surroundings

. To escape predators, they usually blend into plant material. These insects sometimes sway back and forth, making them look like twigs blowing in the wind.

Walking Sticks are pretty common across the world. They’re found in Texas and every continent except Antarctica, residing in woodlands and tropical forests. Bats are one of the insects most common predators. They’re not thrown off by their camouflage skills because bats hunt by sound and not by sight. However, walking sticks will pull out other tricks to confuse their predators. A walking stick recently found its way on the back of a Houston Arboretum volunteer.

Justin Clay of Houston Arboretum explains more: 

“Sometimes insects hitchhike their way into buildings on people. This was the case for this large two striped walking stick. She hitched a ride on the back of one of our botany volunteers. These walking sticks are harmless but are sometimes called spitting devils. This is because they can release a chemical defense that smells somewhat like movie theater popcorn and is an irritant. They rarely do this unless provoked.”

It might be hard for you to spot a Walking Stick because they easily camouflage into their surroundings. To escape predators, they usually blend into plant material. These insects sometimes sway back and forth, making them look like twigs blowing in the wind

Walking Sticks Are Experts At Hiding From Predators 

Urban Almanac

This week I’m excited to feature a tree story from Melissa Kyle at the 

My Kidneywood Brings All the Bees to the Yard

is the trifecta of native shrubs. Not only is it a favored snack of ruminants and seed-eating birds and a traditional healer of the ailing human digestive tract, but, in the Houston Arboretum courtyard, it is also notably the most popular pollinator bush in the bunch.

On any given hot and sunny afternoon (and we’ve been given many of them this year) an uncountable number and variety of visitors — among them bees, wasps, moths, butterflies, and even native green and invasive brown anole lizards — can be spotted competing for space in the citrusy sweet smelling blossoms. Stop by outside the administration building windows to see how many different species you can spot.

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My Texas Kidneywood Brings All the Bees to the Yard

 Their colors can range depending on their gender and age, from yellow, brown, to a striking blue. You can spot them over shallow, wooded pools, ponds, swamps, and ditches. At the 

, one was spotted munching on a honey bee for supper.

“It is easy to forget about small carnivores, especially those in the insect world. Dragonflies, as well as their larva, are strictly meat-eaters. Adults use a unique hunting strategy which is most comparable to the way a claw machine works (except way more effective). They make a basket shape with their legs and swoop down to cage their prey as they bite it to keep it still– a terrifying concept at their scale.”

Great Blue Skimmers are dragonflies known to enjoy dark and murky water. Their colors can range depending on their gender and age, from yellow, brown, to a striking blue. You can spot them over shallow, wooded pools, ponds, swamps, and ditches. At the Houston Arboretum, one was spotted munching on a honey bee for supper.

What To Know About Great Blue Skimmers

What To Know About These Dragonflies 

. These butterflies are a beautiful black and blue. They thrive in moist environments, forested areas, and enjoy flowers, specifically butterfly weed. If they get hungry, they drink nectar from flowers and also take moisture and other nutrients from puddles and wet grounds. Sometimes they can mimic the color of the toxic pipevine swallowtail as Kelsey Low of Houston Arboretum explains below.

Kelsey Low of Houston Arboretum shares this:

 “They mimic the coloration of the toxic pipevine swallowtail, hoping to get passed over by predators who have learned that black-and-blue butterflies taste terrible. Even their caterpillars are mimics: they start out looking like bird droppings, and then when they’re too large to pull off that disguise, they change to resemble miniature snakes!”

Have you spotted one of these before or do you have an insect you want featured in Urban Almanac? 

Along the trails of Houston Arboretum, you might spot a spicebush swallowtail. These butterflies are a beautiful black and blue. They thrive in moist environments, forested areas, and enjoy flowers, specifically butterfly weed. If they get hungry, they drink nectar from flowers and also take moisture and other nutrients from puddles and wet grounds. Sometimes they can mimic the color of the toxic Pipevine Swallowtail as Kelsey Low of Houston Arboretum explains below.

Where To Spot These Beautiful Black And Blue Butterflies 

American Green tree frogs, which range in color from bright green to yellow green, are 

. Their colors can change based on the temperature and what they do in their spare time. For example, tree frogs can become a duller green or gray when they’re resting or yellower when they’re using their voice to call out.

You can find these frogs in wet prairies, cypress swamps, marshes, and near the edge of lakes, ponds, streams. They’re also called rain frogs because of how loud they get during rain storms. At a distance, a tree frog may sound like a cowbell but closer their call sounds like “quank-quank.”

At Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, juvenile and adult tree frogs have been spotted on the leaves of pickerelweed along the water's edge at Donor Boardwalk. If you want to geek out more about frogs, then check out 

 on Saturday, where you’ll learn more about Houston’s frogs, enjoy beer and light bites, and participate in a night hike.

American Green Tree frogs, which range in color from bright green to yellow green, are common frogs spotted in Texas. Their colors can change based on the temperature and what they do in their spare time. For example, tree frogs can become a duller green or gray when they’re resting or yellower when they’re using their voice to call out.

These Texas Frogs Love To Sing In The Rain

 are light brown, gray, or a purplish color and about two to three-and-a-half inches long. Despite sharing a name with our great city, they haven’t been spotted 

. The toads went almost completely extinct because of droughts, urbanization, and wildfires, but efforts by the Houston Zoo have kept them around. They were the first amphibians to be protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1970.

These toads thrive in very specific habitats. They enjoy piney loblolly forests with a canopy and sandy-loamy soil. Houston toads are found throughout nine counties of Texas, with the majority living in Bastrop. The Houston Zoo has a 

, where they are working to help save Houston toads from extinction. About 600 Houston toads, believed to be the majority of the remaining population, live at the zoo. Since 2013, the zoo releases hundreds of thousands of eggs every year into the wild to help breed new toads and recover the wildlife population.

Do you have an idea for my next Urban Almanac?

How These Houston Toads Became Endangered 

Alligator Flags are more commonly spotted in Florida, but the native wetland plants can also be seen in Houston. These plants usually grow in swamps and wet ditches and 

. If you’re trying to spot them, look for large green leaves on long stalks.

Their leaves can grow up to eight inches wide and more than two and half feet long. They boast signature purple flowers and their stalks can grow up to a whopping eight feet tall. Alligators and other reptiles often use the plants as hiding spots, giving them their name.

“One of Houston’s most spectacular wetland plants is the Alligator Flag with its cluster of purple flowers on an eight-foot-tall stalk. It looks like a banner rising from the swamp – a true ‘alligator flag.’ However, the plant is really trying to flag down pollinators, especially large bees like this Eastern Carpenter Bee. It’s fun to watch the heavy bees cling for dear life to the petals as the blossoms bend under their weight,” writes Kelsey Low, Adult Programs Manager at Houston Arboretum.

Alligator Flags are more commonly spotted in Florida, but these native wetland plants can also be seen in Houston. These plants usually grow in swamps and wet ditches and bloom in the summer to fall. If you’re trying to spot them, look for large green leaves on long stalks.

What Is An Alligator Flag? 

For me, it’s not a Texas summer unless I’m nervous about getting stung by a wasp on someone’s porch. 

 are common in Texas. Here’s how you can spot them.

These wasps vary in color, ranging from a reddish-orange, dark brown, to yellow. Sometimes before you see these wasps flying around, you’ll spot their nest, usually in roof eaves, garages, barns, sheds, shrubs or other protected areas. Their nests are made of chewed wood fiber, shaped like an umbrella, and can grow up to 6 to 8 inches.

One wasp, known as the foundress wasp, is the first to start building the nest. She lays eggs and collects food. Once more wasps are born, they continue the foundress’s job of building out the nest, collecting food, and completing other tasks to keep the nest thriving.

Wear light-colored clothing that covers most of your body.

If you have severe allergies to insect bites or stings, carry an EpiPen with you.

If you’re stung by a wasp: try to alert someone close by in case of a severe allergic reaction, wash the area with soap and water, try to remove the stinger with a gauze wipe or your fingernail, apply ice, and don’t scratch.

For me, it’s not a Texas summer unless I’m nervous about getting stung by a wasp on someone’s porch. Paper wasps are common in Texas. Here’s how you can spot them.

How To Protect Yourself From Paper Wasps 

Happy National Moth Week! In honor of this celebratory week, let’s learn more about 

 These interesting creatures begin as caterpillars, but only live for a week after leaving their cocoon.

Luna moths can be spotted across Texas. Before they become moths, they are caterpillars with a huge appetite, snacking on leaves of walnut, hickory, sweet gum, and paper birch trees. After a month of snacking, they build a cocoon to live inside for three weeks. Once they emerge, they don’t have a mouth or digestive system because of their short life span.

Luna moths usually have bright green wings that can stretch four and a half inches. If a bat tries to capture these moths, watch out! They spin the tails of their wingtips in a circle, distracting the bat and helping luna moths make a quick escape.

Do you have a favorite type of moth or an insect you want me to feature for Urban Almanac?

Happy National Moth Week! In honor of this celebratory week, let’s learn more about luna moths. These interesting creatures begin as caterpillars, but only live for a week after leaving their cocoon.

Luna Moth Facts For National Moth Week 

Spot This Bright Green Moth Around Texas

. For the first time in nearly 30 years, the chick is currently being raised by its parents in the zoo’s Savanna Aviary inside South America’s Pantanal.

mostly Black-colored with curled crest feathers

. Males usually sport white feathers and their female counterparts have a red and brown color. They like to snack on small fish, fruit, aquatic crustaceans, and other small animals. Wattled curassows usually hail from the Amazon rainforest and can be spotted in Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Bolivia.

The number of these birds found in the wild are rapidly declining because of hunting, habitat loss, and predation. However, the zoo has managed to breed wattled curassow chicks within the last 20 years and increase the number of birds in other zoos.

Do you have an animal that you want to see in Urban Almanac or a nature-related question? 

Got animal recs?

A rare wattled curassow chick recently hatched at the Houston Zoo. For the first time in nearly 30 years, the chick is currently being raised by its parents in the zoo’s Savanna Aviary inside South America’s Pantanal.