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Title: Juniper Savanna, Virginia




A Virginia Redcedar Savanna in Winter

6 February 2005, Prince William County, Virginia, sunny, still, low 60s

There are 1000s of acres of Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana, Cupressaceae) savanna in northeastern Virginia. The savanna formed in abandoned farmers’ fields. Birds dropped millions of Redcedar seeds. The seeds grew into Redcedars of many different sizes and shapes, from broadly conical through cylindrical. Scarlet Oaks and other angiospermous trees grow among the Redcedars.

On 6 February 2005, most of the recent snow cover had melted, but the ground was still frozen and up to 3 inches of water were on its surface. Brown stems and leaves of the previous warm season, at least three species of green mosses, and a lichen species covered the ground. I couldn’t see the frozen soil due to the plant cover; but, I could hear the icy ground crack in places as I walked on it. I found grasshopper nymphs of two species on the dark pavement of a parking lot next to the savanna and a moth resting on an infructescence of a Pycnanthemum sp. in the savanna. Evergreen Bagworm larval cases were on most of the Redcedars and on some small oak trees. A few of the Redcedars suffered marked defoliation from the Bagworms.

In the early 1970s, I enjoyed studying Evergreen Bagworms in an old pasture in Douglas County, Kansas. The trees there were generally larger than the Virginia trees, and the savanna was much smaller than the Virginia one. The Kansas Evergreen Bagworms suffered from diseases (possibly bacterial diseases, fungal diseases, viral diseases, or a combination of them), bird and lepidopteran predators, and wasp parasites.

Reference

Barrows, E. M. 1974. Some factors affecting the population size of the Bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Lepidoptera: Psychidae). Environmental Entomology 3: 929–932.

E. M. Barrows (6 February 2005, last revised 25 March 2005)



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Figure 1. A Juniperus virginina (Redcedar , Cupressaceae) tree with cocoons of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Evergreen Bagworm, Psychidae).

Figure 2. A view of a juniper savanna.

Figure 3. A Juniperus virginiana (Redcedar , Cupressaceae) tree with cocoons of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Evergreen Bagworm, Psychidae).

Figure 4. Moss in a juniper savanna.

Figure 5. A view of a juniper savanna.



Figure 6. Scat, possibly from a fox.

Figure 7. A young Juniperus virginiana (Redcedar , Cupressaceae) with many sharp, awl-like leaves.

Figure 8. A snowy area.

Figure 9. A sapling of Pinus virgininia (Virginia Pine, Pinaceae).

Figure 10. A Solidago sp. (goldenrod, Asteraceae) with seeds.



Figures 11–13. An owlet moth (Noctuidae) on Pycnanthemum sp. (mountain mint, Lamiaceae). This moth may be Eupsilia devia (Lost Sallow) based on Covell (1984, page 114, plate 24) according to Catherine E. B. McCall. This moth ranges from Nova Scotia through Washington, D.C., and Kentucky, west through southern Canada and south through Missouri. Adults occur from October through May.

Figure 15. A moss.



Figures 16–18. Views of a juniper savanna.

Figure 19. A rosette for Barbarea vulgaris (Wintercress. Brassacaceae), an alien plant from Europe.

Figure 20. An egg case of Tenodera ardifolia sinensis (Chinese Mantid, Mantidae) on Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae).



Figures 21–23. An egg case of Tenodera ardifolia sinensis (Chinese Mantid, Mantidae) on Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle, Caprifoliaceae).

Figures 24–25. A Juniperus virginiana (Redcedar, Cupressaceae) with cocoons of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Evergreen Bagworm, Psychidae).



Figure 26. An egg case of Tenodera ardifolia sinensis (Chinese Mantid, Mantidae) on Juniperus virginiana (Redcedar, Cupressaceae).

Figures 27–28. A Juniperus virginiana (Redcedar, Cupressaceae) with cocoons of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Evergreen Bagworm, Psychidae).

Figure 29. Cases of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Evergreen Bagworm, Psychidae) on the ground.

Figure 30. A rosette of Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (new name: Leucanthemum vulgare; Ox-eye Daisy; Asteraceae, alien species)



Figure 31. A case of a male Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Evergreen Bagworm, Psychidae) on Quercus coccinea (Scarlet Oak, Fagaceae).

Figure 32. A view of a juniper savanna.

Figure 33. Some residual snow.

Figures 34–35. A Juniperus virginiana (Redcedar, Cupressaceae) with cocoons of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Evergreen Bagworm, Psychidae).



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