Halloween - when bats become popular. Well, at least the fake kind. Their silhouettes appear on windows and costumes everywhere yet the real thing freaks us out. Bats are not as creepy as many think plus they are very beneficial.

Next time someone says you have bats in your belfry just say "Thank you, I hope so". You may not have a bell tower but promoting bats in your landscape is a healthy way to control night flying insects. In one night a single brown bat can eat 3,000 to 7,000 insects including mosquitoes, corn borer and cutworm moths. According to Bat Conservation International a colony of 150 big brown bats can protect local farmers from up to 33 million or more rootworms each summer.

Ok, so why are bats so feared? Maybe it's from watching way too many vampire movies. Despite what the movies tell us vampire bats are only found in Central and South America. They actually do not suck blood but lap it up like a dog drinking water. At night they feed by first pricking the leg or ankle of a sleeping mammal or bird. They have a special anti-coagulant in their saliva that keeps the blood from clotting. They drink about 2 tablespoons of blood then are off to find a another meal. The "meal" may not even awaken when the vampire bat comes to dinner. According to Bat Conservation International the anticoagulant in bat saliva has now been synthesized to be used as a medication for heart patients.

If you look at a bat face, they resemble a little Chihuahua dog. I don't know of anyone who has a natural fear of Chihuahuas so bats must freak us out because they hang upside down. Bats have specialized legs so they can hang without using any energy. Hanging upside down allows bats to use areas for roosting and raising young that no one else can use. Plus it's a handy way to avoid predators.

People are afraid that bats will fly into their hair. Bats have good eyesight but some bats also have a sophisticated sonar system called echolocation. They send out high frequency sounds then listen for the echo as the sound bounces off objects in front of them. Echolocation helps them to avoid objects and to find food in complete darkness. Bats may fly near people's heads to feast on the insects attracted to humans. My theory of this myth origin is someone, somewhere at sometime had a big beehive hairdo and a bat got distracted and got a bit too close. Realize I have absolutely no info except pictures of '50s hairdos to back this theory.

People also mistakenly believe bats are filthy and carry diseases. Bats are mammals and spend a great deal of time cleaning their fur. They have no more incidence of rabies then other mammals. The main health concern is from a fungus found in bat droppings (also in bird droppings) which in some people can cause flu-like sickness. Bats can be a nuisance by making their home in attics.

Bat nest boxes can be built to encourage bats into your yard. Bat Conservation International has some great info about excluding bats and how to make bat houses. Check it out http://www.batcon.org Bat Conservation International; P.O. Box 162603; Austin, TX 78716 Phone: (512) 327-9721.

- Sandra Mason, Champaign County Unit Educator

hibernaculum (hi buhr NAK yu luhm - long i with emphasis on the third syllable) hibernacula plural; Latin for winter quarter The word represents a case, a covering and a place

zoology: the place where a hibernating animal (mammal or insect) shelters for the winter: bat cave, bear den, an insects cocoon

botany: a bud, case or protective covering that a plant uses to survive the environmental conditions during its dormancy period combination of a bit of zoology mixed with botany: a leafy structure made by some caterpillars when they hibernate for periods of time during cold weather; the hibernaculum is often made by the insect folding a leaf over itself and securing the closure with silken thread

The butterfly is as tough as it is beautiful. It has its own way of dealing with hard times. It may have a camouflaged coloring or pattern and marks that look threatening. Predators find them literally distasteful. They know how and where to find shelter from adverse weather and they know which plants will feed their young larvae upon hatching. Their timing of each life cycle is right insuring the continuance of the next generation. How do they do it! How do they cope with freezing temperatures? We have heated homes, blankets and PJs at night, coats and hats, scarves and gloves, and thermal underwear under it all, but still we can feel cold. If we were outdoors unprotected and exposed to temperatures of 40 and even 50 degrees we could die of hypothermia. But not the fragile butterfly. In the fall the butterfly begins preparing for the cold and snow of winter. Some adult butterflies migrate to warmer climates but others do not. They tough it out and place themselves into a period of dormancy called diapause. Diapause is a state of dormancy different from hibernation because the animal does not grow during this time and stays in a state of low metabolic activity with an increased resistance to environmental extremes.

Each specie of butterfly has a life stage in which it overwinters. This may be as an egg, caterpillar, pupa or even as an adult. The caterpillar of the red spotted purple forms a loosely woven cocoon by curling a leaf around itself forming a tube attached with silken thread to a twig of its favorite food, the black cherry tree. This cozy "sleeping bag" is called a hibernaculum and provides the larva a cozy home until new leaves emerge as food in spring. Tiger swallowtails and pipevine swallowtails overwinter in leaf litter but in the pupa stage in a chrysalis. Not many spend the winter as an egg but the pearl crescents do. Their eggs are laid on aster leaves. Eastern tailed blue caterpillars overwinter inside pea or bean pods. Some, like morning cloaks and red admirals overwinter as adults in brush piles, mounds of leaves and tree bark.

How does a butterfly, in any life stage, not freeze to death? This is accomplished in two ways. One is that they reduce the amount of water within their system and accumulate glycerol, a sweet thickened liquid, that acts like antifreeze in their bodies. In an other way, water within their cells moves outside the cells so that the cells do not rupture when frozen. It is still a wonder even if science can explain it.

We should be so flexible and resilient!

- Patricia Middleton, MG

As fall approaches, there are a few happenings that are certain. School starts up again, football has many of us glued to our TV's, trees and shrubs will turn glorious shades of red, orange, and yellow and Boxelder bugs and the multicolored Asian Lady Beetle will be looking at your home as a possible winter retreat.

Boxelder bugs are about one half inch long. The brownish-black adults have very visible red markings on their backs. Boxelder nymphs look like the adults except they are smaller and a bright red. The bugs feed primarily on Boxelder trees, but will also feed on maple, ash, cherry, apple, grape, peach, and strawberries.

The oval-shaped multicolored Asian Lady Beetle is about one-third inch long. The beetle can vary from a yellow to red to orange in color. They can be with or without black spots on their wing covers. An identifying characteristic on the beetles back is four black spots that look like a "W" when viewed from the front and an "M" when viewed from behind. These beneficial insects consume large numbers of aphids and scales.

As the weather starts to cool, Boxelder bugs and the Asian Lady Beetles will seek shelter for over wintering. Homeowners will often find thousands of these bugs clustered on the south and west sides of their homes. Some of these will work their way into the home. Caulking cracks, crevices, and closing openings around doors, windows, exhaust and roof vents, air conditioners, utility pipes, and the foundation is the best method of control.

In your home these invaders are a nuisance, but they will not feed or reproduce indoors. If disturbed, both the Boxelder Bug and the multicolored Asian Lady Beetle will leave stains on curtains, walls, fabric, carpets, etc. The Asian Lady Beetle will actually excrete a smelly body fluid which is their blood. So instead of grabbing the nearest fly swatter, vacuum them up and empty the bag.

Use of insecticides indoors is not really necessary and if used will only give temporary control. Instead, just grab the vacuum cleaner and bag 'em!

- Ron Wolford, Cook County Unit Educator

DIG CAREFULLY - Loosen the soil on all sides of the plant before lifting the clump of roots and soil. In all cases, avoid cutting, breaking, or "skinning" the fleshy structure. Diseases enter through cuts and bruises very readily and can cause rotting and losses in storage.

CLEANING - Some plants are best washed gently with a hose (e.g., dahlias and cannas). Others, such as Gladiolus corms are best left unwashed and allowed to dry. After drying, the soil may be gently removed.

CURING - For most species, the curing period should be relatively short (e.g., dahlias, cannas, calla, caladium). This short-term curing or drying period should be 1 to 3 days, depending on temperature. It should be done in a room or area away from direct sunlight or drying winds. Long-term curing, for gladiolus, tigridia and oxalis, should be approximately 3 weeks. Then, in the case of gladiolus, the old corm and cormels should be removed. Drying and curing temperatures for such materials should be 60-70 deg. in a dry, well-ventilated area.

PEST MANAGEMENT - Before storing corms inspect for insects or diseases. Dust with an insecticide-fungicide mixture labeled for the specific plant.

STORING - It is important to remember to label stored plant material carefully. In some cases this is easily handled by placing the corm in a small paper bag which has been properly labeled. For larger materials, like dahlias or canna, one technique is to write directly on the fleshy root with a permanent felt marking pen. If this is done on large clumps the name should be written on several roots rather than on just one, because in storage occasionally a root is broken off of the main clump. "Tree labels" of the wood-and-wire type work very well for labeling. Many a prized or favorite plant has been lost because of poor labeling.

More detailed info see: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1117.html