This photo was taken on October 14th, 2019 right here on the Benedictine University campus. I took a picture of the Rudbeckia hirta or commonly know and called as the black-eyed Susan which is a North American flowering plant in the sunflower family. The black eyed Susan is native to Eastern and Central North America and naturalized in the Western part of the continent as well as China. Although the blossoms appear fragile, these perennials have a strong root system that often allows the plant to rejuvenate itself every year. These plants are also classified as a vascular plant which means that these plants circulate water and nutrients through the plant and that’s how these plants retain water. These plants attract things like bees, butterflies, and a lot of other insects because of the nectar that they have which also helps these insects. #BenU #Ecology #BIOL180 #Fall2019 #Image2

Inchworms, also known as cankerworms or measuring worms, are not actually worms and are caterpillars in the Geometridae family of moths. These little guys come in all sorts of colors to match their surroundings. This one, if you haven’t already spotted him, is black with a yellow strip running the length of its body. They’re mainly preyed on by some birds, lizards, and wasps, and stiffen straight to probably resemble a twig as this one did when I started moving the plant he was on. This inchworm was found southeast of Kirksville on private land while I was attending an all day seminar on land management.