Wood Decay Fungi Management of Terminal Urban Pathogens

Summary: Wood decay fungi management prevents pathogenic rots, prepares infected trees for immediate or postponed termination and protects beneficial mycorrhizae.

Edible chicken-of-the-wood (Laetiporus sulphureus) causes brown heart rot in hardwood hosts; Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex (OCNWRC): Peter Pearsall/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Pacific Region, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

The article Wood Decay Fungi Identification and Management in Arborist News June 2018 acknowledges similar forest and urban woody decay fungi management roles in decomposing matter, recycling nutrients and supporting new growth.

Co-authors Chelsi Abbott, A.D. Ali and Christine Balk, Davey Institute Technical Advisors, broach unaesthetic, weakened structural integrity of hazardous, mechanically damaged young and slow-growing old trees. Abiotic (environmental or non-living) stressors change saprophytes of dead plant matter, but not mycorrhizal mushrooms at tree bases and roots, into pathogens of living plant tissue. Health and species decide how the most aggressive wood decay fungal species defeat coniferous, hardwood and palm host species' defenses, dominate plant tissue and destabilize trees.

Brittle cellulose-degraded wood, cellulose-degraded tissue cavities and lignin-degraded spongy wood respectively ensue from brown, soft and white rots, the three different types of wood decay fungi.

Basal and root rots of tree bases and roots flourish elsewhere, especially on lower tree trunks, and respectively furnish crown dieback and chlorotic (nutrient-deficient, yellow-leafed) symptoms.

Fungal conks, as bract and shelf mushroom generators of spores and as pathogenic urban wood decay fungal signs, get identifiable colors, odors, persistence, shapes and timing. Ganoderma applanatum, aggressive basal rot of beeches, conifers and oaks and brown- or tan-topped, cream-bottomed woody conk, has the nickname artist's conk for drawing-friendly spore surfaces. Ganoderma sessile, cream-bottomed, mahogany-, red-topped varnish conk and semi-aggressive root rot, occasionally includes tree-attaching tails, preferentially inhabits honeylocusts and oaks and sometimes invades bases and trunks.

Ganoderma zonatum, aggressive annual conk with respectively immature white mass-like and mature shelf-like, shiny red-topped shapes on bases and trunks, jeopardizes all palm tree host species.

Armillaria mellea keeps black, stringlike rhizomorphs and sometimes thread-like vegetative white mycelial fans under the tree bark of conifers and such hardwood host species as oaks.

Arborists, master gardeners, master naturalists and tree stewards label the clustered, honey-colored soft mushrooms of late summer to early autumn honey mushrooms and shoestring root rot. Inonotus dryadeus, aggressive basal and root rot of oak hosts, maintains immature amorphous, cream-colored and mature brown-black, shriveled shapes and the moniker amber-colored, liquid-seeping weeping conks. Kretzschmaria deusta, or Ustulina deusta, numbers among the more difficult aggressive basal and root rots to notice on such hardwood host species as beeches and oaks.

Pathogenic urban wood decay fungi management occurs on black, crusty clumps of older Ustulina deusta and on white-bordered dusty gray surface coatings of younger Kretzschmaria deusta.

Spongy textures like raw chicken provide Laetiporus sulphureus, edible, large, orange-, pink-, yellow-layered shelf-like heart rot of hardwood hosts such as oaks, with the nickname chicken-of-the-wood.

Wood decay fungi management queues up proper cultural practices, such as drip line-only, 2- to 4-inch (5.08- to 10.16-centimeter) mulch, and non-injurious mowing, pruning and weeding. Wood decay fungi management requires preventative practices and palliative treatments of abiotic stressors and bark-residing fungal hyphae since removing fungal conks never represses or reverses decay. Wood decay fungi management sequences preventative practices and palliative searches for abiotic stressors, fungal species, host health and pathogen progression with RESISTOGRAPHs, sounding hammers and tomography.

Wood decay fungi management thwarts non-curable urban pathogens, such as brown, soft and wood rots, and terminates immediately, or treats temporarily, terminally ill host tree species.

A A RESISTOGRAPH® is an advanced, electronic method of wood decay tree risk assessment; forest pathologist Betsy Goodrich uses a Resistograph to measure the amount of sound rind in an old growth Douglas-fir; Ohanapecosh Campground, Mt. Rainier National Park, west central Washington; Monday, June 8, 2015, 11:48:14: R6, State & Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection (USDA Forest Service), Public Domain, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to:
talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet;
University of Urbana-Champaign for superior on-campus and on-line resources.

Image credits:

Edible chicken-of-the-wood (Laetiporus sulphureus) causes brown heart rot in hardwood hosts; Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex (OCNWRC): Peter Pearsall/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Pacific Region, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laetiporus_sulphureus_(23766178771).jpg;
USFWS -- Pacific Region (USFWS Pacific), CC BY NC 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/23766178771/

A RESISTOGRAPH® is an advanced, electronic method of wood decay tree risk assessment; forest pathologist Betsy Goodrich uses a Resistograph to measure the amount of sound rind in an old growth Douglas-fir; Ohanapecosh Campground, Mt. Rainier National Park, west central Washington; Monday, June 8, 2015, 11:48:14: R6, State & Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection (USDA Forest Service), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/151887236@N05/38201968944

For further information:

Abbott, Chelsi; Christine Balk; A.D. Ali. June 2018. "Wood Decay Fungi Identification and Management." Arborist News, vol. 27, no. 3: 12-15.

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/downtown-commercial-streetscape-tree.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/palm-plant-health-care-abiotic-biotic.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/08/palm-tree-identification-and-pruning-of.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/abiotic-and-biotic-stress-in-low.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/changing-places-tree-nutrient-movement.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/electrical-utility-area-temperate-urban.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/04/tree-injection-methods-treatment-option.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/bare-rooted-ornamental-urban.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/02/bark-protective-survival-mechanisms.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/lita-model-linear-index-of-tree.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/12/tree-lightning-protection-systems-site.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 October 2015. “Tree Lightning Protection Systems Tailored to Sites, Soils, Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/10/tree-lightning-protection-systems.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 August 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Amend, Fertilize, Mulch, Till!” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/08/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 June 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Assemble, Assess, Assist, Astound.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/06/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 April 2015. “Tree Wound Responses: Healthy Wound Closures by Callus and Woundwood.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/tree-wound-responses-healthy-wound.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2015. “Urban Forest Maintenance and Non-Maintenance Costs and Benefits.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/urban-forest-maintenance-and-non.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2014. “Tree Dwelling Symbionts: Dodder, Lichen, Mistletoe, Moss and Woe-Vine.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/12/tree-dwelling-symbionts-dodder-lichen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 October 2014. “Tree Cable Installation Systems Lessen Target Impact From Tree Failure.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/tree-cable-installation-systems-lessen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 August 2014. “Flood Tolerant Trees in Worst-Case Floodplain and Urbanized Scenarios.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/flood-tolerant-trees-in-worst-case.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 June 2014. “Integrated Vegetation Management of Plants in Utility Rights-of-Way.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/06/integrated-vegetation-management-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 April 2014. “Tree Twig Identification: Buds, Bundle Scars, Leaf Drops, Leaf Scars.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/tree-twig-identification-buds-bundle.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2014. “Tree Twig Anatomy: Ecosystem Stress, Growth Rates, Winter Identification.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/tree-twig-anatomy-ecosystem-stress.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 December 2013. “Community and Tree Safety Awareness During Line- and Road-Clearances.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/community-and-tree-safety-awareness.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2013. “Chain-Saw Gear and Tree Work Related Personal Protective Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/chain-saw-gear-and-tree-work-related.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 October 2013. “Storm Damaged Tree Clearances: Matched Teamwork of People to Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/storm-damaged-tree-clearances-matched.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 August 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Damage Assessments: Pre-Storm Planned Preparedness.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/storm-induced-tree-damage-assessments.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Failures From Heavy Tree Weights and Weather Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/storm-induced-tree-failures-from-heavy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2013. “Urban Tree Root Management Concerns: Defects, Digs, Dirt, Disturbance.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/urban-tree-root-management-concerns.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2013. “Tree Friendly Beneficial Soil Microbes: Inoculations and Occurrences.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/tree-friendly-beneficial-soil-microbes.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 December 2012. “Healthy Urban Tree Root Crown Balances: Soil Properties, Soil Volumes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/healthy-urban-tree-root-crown-balances.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2012. “Tree Adaptive Growth: Tree Risk Assessment of Tree Failure, Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/tree-adaptive-growth-tree-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2012. “Tree Risk Assessment Mitigation Reports: Tree Removal, Tree Retention?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/08/tree-risk-assessment-mitigation-reports.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2012. “Internally Stressed, Response Growing, Wind Loaded Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/internally-stressed-response-growing.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-tree-risk-assessment-levels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html

Shortle, Walter C.; and Kenneth R. Dudzik. 2015. Wood Decay in Living and Dead Trees: A Pictorial Overview. U.S.D.A. Forest Service Northern Research Station General Technical Report NRS-97. Newtown Square PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Indenture June 22, 1303

Summary: An inventory from the second Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid helped audits May 27 and June 20 and an indenture June 22, 1303, after the third.

screenshot of beginning of John de Drokensford's June 22, 1303, indenture, as presented in Sir Henry Cole's Documents Illustrative of English History (1844): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

John de Drokensford (1260-May 9, 1329) audited the Chapter House's royal Crypt informally May 27, 1303, after the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid April 30-May 3, 1303, and formally June 20, 1303.

Drokensford bore responsibility for the two audits as Keeper of the King's Wardrobe and as royal official in charge of the Royal Treasury in Westminster Abbey. He consulted the most immediately previous inventory that the prior Cofferer conducted after the unsuccessful Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid by Westminster Abbey monks in 1300. He drew up his own inventory document that described treasures still stored in the Crypt May 27 and June 20 and treasures from searches and seizures.

King Edward I (June 17, 1239-July 7, 1307) estimated, from Drokensford indenture June 22, 1303, Crypt losses through the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid at £100,000.

The 20-plus page inventory three years earlier by Ralph de Manton (died Feb. 26, 1303), as Cofferer of the King's Wardrobe, furnished Drokensford with pre-raid audits.

Drokensford gathered details only from the inventory record since its author lost hands, head and life to Sir Simon Fraser (died Sep. 7, 1306) in Scotland. Walter de Bedwyn, as successor Cofferer of the King's Wardrobe and keeper of Royal Treasury keys, had to head over to Westminster Abbey's Chapter House Crypt.

An indenture is a "document drawn up in duplicate or triplicate then divided in a jagged fashion, validation is proved if the pieces fit exactly together." Drokensford's indenture June 22, 1303, juxtaposed witness with six others to Bedwyn's breaking the sealed pouch, extracting treasury keys and unlocking the door to interior disarray.

Drokensford's inventory kept as witnesses Justices Bakewell and Southcote; Prior William de Huntingdon; Mayor le Blund; Thomas Queorle, Cofferer of the Queen's Wardrobe; and Constable Sandwich.

Bedwyn let witnesses "in a nearby place, examine the keys of the said treasury which had been brought in a pouch of leathers, its seal unbroken." Doherty mentions the Abbey sacristy and the Chapter House Ostia ("Gates") to the Crypt's Royal Treasury for managing inspection of the sealed pouch and tethered keys. The indenture noted that the eight official witnesses "found the treasury had been broken into, its coffers and chess shattered and many goods furtively taken away."

Drokensford observed that "many of the jewels, which were taken by the thieves were later replaced" and many "jewels stolen were afterwards found in different places."

Sir Henry Cole's (July 15, 1808-April 18, 1882) Documents Illustrative of English History in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries in 1844, preserves the indentures' Crypt-inventoried treasures. The three-part indentures, published on pages 277-84 of H. Cole's Records in 1844, presented the list of non-stolen treasures put in one chest for Tower storage.

The three-part indenture queued up Crypt treasures for Tower storage, descriptive inventories and jewels in "the care of the Sacristan" Adam de Warfield June 20, 1303. Warfield retained in his chamber "A silver gift-edged flagon with fleur de lys"; "A silver gilt-edged cup, the same used for the reservation of Christ's Body." Drokensford showed searches and seizures June 20 and June 23-30 and nothing subsequent, such as "precious coins" in money markets through Kings Lynn, Norfolk, fall 1303.

The third Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid, after failures in 1296 and 1300, turned out a charm for transposing royal treasures permanently to the Tower, 1303-1649.

tomb of John de Drokensford, Cathedral Church of St. Andrew (popular name: Wells Cathedral), Wells, Somerset, Southwest England; Wednesday, March 19, 2008, 14:30: Rodw, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

screenshot of beginning of John de Drokensford's June 22, 1303, indenture, as presented in Sir Henry Cole's Documents Illustrative of English History in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (1844), page 277: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/documentsillustr00greauoft#page/277/mode/1up

tomb of John de Drokensford, Cathedral Church of St. Andrew (popular name: Wells Cathedral), Wells, Somerset, Southwest England; Wednesday, March 19, 2008, 14:30: Rodw, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johndrokensfield.JPG

For further information:

Cole, Henry, ed. 1844. "De Jocalibus a Thesauro Garderobae Surreptis -- Anno Regni Regis Edwardi XXXI." Documents Illustrative of English History in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, Selected From the Records of the Department of the Queen's Remembrancer of the Exchequer: 277-284. London, England: George E. Eyre and Andrew Spottiswoode.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/documentsillustr00greauoft#page/277/mode/1up

Doherty, Paul. 2005. The Great Crown Jewels Robbery of 1303. New York NY: Carroll & Graf Publisher.

Keay, Anna. 2011. The Crown Jewels. London UK: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 April 2018. "Richard Puddlicott and the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/richard-puddlicott-and-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 May 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid in April and May 1303 in England." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 May 2018. "Mysteries of the April-May 1303 Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/mysteries-of-april-may-1303-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 June 2018. "King Edward I's Letter on the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/king-edward-is-letter-on-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 June 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Royal Proclamation June 16, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid_8.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Palmer Confession June 17, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 June 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Arrests June 18-19, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid_22.html

Globe at Night 2018 Scorpius and Second Hercules Campaigns Begin July 4

Summary: The Globe at Night 2018 Scorpius and second Hercules campaigns begin Wednesday, July 4, in the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, respectively.

Bright Antares pinpoints constellation Scorpius and represents the Scorpion's heart: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter July 25, 2017

The Globe at Night 2018 Scorpius and second Hercules campaigns begin Wednesday, July 4, and close Friday, July 13, to check light pollution effects on visibility of Scorpius the Scorpion constellation in the Southern Hemisphere and on Hercules the Hero in the Northern Hemisphere.

The June campaign is the first of Globe at Night’s two 2018 campaigns concerning Scorpius the Scorpion constellation. The second 2018 Scorpius campaign begins in August.

Scorpius the Scorpion is an equatorial constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere. The arachnid constellation’s northernmost boundary extends to its equatorial-straddling northern neighbors of Serpens Caput the Serpent Head and Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer constellations. Scorpius stretches southward to border Norma the Rule and Ara the Altar constellations.

The Scorpion’s western neighbors are Libra the Scales and Lupus the Wolf constellations. Sagittarius the Archer, the largest Southern Hemisphere constellation, defines Scorpius the Scorpion’s eastern border.

Globe at Night suggests looking south toward the Milky Way as a finding aid for Scorpius. The bright constellation rests high in the sky, near the center of the Milky Way.

The Milky Way constellation stands out with its distinctive shape and its brightest star. Three asterisms, or star patterns, frame Scorpius the Scorpion. The Scorpion’s curved tail composes the Fish Hook asterism. Lesath (υ Scorpii, Upsilon Scorpii; υ Sco, Upsilon Sco) and the triple star system of Shaula (λ Scorpii, Lambda Scorpii; λ Sco, Lambda Sco), which compose the Cat’s Eyes asterism, lie in the stinger at the tail’s tip.

The Scorpion’s outstretched pincers angle outward from its upper body to form the Crown of the Scorpion asterism. The Crown fans out from Scorpius the Scorpion’s brightest star, Antares (Alpha Scorpii, α Scorpii, Alpha Scorpii; α Sco, Alpha Sco). The distinctively reddish, variable star represents the scorpion’s heart.

The Scorpius campaign also includes a sky map as a finding aid. The campaign’s map offers sky views of the constellation at four south latitudes (10, 20, 30, 40).

Globe at Night’s website includes seven magnitude charts for each campaign. The charts range in magnitude from zero for cloudy sky to seven for star-filled sky.

Magnitude charts indicate the faintest visible stars for participants’ latitudes. Antares is visible on magnitude one through seven charts at the four targeted south latitudes for the Scorpius campaign.

The magnitude zero chart reveals that a cloudy sky obscures Antares at 10 to 40 degrees south latitudes. Only Jupiter, Mars and Centaurus the Centaur’s brightest star, Toliman (α Centauri, Alpha Centauri; α Cen, Alf Cen), are visible at latitudes 10, 20 and 40 degrees south. Arcturus (α Boötis, Alpha Boötis; α Boo, Alpha Boo), brightest star in Bootes the Herdsman constellation, joins Jupiter, Mars and Toliman in visibility in a cloudy sky for Scorpius campaign participants at 30 degrees south latitude.

Globe at Night conducts the Southern Hemisphere’s first 2018 Scorpius campaign simultaneously with the second Hercules campaign for Northern Hemisphere participants. The second Hercules campaign succeeds the first 2018 Hercules campaign, which ran from Monday, June 4, to Wednesday, June 13.

As with constellation Scorpius, Hercules the Hero constellation lacks visibility on the magnitude zero chart for the targeted latitudes. The Hero’s finding aid, Vega, is visible in a cloudy sky. Vega (α Lyrae, Alpha Lyrae; α Lyr, Alpha Lyr) is the brightest star in one of the Hero’s neighbors, Lyra the Lyre.

The takeaways for the Globe at Night 2018 Scorpius and second Hercules campaigns, which begin Wednesday, July 4, are that the Southern Hemisphere’s Scorpius campaign is the first of two 2018 Scorpius campaigns and the Northern Hemisphere’s July Hercules campaign is the second of two 2018 Hercules campaigns.

Contact details for Globe at Night:

email: globeatnight@noao.edu
website: https://www.darksky.org

Bootes the Herdsman's Arcturus and Lyra the Lyre's Vega diagonally frame Hercules the Hero's distinctive, quadrangular Keystone asterism: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter Aug. 5, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Bright Antares pinpoints constellation Scorpius and represents the Scorpion's heart: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter July 25, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/Learntoskywatch/status/889908184961437697

Bootes the Herdsman's Arcturus and Lyra the Lyre's Vega diagonally frame Hercules the Hero's distinctive, quadrangular Keystone asterism: Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch, via Twitter Aug. 5, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/Learntoskywatch/status/761622851501826048

For further information:

“Can You Find Hercules?” Globe at Night > Finding Constellations.
Available @ https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/hercules

“Can You Find Scorpius?” Globe at Night > Finding Constellations.
Available @ https://www.globeatnight.org/finding/scorpius

Learn to Skywatch ‏@Learntoskywatch. “Tonight's Target: Antares Supergiant red star in Scorpius Hint: Look due South around 9pm.” Twitter. July 25, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/Learntoskywatch/status/889908184961437697

Learn to Skywatch @Learntoskywatch. "Tonight's Target: The constellation Hercules Look High Overhead halfway between the bright stars Vega and Arcturus." Twitter. Aug. 5, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/Learntoskywatch/status/761622851501826048

Marriner, Derdriu. “Cat’s Eyes Asterism in Scorpius Rises Above Horizon in Northern Summer.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 5, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/07/cats-eyes-asterism-in-scorpius-rises.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Crown of the Scorpion Asterism Is Visible During Northern Summers.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 19, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/07/crown-of-scorpion-asterism-is-visible.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Curious George Co-Creator Hans Rey Drew Keystone as Head of Hercules." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, July 9, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/07/curious-george-co-creator-hans-rey-drew.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Globe at Night 2018 Hercules and Third Crux Campaigns Begin June 4.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 30, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/globe-at-night-2018-hercules-and-third.html

2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera Season Presents Four New Productions

Summary: The 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season presents four new productions, including the North American premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie.

Metropolitan Opera-commissioned psychological opera Marnie makes its North American premiere October 2018: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 19, 2018

The 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season presents four new productions, comprising the North American premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie and new stagings of Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata.

On Monday, Sept. 24, the 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season opens with a new staging of Samson et Dalila by French Romantic Era composer Camille Saint-Saëns (Oct. 9, 1835-Dec. 16, 1921). The three-act, French-language opera was last performed at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2005-2006 season.

Darko Tresnjak directs the Biblical opera’s new staging. The Serbian-American theater director and producer’s direction of Samson et Dalila marks his Metropolitan Opera debut. Darko Tresnjak’s production team comprises Alexander Dodge, set designer; Linda J. Cho, costume designer; Donald Holder, lighting director; Austin McCormick, choreographer.

The new production replaces the staging directed by Elijah Moshinsky. The Australian opera and theatre director’s production debuted Feb. 13, 1998, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 177th performance of Samson et Dalila.

Marnie opens Friday, Oct. 19, as the North American premiere of American contemporary classical music composer Nico Muhly’s Metropolitan-Opera commissioned, psychological opera. The two-act opera is based on English novelist Winston Graham’s same-named novel (1961), which inspired English film director and producer Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s same-named film (1964).

Michael Mayer directs the new production. The American stage and film director debuted Jan. 28, 2013, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 842nd performance of Rigoletto by 19th century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). His production team comprises Julian Crouch, 59 Productions, set and projection designer; Arianne Phillips, costume designer; Kevin Adams, lighting designer; Lynne Page, choreographer.

La Traviata opens Tuesday, Dec. 4, as the second of the 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season’s five operas by 19th century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). In addition to Marnie, Michael Mayer also directs the new staging of La Traviata. The American stage and film director’s La Traviata production team comprises Christine Jones, set designer; Susan Hilferty, costume designer; Kevin Adams, lighting designer; Lorin Latarro, choreographer.

Michael Mayer’s new production replaces staging directed by Willy Decker. The German theatre director’s production debuted Dec. 31, 2010, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 961st performance of La Traviata. The Metropolitan Opera’s last presentation of La Traviata was during the 2016-2017 season.

Adriana Lecouvreur by Italian composer Francesco Cilea (July 23, 1866-Nov. 20, 1950) opens Monday, Dec. 31, as the 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season’s fourth and last new production. The verismo (“realism”) opera about a real-life 18th century French actress was last performed by the Metropolitan Opera during the opera house’s 2008-2009 season.

Sir David McVicar directs the new production. The Scottish opera and theatre director debuted Feb. 16, 2009, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 600th performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore.

Sir McVicar’s production team comprises Charles Edwards, set designer; Brigitte Reiffenstuel, costume designer; Adam Silverman, lighting designer; Andrew George, choreographer. Justin Way is associate director.

Sir McVicar’s new production replaces staging directed by Mark Lamos. The American opera and stage director’s revival production debuted Feb. 6, 2009, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 67th performance of Adriana Lecouvreur.

Mark Lamos’s revival production restaged and updated the production debuted Jan. 21, 1963, by Nathaniel Merrill (Feb. 8, 1927-Sept. 9, 2008) during the Metropolitan Opera’s fourth performance of Adriana Lecouvreur. The late American opera and stage director served as the Metropolitan Opera’s resident stage director for 28 seasons (1956-1985).

The takeaways for the 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season’s presentation of four new productions are that Adriana Lecouvreur’s and Samson et Dalila’s new productions revive operas last performed at Met Opera over nine to 12 years ago, respectively, and that Michael Mayer’s direction treats the 1950s Marnie’s North American premiere and the 18th century with the perennially favored La Traviata.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s new production of Adriana Lecouvreur: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 19, 2018

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Metropolitan Opera-commissioned psychological opera Marnie makes its North American premiere October 2018: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 19, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160146381850533/

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s new production of Adriana Lecouvreur resuscitates an opera that was last performed by the opera house over nine years ago, during the 2008-2009 season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 19, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160146381985533/

For further information:

“Adriana Lecouvreur.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352856 Adriana Lecouvreur {67} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/06/2009.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352856

La Cieca (James Jorden). “The Advent of the Nézet-Séguin Era: Announcing the Metropolitan Opera’s 2018-2019 Season.” Parterre Box. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ http://parterre.com/2018/02/15/the-metropolitan-operas-2018-2019-season/

“Debuts: David McVicar . . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353605 New Production Il Trovatore {600} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/16/2009.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353605

“Debuts: Michael Mayer . . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354827 New Production Rigoletto {842} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/28/2013.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354827

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera Season Stages 29 Operas.” Earth and Space News. Monday, June 18, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/2018-2019-metropolitan-opera-season.html

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Composer Nico Muhly unveils his second new opera for the Met . . .” Facebook. Feb. 19, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160146381850533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Soprano Anna Netrebko joins the ranks of Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballé, and Renata Scotto . . .” Facebook. Feb. 19, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160146381985533/

“New Production Adriana Lecouvreur.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 3 New production Adriana Lecouvreur {4} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/21/1963.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=193000

“New Production Samson et Dalila.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 330432 Samson et Dalila {177} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/13/1998.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=330432

“New Production La Traviata.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353718 New Production La Traviata {961} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/31/2010.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353718

Plotkin, Fred. “An Analysis of the Metropolitan Opera’s New Season.” WQXR > Blogs > Operavore. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ https://www.wqxr.org/story/analysis-metropolitan-opera-2018-2019-season/

Tommasini, Anthony. “A Catnip Role for a Soprano as a Tragic Actress.” The New York Times > Music > Music Review. Feb. 8, 2009.
Available @ https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/arts/music/09adri.html

Beware Southern Flannel Moth Caterpillars With Painfully Pretty Spines

Summary: Southern flannel moth caterpillars have strong toxins in venom glands beneath hair-like, Persian cat-like bristles for the unwary summer through fall.

southern flannel moth (Megalopyge opercularis) caterpillar; Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area, Aden, Prince William County, Northern Virginia; Monday, Sep. 15, 2014, 05:18: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Southern flannel moth caterpillars are painful in their venomousness and pretty in their Persian cat-like coats, as a 15-year-old Floridian acknowledged after 20-plus attacks from the aggressive larva's spines June 16, 2018.

Logan Pergola of Land O' Lakes, Pasco County, bore no gloves when his bundling branches bothered a southern flannel moth caterpillar into brandishing setae (hair-like bristles). He considered the contact at 10:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2:15 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time) as "like someone was drilling into my bone and wouldn't stop." Andrea Pergola drove her son 36 minutes later to the Zephyrhills Emergency Room after garlic did not draw venom from Logan's reddened left arm and chest.

Intravenous treatments and medicine ended the experience within seven hours for Logan, who emphasized, "Wear gloves. I wasn't wearing gloves and I probably should have been."

June through August and September through November respectively function as the summer and the fall months that furnish two annual broods of southern flannel moth caterpillars.

Southern flannel moth females and males get together the first emergence night from 14-day pupal stages, or overwintering cocoons, on host plant bark, branches or twigs. Mated females have black-margined, white-based yellow front wings, creamy-yellow hindwings, orange thoraxes and short-thread-like antennae and hold 0.047-inch- (1.2-millimeter-) long, 0.024-inch- (0.6-millimeter-) wide yellow eggs. They install the round-ended eggs in one to two curved patches or rows on deciduous host plant bark, branches and twigs within two nights of mating.

Southern flannel moth life cycles juggle five to six days as eggs; 62 days as first through fifth, or six-plus, instars; and 14 days as pupae.

Arborists, master gardeners, master naturalists and tree stewards additionally know southern flannel moth larvae commonly as asp, opossum bug, puss, tree asp and woolly slug caterpillars.

The additional common names list the painfully pretty-haired larval looks of the Megalopygidae crinkled flannel moth family member of the Lepidoptera butterfly and moth insect order. Southern flannel moth caterpillars manifest ever hairier, yellower 0.059-inch- (1.5-millimeter-), 0.091-inch- (2.3-millimeter-), 0.122-inch- (3.1-millimeter-), 0.14-inch- (3.6-millimeter-), 1-inch- (2.54-centimeter-) and 1.38-inch- (3.5-centimeter-) long first through sixth instars. All instars need two proto-limb sets beyond five-set moth standards and six rows of venom glands even though only the last need 0.19-inch- (0.5-centimeter-) long tails.

The southern flannel moth scientific name Megalopygidium opercularis ("large-rumped [caterpillar, cocoon with] lid") observes pupal entrances and exits on 0.52- to 0.7-inch (1.3- to 2-centimeter) cocoons.

Southern flannel moth adults, profiled scientifically in 1797 by James Edward Smith (Dec. 2, 1759-March 17, 1828), possess 0.95- to 1.42-inch- (2.4- to 3.6-centimeter-) long wingspans.

Southern flannel moth males queue up longer, more feathery antennae, with rami ("teeth") on two sides; lower ends of size ranges; and more black than females. Citrus, elm, ivy, oak, rose and wild plum hosts sometimes retain for adults edge-fed, hole-chewed, skeletonized foliage by instars and parental silk for eggs and pupae. Hollow spines for strong toxins sustain southern flannel moth caterpillars against predation from New Jersey southward through Florida, westward through Arkansas and Texas and everywhere in-between.

Lacewings (Chrysopa); flies (Carcelia, Chetogena, Euphorocera, Lespesia), lizards (Anolis) and wasps (Hyposoter); and wasps (Lanugo) respectively tether eggs and caterpillars, larvae and pupae better than insecticides.

male southern flannel moth (Megalopyge opercularis); Durham County, north central North Carolina; Wednesday, July 14, 2004: Patrick Coin (Patrick Coin), CC BY SA 2.5 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

southern flannel moth (Megalopyge opercularis) caterpillar; Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area, Aden, Prince William County, Northern Virginia; Monday, Sep. 15, 2014, 05:18: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southern_Flannel_Moth_caterpillar_-_Megalopyge_opercularis,_Merrimac_Farm_Wildlife_Management_Area,_Aden,_Virginia.jpg;
Judy Gallagher (Judy Gallagher), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/52450054@N04/15133509480/

male southern flannel moth (Megalopyge opercularis); Durham County, north central North Carolina; Wednesday, July 14, 2004: Patrick Coin (Patrick Coin), CC BY SA 2.5 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Megalopyge_opercularisPCCP20040714-5799B.jpg

For further information:

Cascio, Josh. 20 June 2018. "Land O' Lakes Teen Recovering after Puss Caterpillar Sting." Fox 10 Phoenix > Health.
Available @ http://www.fox10phoenix.com/health/land-o-lakes-teen-recovering-after-puss-caterpillar-sting

Hall, Donald W. "Puss Caterpillar." University of Florida Entomology & Nematology Department > Featured Creatures > Miscellaneous > Moths.
Available @ http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/moths/puss.htm

Justin. 17 June 2014. "Puss Moth Caterpillar: It's Cute, Furry, and Venomous." Nature's Poisons > Featured Poison.
Available @ https://naturespoisons.com/2014/06/17/puss-moth-caterpillar-its-cute-furry-and-venomous/

McCain, Emily. 19 June 2018. "Venomous Caterpillar Sends Boy to ER." WCPO Cincinnati > News > National.
Available @ https://www.wcpo.com/news/national/venomous-caterpillar-sends-florida-boy-to-er

O'Kane, Caitlin. 20 June 2018. "Venomous Caterpillar Sends Teen to Emergency Room with 'the Worst  Pain He Ever Felt.'" CBS News > News.
Available @ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venomous-caterpillar-sends-teen-to-emergency-room-with-the-worst-pain-he-ever-felt/

Smith, Jacques Édouard. 1797. "Tab. LIII. Phalaena opercularis Waved Yellow Egger Moth." Histoire Naturelle des Lépidoptères Les Plus Rares de Georgie. Tome second. [The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia. Volume II]. London England: T. Bensley, MDCCXCVII.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/269162
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/mobot31753000314432#page/n18/mode/1up

Wine, Dan. 21 June 2018. "Florida Boy's Frightening Brush with Venomous Caterpillar Lands Him in ER." New York Daily News > News > National.
Available @ http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-florida-boy-venomous-caterpillar-20180621-story.html

Yadav, Satyam. 21 June 2018. "Florida Boy's Frightening Brush with Venomous Caterpillar Lands Him in ER." TechnicalFriends > News.
Available @ https://www.technicalfriends.com/florida-boys-frightening-brush-with-venomous-caterpillar-lands-him-in-er/