Bradford County Conservation District
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Contact

CONSERVATION CORNER

A weekly blog for all things conservation

Pennsylvania’s “Other” Bears

10/3/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Ryan Reed: A reprint from Forest Fridays- A DCNR publication. 
My first memories of woolly bears come from childhood, when a friend and I began capturing as many furry caterpillars as we could find one fall.  Some of them were tan, some white; others were completely black, or brown and black.  We caught a lot of flak from my friend’s dad when we released them all into his sunporch. 
I didn’t know it at the time, but the black and brown ones were woolly bears (Pyrrharctia isabella), which I gradually came to view as symbols of fall and harbingers of winter.  I’m fairly certain it was my grandmother who first told me that the blacker the woolly bear, the harder the winter will be.  She and my grandfather seemed to always have a wives tale for any occasion, one that typically started with, “they say…” . 

Digging into woolly bear colors and winter severity correlation, it was surprising to learn that this has actually been scientifically studied.  Although the 1948 study in New York did little to lend credibility to the purported relationship between woolly darkness and winter cold, it did oddly lead to more publicity for this bit of folklore, and perhaps helped elicit its tacit approval as a rule of thumb.
Although there doesn’t appear to be any scientific validity to woolly bear morphology and influence on winter, these insects are still quite the scientific wonder.  Woolly bears are the larval stage of the Isabella tiger moth, a ubiquitous inhabitant of an enormous range spanning northern Mexico, the US, and most of Canada.  Their biological capabilities seem to extend into the realm of the supernatural, surviving being frozen in ice and withstanding temperatures as low as negative 90 degrees, Fahrenheit!
One may wonder how this is possible, but something happens just before hibernation (yes, you could say that we have two “bears” that hibernate in PA!).  As the woolly bear settles into a cool, dark place before winter, its internal tissues exude glycerol, a natural antifreeze, which keeps it from freezing solid.  Amazingly, woolly bears can repeat this annual process up to a reported 14 times before their development is complete.  Woolly bears residing in the species’ more northerly range take longer to develop due to shorter growing season, so a woolly bear encountered in Canada could be much older than we might think. 
Once its caterpillar stage is complete, the woolly bear metamorphoses into an adult Isabella tiger moth, as seen below. 
Just in case you’re wondering, I’ve seen quite a few woolly bear caterpillars this early fall, and their colors have been remarkably variable, so this winter will be anything between mild to severe (you’re welcome!).
If you’re a fan of the woolly bear, you’ll be interested to learn that Pennsylvania celebrates this critter in at least two annual festivals in Lewisburg and Oil City.  Learn more about the woolly bear here: https://www.weather.gov/arx/woollybear /
​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Authors

    Various staff at the Bradford County Conservation District

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Chapter 102
    Chapter 105
    Community
    Conservation Planning
    County Initiative
    Cover Crop
    DGLVR
    Earth Day
    Education
    Energy
    Events
    Farmland Preservation
    Floodplain
    Forest Pests
    Forestry
    Grazing
    Home & Garden
    Interseeder
    Manure Management
    Native Species
    No Till Garden
    Nutrient Management
    Outreach
    Permitting
    Pollinators
    Ponds
    Riparian Buffer
    Scholarship
    Soil Health
    Storm Water
    Stream Crossings
    Streams
    Watershed
    Wildlife

Picture
Bradford County Conservation District
Stoll Natural Resource Center
200 Lake Road, Suite E | Towanda PA 18848
Phone: (570)-485-3144

Find Us on Social Media!
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Contact