YOUR MONTHLY FIELD GUIDE
July
The Woods Grow Deep
Southern Blue Ridge • Western North Carolina
By July, the forest has grown dense and deeply green, with a thick canopy overhead and summer growth crowding trails and woodland edges. Insects fill the warm air with sound as young birds and other wildlife move through the lush landscape.
Meet This Month's Species
Sourwood
Oxydendrum arboreum
A slender native tree whose drooping clusters of white flowers appear in midsummer and draw insects high into the leafy canopy.
Common True Katydid
Pterophylla camellifolia
Camouflaged among the leafy canopy of Western North Carolina's forests, these green, leaflike insects fill summer nights with their distinctive, rhythmic calls.
jack Depicted place: Cane River, NC, USA (35°56′11″N 82°26′01″W / 35.9362500833°N 82.4334880833°W / 35.9362500833; -82.4334880833), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Appalachian Brook Crayfish
Cambarus bartonii
Sheltering beneath rocks in cool mountain streams, these native crayfish recycle organic matter and provide an important food source for fish, birds, and other streamside wildlife.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus
A large yellow-and-black butterfly often seen visiting flowers or gathering with other butterflies on damp soil for minerals.
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
A striking red wildflower of wet places that blooms along shaded streams and adds vivid color to the midsummer landscape.
Eastern Box Turtle
Terrapene carolina carolina
Summer rains often bring this long-lived woodland turtle into view as it moves through forests and across familiar trails.
July Small Wonders
Hemlock Reishi
Ganoderma tsugae
Glossy shelves of hemlock reishi emerge from fallen hemlocks and old stumps in the summer woods, their cream edges expanding into bands of orange and red as the fungus slowly breaks down dead wood.
Eastern Leafcutter Bees
Megachile brevis
Near-perfect circles appear along the edges of summer leaves as Eastern leafcutter bees snip fragments to carry home and build leafy chambers where they provision their developing young with pollen.
