Look What’s Falling from Our Elm Trees!

Every spring there are a few days in late April and early May when we see warblers in the streets, feeding on something. Two years ago it happened in late April, as seen in these photos of Yellow-rumped Warblers on our south Oak Park  block:

Well, it’s been happening again the past few days. It’s like a block party for the birds, and it got me wondering–what’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? What tasty things are the warblers feeding on?

My best guess was that there was some sort of insect feeding on the opening leaves of the American Elms that tower over many sections of our block. Every spring there are also warblers feeding on something in the treetops, and every year there are tiny holes chewed in the leaves:

So, I was thinking that maybe whatever was feeding on the leaves somehow fell to the ground, where sharp-eyed warblers could spot them on the asphalt and continue their meals.

To test my hypothesis, I placed a white plastic lid where it could catch whatever was falling. I left it there from late afternoon yesterday until early this morning:

Then, this morning, I brought the lid inside to see what I could find. It was covered with tiny, pale yellow grub-like insect larvae!

So, one question answered: That’s what’s falling from the trees, and probably what the warblers are eating. But many questions remain:

• What are these things? Hatchling caterpillars, or some other kind of insect?
• Why are so many falling from the trees? Shouldn’t they be better adapted to hang onto the leaves? Or do they “jump” whenever a bird is picking at their leaf?
• Once they hit the ground, they are still alive–you can see them moving. Can they somehow continue to live on the ground, perhaps feeding on fallen elm leaves and elm seeds? If so, when they are larger and stronger, would they climb back up into the trees?

So, I guess our next challenge is to try to raise a bunch of the larvae until they are large enough to identify. And once they are bigger we can put some of them at the base of an elm tree and see what happens.

I’ll let you know what happens!

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A few hours I posted this, a Facebook friend and garden designer made this comment (Thanks, René!):

“I’m no entomologist, but after some research, my best guess is Elm Leaf Beetle. These guys feed on elms and drop to the ground in large numbers as little yellow guys to pupate. Sounds like the yellow-rumped Warblers are doing a good job of natural pest control.”

Here’s a photo of Elm Leaf Beetle damage: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/X/I-CO-XLUT-CD.004.html
Here’s a drawing of the Elm Leaf Beetle life cycle: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pni7403-2.html
Here’s a photo of some Elm Leaf Beetle pupae: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/X/I-CO-XLUT-EA.001.html

We’ve put some of our fallen larvae (or whatever) into a plastic box with newly opened leaves–now we’ll see what happens!

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Here are links to our earlier blog posts about birds in our streets:

• Block Party for the Birds: Warblers and Sparrows in the Streets

• Warblers on the Rooftops, Thrushes in the Alley

• Front Stoop Birding: Warblers Come to Us