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Q: My daughter harvested a turkey this spring that had a beard with a light brown colored tip. A couple years ago, a visiting jake had the same color on the tip of his small beard. Are they related?

A melanin deficiency — the result of a nutrition deficiency — caused this unusual beard coloration, said MDC Turkey Biologist Nick Oakley.

Wild turkey beards are often black. Melanin is the most common pigment in birds, but when melanin production is interrupted, beards can be rust or blond colored. If melanin production is reestablished, white streaks can be left behind, making beards brittle. This can lead to breakage, which hunters sometimes call “beard rot.” But the beard isn’t rotting, it’s being sheared off.

According to the Audubon Society, turkeys can lose their beards several ways. Longer beards can snap from the weight of ice or fray from being dragged over stony ground. 

 “It is not at all out of question that this could have been the jake you saw — the coloration likely persists,” Oakley said. “And, like hair, the part furthest from the bird’s body is the oldest. It is a pretty neat beard for your daughter to remember the hunt by!”

Terrain heavily influences beard length. Turkeys inhabiting rocky terrain may have overall shorter beards than individuals foraging across flat, sandy ground. 

Q: Is this a cicada? Why the lovely gossamer wings?

This cicada has very recently emerged from its shell, and it will turn a more natural green-brown color after it dries fully. This individual is one of Missouri’s native annual or dog-day cicadas in the Neotibicen genus. 

Unlike the 13- or 17-year periodical cicadas, we see (and hear) adult dog-day cicadas each year. However, these cicadas don’t have just a one-year life cycle. Nymphs spend two to five years underground, feeding on the sap of plant roots before emerging as adults during the dog days of summer. 

Nearly 30 cicada species occur in Missouri, with many species having annual emergences of adult cicadas. Dog-day cicadas, especially, often can be identified by their song and the time of day they sing. 

Q: What type of caterpillars are these? 

Fuzzy walnut caterpillar moth larvae (Datana intergerrima) are often found on eastern black walnut trees, but they also feed on pecans and various species of hickory. Rarely, these caterpillars can occur in such high numbers that they defoliate trees. Birds generally prey heavily on these caterpillars when they gather, helping keep their populations in check.

With wingspans of 1¾ inches, they are a medium-sized moth. Their brown, tan, and cream banding helps camouflage them well. 

Walnut caterpillar moths have two generations per year — one in early summer and the second in early fall. Female moths lay eggs on the undersides of leaves in masses, and when the larvae hatch, they feed on leaves in gregarious groupings. When they are ready to molt (shed) their skins, they migrate down their host tree’s trunk. Once there, the molting is synchronized, with nearly all caterpillars in a cluster molting at the same time and leaving behind a mass of empty, hairy caterpillar skins. Once fully sized, caterpillars leave the tree to pupate in the soil.