Today is International Rock Flipping Day! We got a head start last night and did our rock flipping after dinner. Unfortunately, we don't have any big rocks in our yard, but we do have a set of pavers that doesn't get moved regularly, so we decided to flip a few and see what was underneath.
The first flip revealed a few interesting creatures. First, we saw two bugs running on the underside of the paver itself. I got a picture of one and it looks like possibly some sort of centipede (see top left area of the picture). If anyone can tell from the picture, I'd love to know what this actually is. I'm not much of an expert on bugs!
On the ground under the first paver was a worm (near the top left of the area the paver was covering) and a small whole on the right which I'm sure belongs to some sort of animal. I have to say we were all very excited to see some animals running around under our first flip!
We decided to flip the paver that was somewhat below this one as well. This second one was more embedded in the ground so it took some effort to free it. But when we did, we discovered there wasn't much under there. I expect this is due to the fact that the ground is so compact under this paver.
The third and last flip revealed a whole colony of ants and their larvae. I wish I could have gotten a more clear picture of this - I really need to read my camera manual to know how to take shots of things like this!
There were lots of black ants and lots of white larvae, both on the underside of the paver and on the ground under it.
This was our first year participating in the International Rock Flipping Day, and I have to say we had a lot of fun. The whole family participated and the kids loved seeing the bugs we found under our rocks. If you haven't already done so, get outside today and flip a rock! Then check in at Wanderin' Weeta to provide a link to your pictures!
C & M got an award for being Junior Rock-Flippers. Badge, by cephalopodcast.com, under a Creative Commons license.
Fascinating... I heard about the project from The Work of Childhood, but... I am not a big fan of bugs, and a couple of times we found termites under rocks - eewww. Maybe when Anna is older, she will participate on her own :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't have time to do much other than flip paving stones over as well so don't feel bad (we've got a 2 year old and a 4 month old)! We've got some nice pavers in the garden that had been sitting on the grass since the spring. Makes you think about the little things you can do to provide habitat in your own yard. I liked the ant photos!
ReplyDeleteThis was great fun. Your ant photos aren't so bad, you did a good job with them.
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