Rocket stares at his wall of arrows. Now there are twenty of them, crossing everywhere.
"This is not a chain anymore," he says. "It is a knot!"
Raven smiles. "A robin eats worms and berries. A hawk eats robins and mice."
"Everything eats more than one thing," she adds.
Nova projects a glowing cyan net across the wall. "A knot? Or a web?"
Most animals eat more than one kind of food.
A robin eats worms, insects and berries. So the robin is part of three chains.
A hawk eats mice, snakes and small birds. More chains cross.
When you draw all the chains in one habitat, the arrows cross and connect.
That drawing is a food web.
A food web shows that living things in a habitat depend on each other.
If one kind of plant or animal disappears, many others feel the change.
Below are the plants, insects and birds people record most in your region.
Use them as the pieces of your web. Add any animal you have seen yourself.
Remember the rules: plants are producers. Arrows point toward the eater.
These are the producers for your web.
Every chain in your web starts with one of these.
| # | Name | Science name | Seen most |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Plane Tree | Platanus hispanica | Jul to Nov |
| 2 | Norway Maple | Acer platanoides | Jun to Oct |
| 3 | Callery Pear | Pyrus calleryana | Jul to Oct, Dec |
| 4 | Pin Oak | Quercus palustris | Jun to Nov |
| 5 | American Pokeweed | Phytolacca americana | Jun to Sep |
| 6 | Red Maple | Acer rubrum | Apr to Oct |
| 7 | Poison Ivy | Toxicodendron radicans | Apr to Jun |
| 8 | Common Milkweed | Asclepias syriaca | Jun to Aug |
| 9 | Garlic Mustard | Alliaria petiolata | Apr to May |
| 10 | Virginia Creeper | Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Apr to Jul |
Whole United States. Names and months come from records people shared on GBIF.org. Your yard may have different neighbors.
Many insects eat plants. Many birds eat insects.
Pick two or three for the middle of your web.
| # | Name | Science name | Seen most |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monarch Butterfly | Danaus plexippus | Jul to Sep |
| 2 | Honey Bee | Apis mellifera | Apr to Oct |
| 3 | Inland Floodwater Mosquito | Aedes vexans | Jun to Sep |
| 4 | Northern House Mosquito | Culex pipiens | Jun to Sep |
| 5 | Common Eastern Bumble Bee | Bombus impatiens | Jul to Sep |
| 6 | Asian Lady Beetle | Harmonia axyridis | Apr to Oct |
| 7 | Blue Dasher | Pachydiplax longipennis | Jun to Aug |
| 8 | Eastern Tiger Swallowtail | Papilio glaucus | Jul to Aug |
| 9 | Eastern Pondhawk | Erythemis simplicicollis | Jun to Aug |
| 10 | Gulf Fritillary | Dione vanillae | Aug to Oct |
Whole United States. Names and months come from records people shared on GBIF.org. Your yard may have different neighbors.
Birds may eat seeds, berries, insects or worms.
Choose a few and think about what each one might eat.
| # | Name | Science name | Seen most |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura | Mar to Aug |
| 2 | Northern Cardinal | Cardinalis cardinalis | Feb to May |
| 3 | American Robin | Turdus migratorius | Apr to Jun |
| 4 | American Crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos | Sep to Jun |
| 5 | Blue Jay | Cyanocitta cristata | Mar to May, Sep to Oct |
| 6 | Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | Nov to May |
| 7 | Canada Goose | Branta canadensis | Jan to May |
| 8 | Song Sparrow | Melospiza melodia | Mar to Jun |
| 9 | Red-winged Blackbird | Agelaius phoeniceus | Mar to Jun |
| 10 | House Finch | Haemorhous mexicanus | Sep to Jul |
Whole United States. Names and months come from records people shared on GBIF.org. Your yard may have different neighbors.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| A food web is made of many food chains. | ? |
| Most animals eat only one kind of food. | ? |
| In a food web, arrows still point toward the eater. | ? |
| Decomposers are not part of a food web. | ? |
What a web! Tomorrow is Explorer Day. You and your family hunt for decomposers in the leaves.