June 24, 2018

Martha O'Kennon

Late again, but maybe less so. The truth is that the bugs are out in such numbers that it is taking hours a day to crop them properly!! But I'm trying to catch up!

The water lilies are doing well, although there is someone chewing on the blossoms closest to the edge of the pond. My stand of milkweed is scant, but the one common milkweed plant is back up. Meanwhile, the swamp milkweed is actually blooming this year. This little baby katydid is so pretty he will have to be considered part of the zinnia petal here.



Remember that there is information in the name of the file for each image. You can see it by mousing over the image - look at the lower left of the screen. Or you can click on the image to get to the (usually) larger image. Then the info is displayed in the address line above. Sometimes the second click will actually display a different view of the original image.

Sad news again. All is quiet once more in the robin's nest. People say that it's likely her nest was robbed by a blue jay, but I haven't even seen a blue jay around yet this summer.

We had all kinds of action on the insect/spider stage. One lonely Camponotus ant, then a few barklice.



This red beetle seems to be made of sturdy cloth. The beetle in the spiderwort looks sort of like an Oulema beetle, doesn't it? And this lump of a redbud bruchid is getting easier to recognize (I hope)!



Here are a red-necked boring beetle; another long-horned beetle with a yellow head and thorax; and this tiny beetle with at least one red spot on its shoulder.



And now for the bugs. Here are two plant bugs, one of the the familiar moon-winged Lygus plant bugs, and the other a new one to me. Then we see a sharpshooter, still a nymph. (A sharpshooter could be a leafhopper, but if we can't see its spikey back legs, then we can't be sure it is.)



Here is a hopper (-leaf, -tree, or maybe -plant); an adult green Assassin Bug; and a brown and white striped leafhopper, which can only be of the genus Aphrodes.



Some more leafhoppers, ending up with our favorite, the Candy-striper. Well, REALLY ending up with a very strange little bug. Has anyone seen his mommy?



Well, look at that. We are already into the flies. There was a great collection of them this week. First up, this tiny one; then a frequently seen one with a beige thorax; then a Chrysopilus fly; and finally a Woodlouse (pillbug) fly.



Here is a little fruit fly (I think); then one of the prettiest little flies, Minettia lupulina; a tricky little Moth Fly ( really a fly that mimics a fluffy little moth). Finally a large fly - too bad the verdure of the leaves turns her wings green.



First a fly with lightly spotted wings; a long little fly with a red abdomen; and a root-maggot fly - what a gorgeous color for such a common fly!



Here are a black Scavenger fly, a fly with a striped thorax, and one with that beige thorax.



How about some really scintillating flies? Can you believe these beauties are just called "long-legged flies"?



How about the growing harvestman (daddy-long-legs) population?



This damselfly spreads her wings apart at about 45 degrees. Here is a katydid nymph with mostly bluish-green colors, and then (the one you saw at the top of this blog) one with all its colors. Finally, another nymph, but this one may be a young grasshopper or other jumping insect.



Have you seen one of these red mites? They are a parasitic species and eat other insects. They are so small as to be almost invisible - but what a treat to see that RED! Here is another interesting moth.



Here are a few more moths. A nice soft-colored one (two images), and a fuzzy one.



Two more moths - one strangely lumpy-looking one and a pretty little plume moth. I love the mysterious way the plume moths are built - they seem to be constructed by means of a very delicate set of instructions.



On to other groups of creatures. Our pillbugs have been very strong though I don't know exactly what they are contributing to the neighborhood. Same for our local slugs. We have been having some very wet weather. NOT COMPLAINING.



Finally to our spiders. As usual, we have a large group of Common House Spiders. Here is a young male almost converted to red. But our jumping spiders have also been quite strong. Here is a rather dark picture of a Striped Jumper. And a rounded pinkish fellow who may be one of the six-spotted orbweavers in the pink phase.



Here is a young Mangora placida orbweaver, a Naphrys pulex jumping spider, and what is probably an orbweaver.

Here is a Pirate Spider, but I'm not sure which one. The second one is a new one to me. Anyone with any familiarity for these, I won't mind if you help identify it. Here is the end of our Spider Cavalcade.



Here we are at the end of a busy week - brought to you by this lovely Hardy Water Lily. Again, apologies for the lateness of this Blog, but it is a day sooner than last week's. I plan to try to get next week's worth out a day sooner than this until we are caught up!



Goodbye for now, friends.

Love, Martha

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