Creatures

Monarch on Butterfly Weed

Photograph taken on Monday, July 27, 2020 by Henry
Monarch on Butterfly Weed

Monarch on Butterfly Weed

The monarch (Danaus plexippus) is one of the prettiest butterflies we get. They don’t show up in nearly as great numbers as do the tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) and maybe that’s what makes their appearance more exciting. This one was on a tender butterfly weed (Asclepias curassavica) that it in a container on our back patio. I took this one photo from the lawn side of the patio before trying to get around to the other side. Just as well because it flew off after that and I got no more. I did take some more photos of the tiger swallowtails but I’m sure I’ll get more of them this summer.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Monarch on Butterfly Weed

Polites peckius (Peck’s Skipper)

Photograph taken on Thursday, July 23, 2020 by Henry
Polites peckius (Peck's Skipper)

Polites peckius (Peck’s Skipper)

The skippers are here in their great numbers. They aren’t flashy like the swallowtails and they don’t buzz like the bees, but they are everywhere. They especially like the black-eyed Susan flowers (as seen here) and the Verbena bonariensis but they can also be seen on other plants. This is, I believe, a Peck’s skipper (Polites peckius), also known as the yellow patch or yellow spotted skipper. The larvae feed on grasses while the adults take nectar from flowers. They are widespread across much of North America.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Polites peckius (Peck’s Skipper)

Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 by Henry
Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

This is a sand wasp, Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus I believe. It’s fairly common although nothing like the western honey bee or the bumble or carpenter bee, but I see them quite a bit on the mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), as this one is. If I go out in the heat of the day, with the sun beating down on the mountain mint, it’s an absolute hive of activity (and I mean that in the most literal sense). There are myriad bees and wasps buzzing around with an occasional skipper sneaking in. The buddleia above has mostly bumble and carpenter bees as well as butterflies. Now and then I spot a true bug of one sort or another. It’s really wonderful, unless of course you are allergic or simply afraid of stinging things. It’s also very hot so I don’t generally stay out too long, but I love it.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off on Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

American Dagger Moth Caterpillar (Acronicta americana)

Photograph taken on Thursday, July 16, 2020 by Henry
American Dagger Moth Caterpillar (Acronicta americana)

American Dagger Moth Caterpillar (Acronicta americana)

Cathy called me up from the basement this morning because she thought I might like to see this caterpillar on our back patio. It was crawling along the hose but then moved off onto some leaves and sticks, which looks a bit more natural. It is an American Dagger Moth Caterpillar (Acronicta americana). They feed on the leaves of various deciduous trees so I really shouldn’t have let it live, but I did. Apparently the hairs can cause skin irritation, so it’s something you probably don’t want to handle. I didn’t, so I cannot say whether or not it’s a serious problem.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on American Dagger Moth Caterpillar (Acronicta americana)

Sneezeweed (Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’)

Photograph taken on Monday, July 13, 2020 by Henry
Sneezeweed (Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’)

Sneezeweed (Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’)

Cathy bought a few perennials over the weekend and I planted this one yesterday. It’s a sneezeweed called ‘Mardi Gras’ and it’s really nice. The flowers have a similar look to black-eyed Susans but it’s a different genus (Helenium). I happened to catch it with a little, green-sweat bee on it, which is a bonus. It prefers somewhat barren ground and isn’t supposed to do well in heavy clay, which is probably why I haven’t seen it around here. That’s really all we have. But hopefully it will survive, even if it doesn’t thrive too well.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sneezeweed (Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’)

Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 12, 2020 by Henry
Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)

Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)

After we got home from visiting mom this afternoon we were sitting in the front yard. The evenings have been warm but so much nicer than it’s been during the heat of the day. Because my work setup is in the basement, I feel like I need to get outdoors some each day so I’m going out front after work to read. Today wasn’t a work day, but I sat out anyway. I had just taken a photo of the tiger lily buds when we spotted this snowberry clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis) on the Verbena bonariensis. I didn’t really have great light for taking pictures of a moth on the wing (and these rarely land, preferring to hover). But this one turned out pretty well, I think.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)

Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle)

Photograph taken on Thursday, July 09, 2020 by Henry
Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle)

Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle)

I am definitely not a fan of the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), a native of (unsurprisingly) Japan, and instroduced into North America in the early 20th century (first found in the United States in 1916 near Riverton, New Jersey). They are quite destructive of a wide variety of plants, including both ornamental plants (like roses, which they love) and agricultural crops (soybeans, stone fruits, etc.). Their larvae damage lawns, feeding on the roots of grasses. They are, of course, pretty if you can disassociate them from the destruction they cause. But that’s hard for me to do and I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for them. This one is on a rose of Sharon (a.k.a. shrub althea, Hibiscus syriacus).

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetle)

Resin Bee on Coneflower

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 08, 2020 by Henry
Resin Bee on Coneflower

Resin Bee on Coneflower

I wasn’t happy with most of the pictures I took today, but this one isn’t too bad. I’m pretty sure this is a sculptured resin bee (Megachile sculpturalis), although there are a few other Megachile species it could be (e.g. the flat-tailed leaf-cutter bee, Megachile mendica, which is more common). Regardless, it’s a nice, quiet little bee and it was moving among the coneflowers, along with a few other solitary bees and an occasional honey bee (Apis mellifera). I know that some folks are not fond of bees and don’t like to have them around. With the exception of a few aggressive hornets and wasps, I like having them around. They really rarely sting unless provoked and they are quite pretty to watch on flowers.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Resin Bee on Coneflower

Green-Sweat Bee

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 07, 2020 by Henry
Green-Sweat Bee

Green-Sweat Bee

I was out with my macro on a 25mm extension tube this evening and got a few decent photos of this green bee. I labeled it a cuckoo wasp at first, but now I’m thinking it’s a green-sweat bee (Tribe Augochlorini). But don’t hold me to that. If I get a better identification, I’ll update this post. For now, all I can say for sure is that it’s a bee (Anthophila). I can also say that it’s quite pretty. It was moving around quit a bit and this was the best I could do at ISO 800, f/8, 1/100 second.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Green-Sweat Bee

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Photograph taken on Monday, July 06, 2020 by Henry
Western Honey Bee (<em>Apis mellifera</em>)

Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

The mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) is starting to bloom. I won’t claim it’s a hive of activity yet, but there’s certainly a bit of a buzz. Mostly I’m seeing honey bees (Apis mellifera) on them so far, but the mountain mint is very attractive to a wide variety of insect life from small beetles and bugs to bees and wasps, and some butterflies. The buddleia next to this tends to get more butterflies, though. It loves the sun and the insects are out in the most fierce in the heat of the day. Not my favorite time to sit there with my camera but it’s sometimes worth the effort.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 01, 2020 by Henry
Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens)

Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens)

Pretty much all the flowers in our garden are attractive to insects. I suppose that makes sense, because that’s what flowers are supposed to do, in order to get the insects to (inadvertently) pollinate the flowers. It’s interesting to me, though, that some flowers are attractive to many different insects but some seem to attract a specific subset. Yesterday, I was looking at the Monarda (bee balm) and noticed that the large bees were almost exclusively carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica). Today I was looking at the gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) shown here and the large bees were exclusively common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens). Just interesting, that’s all.

On a mostly unrelated note, I really, really don’t recommend you plant any Lysimachia species in your garden. The bees love it, but there are other things they like that aren’t so overwhelming.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens)

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

Photograph taken on Monday, June 29, 2020 by Henry
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

After work, except on days when it’s raining, I’ve been trying to sit in the yard to read. It’s started to get warm lately but I’ve still gone out, sitting in the shade after 5:00 PM, when it’s not quite so bad. I take my camera with me and look around for something to photograph. While I was reading, this gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) came and sat on the stake holding up our new hawthorn tree. It looked around for a little while and then flew off. There are quite a few of them around and since they are insect eaters, I’m quite happy to have them.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off on Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 28, 2020 by Henry
Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

We took a drive to Lewis Orchard to buy peaches today. It was very hot and being out in the sun with masks on was not really all that nice but we managed and bought enough to make a cobbler and have plenty left over to eat simply cut up with whipped cream. From there we stopped at our friends’ farm. The last time we were there Greg said I should stop to see the bees but we left the other direction so didn’t. This time we stopped and I got a few pictures of the honey bees (Apis mellifera). I also happened to get stung on my nasal septum, which wasn’t the most fun, but a honey bee sting is, thankfully, not that bad.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis)

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 27, 2020 by Henry
American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis)

American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis)

There are some birds, notably the American robin (Turdus migratorius), that doesn’t really compare favorably with its European counterpart (Erithacus rubecula. While the European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a lovely bird, I think our American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) is quite beautiful. This is a female (on the left) and male (on the right). They really love the Verbena bonariensis and it’s fun to watch them as they land and the stems bend under their tremendous weight. I enjoyed this couple for quite a while this morning.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis)

Cicindela sexguttata (Six-spotted Tiger Beetle)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 21, 2020 by Henry
Cicindela sexguttata (Six-spotted Tiger Beetle)

Cicindela sexguttata (Six-spotted Tiger Beetle)

Cathy and I went on a new trail today. I don’t know if the trail is actually new but it was new to us. We walked in the Rock Creek valley between Muncaster and Muncaster Mill Roads. As the crow flies, it’s probably a mile from end to end. The trail winds quite a bit and there’s a bit of up and down and based on a map we found, it’s more like 2.5 each way. So, about five miles. It was pretty hot and very humid, but we really enjoyed the green and also the birds that were supplying the background chorus most of the way. We saw quite a few of these six-spotted tiger beetles (Cicindela sexguttata) as well as ebony jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata), a damselfly with black wings (except for on females there is a conspicuous white spot at the end of the wings.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cicindela sexguttata (Six-spotted Tiger Beetle)

White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma)

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 20, 2020 by Henry
White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma)

White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma)

I was sitting outside this morning, taking a break from doing some yard work, when I noticed this caterpillar on the tire of my car. I moved it to a plant, figuring it would be shown to better effect there than on the black tire, and then I got my camera and took a few photos. It is a white-marked tussock moth (Orgyia leucostigma), a species native to our region. Interestingly, the adult females are wingless and therefore flightless. If you find one of these, you’ll want to avoid handling it with your bare hands. Its hair is known to cause allergic reactions, especially in areas of the body with sensitive skin. I let it crawl onto a leaf to move it, so as to avoid any issues.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma)

Syrphid Fly on Marigold

Photograph taken on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 by Henry
Syrphid Fly on Marigold

Syrphid Fly on Marigold

I went out to take some pictures of flowers today. There are a few sitting on a table that I set up for Cathy to work on and that seemed like a nice place to sit and take pictures. I took some of a coral bells plant (Heuchera x ‘Blondie’) and then I noticed this syrphid file (Family Syrphidae) on a marigold blossom. There’s only so close I can get with my 100mm macro and I’d like some way to get closer. I’ve thought about buying a Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 lens that gives magnifications of 1 to 5 times, basically picking up where my current lens leaves off. It’s manual focus, but at that close range, focus is as much a matter of moving the camera closer or further away from the subject.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Syrphid Fly on Marigold

Bumble Bee on Lavender

Photograph taken on Saturday, June 13, 2020 by Henry
Bumble Bee on Lavender

Bumble Bee on Lavender

I sat in the middle of the front garden this afternoon and took a few pictures. There were some bumble bees (Bombus impatiens, the common eastern bumble bee) moving from flower to flower and I waited for one to land on the lavender (this is a variety of Spanish lavender, Lavandula stoechas called ‘Anouk Supreme’). I only got four photos and none of them are quite what I was hoping for but this one isn’t too bad. When I’m in the yard, especially when it’s hot, I generally favor the shade but if I’m looking for photos, especially insect photos, the sun is the place to be.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bumble Bee on Lavender

Plant Bug on Feverfew

Photograph taken on Friday, June 12, 2020 by Henry
Plant Bug on Feverfew

Plant Bug on Feverfew

I was taking pictures of the feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) growing in the back of our garden when I happened to notice this little plant bug. I don’t know what type it is and I’m not sure the photos I got are good enough for more than a general identification, so I’ll just leave it as a plant bug (Family Miridae). We’re in the in-between phase when there are fewer things in bloom. The flush of spring ephemerals is well past and most of them have already lost their leaves for the summer. The roses have finished their first flush but those that repeat will be with us off an on all summer. The Asiatic lilies and a few smaller things are the only sources of blooms right now. I’m not complaining, mind you, just saying.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Plant Bug on Feverfew

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Photograph taken on Monday, June 08, 2020 by Henry
Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on Asiatic Lily

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on Asiatic Lily

We had our first sighting of a tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) today and it was nice enough to perch on the Asiatic lilies growing in our front garden. I’ve actually seen a few butterflies around but haven’t had a chance to get any photos. Soon we’ll have them in abundance, especially when the Buddleia starts to bloom. These Asiatic lilies are surrounded by tiger lily plants (Lilium lancifolium), which are considerably taller and I’m not sure these can get the attention they deserve. On the other hand, this makes them harder for the deer to get to, which is a plus.

Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)