15-AUG-2013
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
also called Spotted touch-me-not, a favourite of hummingbirds and bumblebees. A native plant of damp areas and wetland edges.
15-AUG-2013
Great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on joe-pye weed
nectaring on Joe-Pye weed. The largest fritillary in our area, and probably the most commonly seen, easily separated from the other two large Speyeria species.
15-AUG-2013
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Diane has planted a mass of these in the model monarch waystation at the Butterfly Meadow and they are alive with bumble bees, honey bees, hummingbird moths and a variety of other insects. France took this pretty shot.
14-AUG-2013
Smartweed (Polygonum sp.)
This is a tall, showy plant with large drooping clusters of pale pink flowers. It is probably Polygonum lapathifolium, a native species. We have not seen this at FWG before, but it has appeared near the butterfly meadow this year, and is a new species for our list.
Or it would have been, except someone seems to have destroyed the plant, or else picked it to take home. The plant itself was very tall and very noticeable.
14-AUG-2013
Planthopper nymph
Diane took these two photos of a peculiarly shaped little bug nymph. I took a much more inferior photo, but it had enough detail that I sent it to Bug Guide for help with ID. They said it was a planthopper nymph, but didn't say which species. I am leaning towards Acanalonia, as the nymphs of the very common Metcalfa pruinosa are completely different, and this has somewhat the shape of the Acanolonia planthopper.
14-AUG-2013
Cedar waxwing on tartarian honeysuckle
This guy was feeding on the fruit of a tartarian honeysuckle, with much gusto. I think waxwings are such sleekly beautiful birds, with their little red 'wax'tips and dove gray back.
14-AUG-2013
Treehopper (Acutalis tartarea)
One of the tiniest of treehoppers, this is a difficult to photograph species because of its size and its habit of quickly moving away either by running around the stem of a plant or hopping to another one. It is, however, quite common at the garden, and early August, or late July, is when I usually begin seeing them in good numbers.
14-AUG-2013
Grasshopper nymph
Diane and I saw this very striking, large, grasshopper nymph at FWG this afternoon. At present, we're not sure what species it is.
14-AUG-2013
Digger wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus)
Along with the great black digger wasp (S. pensylvanicus), this is also common in mid to late summer, nectaring on flowers, here on a swamp milkweed in the BYG.
14-AUG-2013
Leaf beetles (Microrhopala excavata)
Two flat-bodied and tiny beetles, with a pitted elytra (in fact, "excavata" is Latin for pitted). They are distinctive in shape but sometimes difficult to find, only because they are so small and often tuck themselves into small spaces on plants. They are in the same subfamily (now) as tortoise beetles.
14-AUG-2013
Dogwood spittlebug (Clastoptera proteus)
This tiny spittlebug was on goldenrod in the Butterfly Meadow. I find these insects very handsome and boldly patterned.
14-AUG-2013
Hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe) on monarda
There is a huge swathe of Monarda fistulosa, the native bee balm, in the butterfly meadow, and today it was alive with bumble bees busily gathering pollen, and this moth as well as a very tattered silver-spotted skipper, both nectaring.