10-AUG-2013
Leafhopper (Coelidia olitoria), male
These medium size leafhoppers are very common at this time of year, found almost everywhere. Their very noticeable nymphs are also found now. Diane took this beautiful shot.
10-AUG-2013
Ambush bug (Phymata)
By mid-summer, these funny, gnarly little bugs begin to appear and are soon commonly found on almost all flowers, lying motionless, waiting for an insect land, at which point they will quickly grab it. Their common name is apt, for they do ambush their victims.Diane took this pretty photo of two on tansy.
06-AUG-2013
Velvet leaf (Abutilon theophrasti)
This is a non-native annual that can turn up just about anywhere, never in any abundance, usually only in ones or twos, at least in my experience around here. However, in some places it is a real invasive of crop fields. I've had the odd one in my garden (not planted by me), and I've seen them in various locations, including in the past at FWG. This is the first one I've seen this year. They have an attractive flower and seed pod. They are in the mallow family.
06-AUG-2013
Jumping spider (Tutelina similis)
This little jumping spider has been hanging around this bee box for some weeks. She is an unusual shape and colour for a jumper. You can see how small she is by comparing her to the size of bee nest hole which looks huge in comparison! She appears to be nesting in one of the holes.
06-AUG-2013
Ragweed beetles (Zygogramma suturalis)
I decided to see if I could find some ragweed beetles today, and ended up seeing at least 8. And guess what? None were on ragweed! In fact, about 90% of the time I've found them on something other than ragweed, usually on Bidens sp. Another interesting thing about these beetles is that in sunlight they look very different than when in shade. here, they appear to have a reddish cast to them. But in the next photo, they look completely black and white.
These are members of the Chrysomelidae, leaf-eating beetles. At one point they were exported to Russia as a biocontrol agent for our native ragweed which is an invasive species in Russia. The idea was that as they are closely associated with ragweed, they would control it. This didn't work. Or it has not worked yet. You could say it is not working here either, given the amount of ragweed around. But perhaps without these native beetles we'd have twice as much. And don't forget the ragweed fly which also has some impact on ragweed.
06-AUG-2013
Ragweed beetle (Zygogramma suturalis)
And here is the beetle looking very elegantly black and white, or perhaps black and silver.
06-AUG-2013
Planthopper (Metcalfa pruinosa)
While many of us have complained about the lack of insects this year, some species seem to be more abundant than in previous years. For whatever reason, this medium sized (about 6-7 mm) planthopper is everywhere!! I saw dozens today at FWG, and I see scores in my walks elsewhere in the region. They are an attractive insect, grayish to brown, with yellow eyes. This one is on a wild raspberry. They will feed on a variety of plants but damage is insignificant. You might also have seen their nymphs, which are more common than I've ever seen before. They look like little bits of white fluff on a stem, until they move and then you see distinct eyes and a feathery tail.
06-AUG-2013
Great black digger (Sphex pensylvanicus)
Mid-summer is when this impressively large Sphecid wasp turns up, along with another equally large Sphecid, the orange and black Sphex ichneumoneus, which I also saw today. This one is nectaring on canada thistle.
Although I mentioned low insect numbers earlier, today was actually quite a good day for seeing a variety of creatures. Included in my tally were dozens of the tiny green and black Acutalis treehoppers, one Enchenopa treehopper, Coelidia leafhoppers, Graphocephala leafhoppers, Bicyrtes wasps, a number of honey bees all nectaring on burdock flowers which are fresh right now, lots of bumblebees, a few sweat bees of different species, and a few leafcutter bees. There were many grasshoppers but difficult to get a good look at. For butterfly observations (not many), I saw a summer azure, 5 or 6 cabbage whites, and a white admiral.
06-AUG-2013
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
This was once more commonly seen at the garden than it is now. In fact, this clump is just south of the ash woods, technically not on FWG land. The Galerucella beetles which are doing such a fine job have not found this yet.
06-AUG-2013
Ruby-throated hummingbird on cardinal flower
There were two hummingbirds in the Backyard Garden this morning. They were very actively chasing each other and when not doing that, feeding on the cardinal flower. Unfortunately, they were a lot quicker than I was and though I tried, I only got one half-way decent shot.
06-AUG-2013
Treehopper (Enchenopa) eggs
I took a look in the usual spot to see if any of the little Enchenopa treehoppers were still visible. I found one adult, but a bunch of these white egg cases, which should ensure we'll see them again next year. To see newly emerged adults:
http://www.pbase.com/fwg/image/151269551