Author Archives: Brenda Clements Jones

About Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

Dots Dots And More Dots

So many dots on the Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis). Host plant? Of course it is Hackberry trees (Celtis).

As adults the butterflies live 6 to 14 days. During that very short period of time they seldom visit flowers for sustenance but instead get nutrients from rotting fruits and vegetables, carrion, scat, damp sand, tree sap or muddy soil, and they are one of the butterflies that seek sodium in human sweat. So if one lands on your sweaty arm, you’ll understand.

That bowl with the corn cobs in it, was set out on my back porch to see who would show up. The Hackberry Emperor gets the prize.

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Plain Brown Butterfly With Sparkle

A little brown butterfly with a wingspan of about 1.5 inches. Not a moth, I did say butterfly. A Gemmed Satyr (Cyllopsis gemma), which can be found in the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico.

On the ventral, or underside, of this butterfly’s wings, on the outer edges, there are lines of four round “gems” looking much like highly polished jet that reflect light. Those “gems” are set against a silvery patch that creates an image that looks to me like images of cute little Jumping Spiders (Salticidae) looking back at me. Using your imagination, see if you can see the Jumping Spider too.

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Flowers Of Scarlet

Stunning scarlet flowers, an invitation to butterflies and hummingbirds. Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). Native to North America, Central America, and South America. And here in Virginia it is native to all of our counties.

Here the brilliance of the flowers attract a Pipevine Swallowtail (Papilio troilus).

These tubular flowers are the perfect design for hummingbirds, which of course are the hummingbirds’ favorite color. This, a female or juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris).

Streams, roadside ditches, moist soils are where Cardinal Flowers tend to show up. I love to see them along the road at the bottom of the mountain, blooming a few weeks before they bloom here, further up the mountain.

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Cicada Killer

Quite an impressive wasp, due to its size, a Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus). Its size is between 1.125 to 2 inches long. Females are larger than males. Though what seems like an intimidating size, they are not to be feared. The males don’t have stingers and females are intent on using their stingers for paralyzing cicadas which they often catch in flight. Those females, with their stingers, will only sting you if very provoked.

These wasps as larvae or grubs, overwinter in a cocoon in the soil. They emerge in the middle or late summer. During their exceeding short life as adults they feed on flower nectar.

Males’ purpose in life is to mate, living for about 2 weeks.

After mating, the female wasps look for the perfect spot to dig their burrows. They hunt up Cicadas, paralyze them, bury them, each with an egg in the Cicada which will nourish the grub until it emerges as an adult the following summer. All this in the course of about 4 weeks.

The Cicada Killer is a beneficial insect, helping to control harmful Cicada populations and help in pollination.

Joe Pye Weed

Native to eastern and central North America, Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium) blooms for us toward the end of summer. A tall one, often growing to between 5 and 7 feet tall.

And if you’re curious, as I was, there is this from the New York Times. “AS the story goes, there once was an Indian medicine man named Joe Pye who used concoctions from a wild plant found growing in the nearby woods to cure typhoid fever. His brew is said to have halted an epidemic that raged in Colonial Massachusetts. Hence this local plant became forever known as joe-pye weed.”

Joe Pye Weed attracts an assortment of pollinators, including Skippers (Hesperiidae), one of which I’ve included here and in the image below.

The nectar of the flowers attract the Skippers, as well as Honey Bees, Butterflies, Moths, and other Bee species. Occasionally the flowers can be fragrant.

A very attractive flower for the month of August.

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Sunflowers and Goldfinches

The perfect combination. Sunflowers (Helianthus) and Goldfinches (Spinus tristis).

Goldfinches eat mostly seeds. Little seeds. Though Sunflower seeds are a bit larger than they often eat, they love to come to my Sunflowers as they droop, seeds maturing.

They do eat other seeds, primarily in the composite family, and also seeds of weed and grasses, and the small seeds of Alder, Birch, and Elm trees.

But here in my garden, both bringing bright, sunshine yellow, representing pure happiness. Most welcome.

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Banded Tussock Moth Caterpillar

Don’t miss the little things when you are out in nature. Little things in nature can be so cute, like this Banded Tussock moth caterpillar (Halysidota tessellaris). They look like tiny Yorkshire Terriers to me. Cute as they are though, don’t pick one up. Their furry coat can cause an itchy rash that will last a couple hours, or perhaps even a couple days.

I discovered this one on my watering can handle today. Normally you’ll find them eating the leaves of Oak, Ash, Birch, Willow, Poplar, Walnut, and Grape.

Little things in nature, worth looking for!

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One Of Several Host Plants

The Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) on one of its many host plants.

Silvery Checkerspots depend upon several composites as their host plants including Asters, Coneflowers, and Sunflowers. These two photos are of a species of Sunflower, Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus).

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Starry Campions Along The Trail

Starry Campion (Silene stellata), at the top of my normal hike, when I’m out wandering. My hikes are the same all the time. I’ve gotten to know my mountains well. What plants are where, whether it is a “bush” of American Chestnut, or a little puff of Pincushion Moss, I know where they are. This plant is one of my “sign posts” to turn around. This and Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum). Turn around and head back down to the cabin.

Starry Campion, native to the central and eastern United States, a herbaceous perennial which is 1 to 2 feet tall, most often unbranched or with few branches.

The flowers occur individually or in very small groups at the tips of long side branches. The flowers are a bit less than an inch across, made up of 5 snowy white fringed petals.

Flowers bloom from the middle, to late summer, for almost a month.

The lower and upper leaves are opposite and the middle leaves are in whorls of 4. The leaves measure about 4 inches long and a bit more than 1 inch across.

So many discoveries out there, just waiting to happen, even when I think I know my mountains.

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