Category: Aphids

A Member Of The Soldier Beetle Family

Another Beetle that looks a bit like a Lightning Bug. Scientific name, Podabrus tomentosus. A species of the Soldier Beetle family, Cantharidae. There are approximately 3,500 species in this family. The Podabrus tomentosus is a species of Soldier Beetle that the Internet has neglected. It has no common name and in my search I found no more information about it, other than the scientific name and its family. But for the sake of helping this little fellow, whose length is .5 inch, feel included, I’m going to tell you a bit about it’s family which should give it some pride.

Soldier Beetles are indeed generally about .5 inch long, feed on pollen and nectar and also eat aphids and caterpillars. A great insect to have around to help out with those soft-bodied insects in the garden. They will wait on brightly colored flowers, such as Goldenrod, Zinnias, or Marigold, for their prey to come by but do no damage to those flowers.

An excellent pollinator to have in your garden, and that predatory work is appreciated as well.

Christmas Trees

For more years than I can count we’ve grown Christmas trees in two large fields here, below the cabin. Trees that we’ve planted.

Norway Spruce (Picea abies), White Pine (Pinus strobus), Scotch Pine (Pinus sylvestris), Concolor Fir (Abies concolor), and my absolute favorite Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens).

That Blue Spruce, needs care in handling, and care in decorating. Those needles are Oh! So sharp! But still, that marvelous color, that perfect shape. And those strong branches to hold ornaments that would make other branches sag way down. Yes. A wonderful tree.

Watching them grow from year to year. Watching the bears come and snap some of the trees in half in pursuit of the ants that go after the aphids that love Christmas trees. Seeing them develop into – perfect for the living room – trees.

Such joy in growing Christmas trees. Such pleasure in growing them right here. More need to be planted and soon. More trees for more Christmases.

Yellow Garden Spider

Eye catching in its size and coloring, eye catching in its web design. Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia). A pretty large spider. The body of the female, the larger of the sexes, is about an inch in length, up to three times the size of males. Add those long legs and that is indeed a sizable spider.

Not a worry for us humans though. They are quite docile. Just be gentle and respectful. But they do have venom that they use to paralyze their prey which get caught in their webs. Yellow Garden Spiders dine on aphids, bees, wasps, grasshoppers, flies, moths.

There is no sure answer as to why they have that distinctive zigzag on their webs, but some scientists believe that it is to allow birds to see the web and avoid flying through it.

Seen across North America and Central America.

Yellow-rumped Warblers

An occasional visitor to my bird bath, in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). Fondly called Butterbutts by birders. If you don’t have a bird bath, I sure recommend one equipped with a water warmer to keep the water from freezing during the coldest that winter can throw at you.

These warblers don’t partake of the beautiful bird buffet that I put out for them but I’ve read that they do enjoy suet, sunflower seeds, peanut butter and raisins at back yard feeders. AND down at my Mom’s feeder in Citrus County, Florida, they enjoy her suet. Maybe I should ask my sister for her recipe. They don’t seem interested in MY recipe.

When they’re not at a feeder during the winter they will feed on the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper, and dogwood. Butterbutts also eat the seeds of grasses and goldenrod.

During the summer while they’re up north they eat spiders, and many insects like beetles, caterpillars, gnats, wasps, aphids, and grasshoppers.

Best of luck at getting to see Yellow-rumped Warblers and don’t forget, if I didn’t have a bird bath equipped with a water warmer I doubt I’d get to see these sweet little birds.