These creatures amaze me. Just 1/4 inch in length, and such BIG eyes! A species of Robber Fly (Holcocephala). There are about 1,000 species of Robber Fly in North America the largest being about 2 inches long.
These two photos are Gnat Ogres (Holcocephala fusca) and this one is posing with a gnat it has captured.
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The Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) is the largest butterfly species in North America, with a wingspan of 4 to 6 inches.
The larval host plants of Giant Swallowtails are trees in the citrus family including Lemon, Lime, Orange, Prickly Ash, Hoptree and also Common Rue.
These caterpillars have an interesting sort of protection from predators, having the look of bird droppings.
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This is a caterpillar of the Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia), chomping away on a Violet (Viola) leaf, one of many host plants of this species. A few other examples of their host plants are Passion Vines, Pansies, Purslane, Flax, and Mayapple.
As an adult, the Variegated Fritillary can live over 10 months. That’s a mighty long life for a butterfly!
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A Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) dining on the nectar of Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea).
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“Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals.” Wikipedia
Occasionally there is water in a vernal pool next to the yoga studio where I take classes three days a week. It’s a special place. Well, yes indeed, the studio is a special place. That’s why I’m there three days a week, but I’m speaking now of the vernal pool. It has very seldom been there in its wet form for quite some time. I miss it. It presents all sorts of fascinating things to me when it is there providing moisture for plants and animals that need it.
This is one of those fascinating things. Something I didn’t know anything about until this evening as I sit here thumbing through various articles about it.
Today my dear yoga teacher, Kumud Vanderveer, happened to point out some Cattails growing in a ditch next to the road going past the studio. She asked me a couple things about them and I realized I knew nothing at all about them.
These pictures were taken in the vernal pool back when it was filled with water providing me with all sorts of picture opportunities. These are Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latifolia), a perennial herbaceous wetland plant native in expansive areas of Eurasia and North America, and in more limited areas of Africa and South America. It survives only in shallow water, up to two feet deep, and can tolerate some periods of drying out.
Now I know that the sausage or hotdog looking things on the stems (referred to as pods in one article I just read) are the plants’ flowers. There are two separate sections. The very tiny male flowers are on the upper portion of the stalk, in the photo above looking nearly black and gray. The very tiny female flowers are just below, the rust colored hotdog looking things. Once seeds begin to form the male flowers fade and drop into the water. These pictures are at the point where seeds have already started to form.
As the seeds mature and dry out the seed head bursts, spreading the seeds on the wind.
Tiny seeds. Oodles of seeds. Each seed head can contain 100,000 to 200,000 seeds. Every seed has hairs attached that help it drift with the wind.
And now Cattails are not quite the mystery plant that they were.
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A Flat-tailed Leaf-cutter Bee (Megachile mendica) on Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota). A small bee, the female is usually between 1/3 and 1/2 inch and the male is slightly smaller. They eat pollen and nectar from many different flowers, pollinating while they eat.
These bees cut beautiful circles from leaves to line their nests which are built in tubelike cavities — hollow stems, holes in trees, abandoned burrows carved in trees by beetles.
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A Perplexing Bumblebee (Bombus perplexus) gathering nectar and pollen from a Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).
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A total sense of GLEE hit me this morning as I watched the interaction between a squirrel and a larger animal. A scuffling sound started at the bottom of our front steps and immediately the two animals ran out toward the woods on the other side of our lane. I couldn’t identify the larger animal. Smaller than a full sized deer. It was so quick I couldn’t assess anything except the size, but a few seconds later a Bobcat came back out into the open. With pleading eyes saying, “Where did the squirrel go?”.
A seldom seen Bobcat (Lynx rufus) was just outside my front door.
My camera was just ten steps away but all this happened so quickly. So no picture, but here are two photos from previous encounters.
I’m totally delighted that I got to see this incredible creature again.
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A female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (dark morph)(Papilio glaucus). Females of this species of butterfly can be either the color you would expect, yellow and black, or mostly black, like this one. This is called sexual dimorphism.
The dark morph looks similar to a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) which has a disagreeable taste. That appearance helps protect the dark morph female Tiger Swallowtail from predators.
Isn’t nature amazing?
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Whorled Rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus var. trifoliatum). A bright lemon yellow flower that is a herbaceous perennial. It grows to be four to six feet tall.
Native to the eastern United States. Found growing along trails up here.
This plant is a variety of Silphium asteriscus which has whorls of leaves of three or four along the tall stems.
The name Rosinweed comes about because of the substance that seeps from damaged stems. This gummy substance was used by Native Americans as a chewing gum.
The nectar and pollen attract bees, and butterflies, and songbirds enjoy the seeds.
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