Kathy said the cold front never made it down there (Hill Country). And the heat was being pestiferous. In fact, I think she has that right! 🙂 Well despite pestiferous heat I still found myself making another short outing to the grasslands this morning. What can I say, a glutton for punishment. LOL.
My first stop was at the False Gaura (Stenosiphon linifolius).
Below the flowers, I noticed an upside down tiny bee! Of course, out came my little macro lens to investigate further!
An even tinier spider nabbed an impressive meal!
I managed somehow to get a photo of the wing veins. Maybe someday I will search for that pattern. However, not today 🙂
Next was the small wispy Pasture Heliotrope (Heliotropium tenellum).
Its flowers measure only about 1/4 inch across. Still, it is an enjoyable plant to see on the barrens.
Barely hanging on, a Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida)! If it gets water, it can grow quite large. Of course that is short supply on the barrens.
It is pretty hirsute or hairy! So the other common species in North Texas is Pink Verbena (G. pumila). It has flowers that are about half the size of Prairie Verbena.
Indeed, the Golden Dalea (Dalea aurea) season is about finished for the summer.
A tiny weevil was busy amongst the petals! Most weevils (Curculionidae) are herbivores that will consume live or dead plant material. They have short or long snouts which is actually the drawn out head. Additionally, the antennas are on the snout. Furthermore, the small mouth parts are at the end of the snout. (American Insects, Ross H. Arnett, Jr).
So watch out little weevil, the crab spider is below on the stem!
I got a chuckle thinking of the weevil having a long snort😄. Sorry. My verbenas bloom all summer with watering.
I corrected it but that is funny 😂😂😂
I mean really, it might, have any of us listened to a weevil lately??
You certainly make a good point… 🙂