So much of the world is invisible to most folks. You walk past it every day. Well, it seems lately I have been stuck on the small stuff. Here are a few of the small things I found yesterday at the LBJ grasslands.
I started on a barren on the grasslands. This was just what I was hoping to find, the Black Dalea (Dalea frutescens) blooming. Sorry, it is hard to see in this photo, but each clump is a Black Dalea bush.
The bracts of the Black Dalea are conspicuously gland-dotted.
Not more than twenty feet from the car, I was already down on my knees. This was a close view of an inflorescence of a Tall Grama (Bouteloua pectinata)! Stunning with the reddish lemmas (the bracts enclosing the reproductive structures) and white hairs!
Hairy red calyxes covered the buds of a Golden Dalea (Dalea aurea)!
A tiny bug was on the grass inflorescence. And I mean tiny; it was only about two millimeters!
On the opposite side was an exuvia, equally tiny.
A Black Dalea stem gall!
The larva was from inside of the above gall!
While on the ground, another ground dwelling creature, a Buckeye larva! I found a second Buckeye caterpillar later and it was much lighter in color. The larvae are highly variable in their colors, but the black seta with hints of blue are characteristic of the Buckeye. Sometimes it takes just the right lighting to see the blue.
A tiny insect got stuck on the resin on the Gumweed (Grindelia nuda)! So be careful, you may find yourself getting stuck on the small stuff too. 😉
You do like tiny things. I like things i can see easily. All pics good but buckeye larva is my favorite.
🙂
Your pictures look great! Did the new lens come in?
Not yet.
I sure enjoy your deep dives.
Thanks!