The time is right to get a closer look at the plants. Moreover not just for the plants but for the friends that dwell on them!
Stopping at the thistles, I found my first of season Eastern Leaf-footed Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus)! Actually there were quite a few.
This seemed unusual to find the Convergent Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens) stuck on a thistle bristle. Now I wonder who stuck them there.
A Broad-nosed Weevil (Entiminae – tentative) was present on the thistle too.
The Wedge-leaf Euphorbia (Euphorbia longicruris) have sprouted.
Then a closer look revealed the black aphids (Aphididae)! A common name for aphids is Ant Cows because the ants sometimes milk them for their honeydew.
A nice grouping of Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida), Cornsalad (Valerianella amarella), and Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa)!
Looking closer, a crab spider with their prey on the Prairie Verbena!
Rabbits Tobacco (Diaperia prolifera) hosts the American Lady caterpillar!
Yep, time to look closer for our small friends!
Interesting just as I read this article (below) yesterday when here they went trotting by our window. 🙁
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know
2 Comments
If everybody would trap, spay or neuter and release every cat around them it would eliminate the vast majority of feral cats. Sure is a pretty bouquet you found.
If everybody would trap, spay or neuter and release every cat around them it would eliminate the vast majority of feral cats. Sure is a pretty bouquet you found.
O that last pic is so sad – and they grab so much more than birds!
Interesting article on new phylum of bacteria so deep in the soil.