Today would have been Shirley’s one hundredth birthday! Family and friends gathered at the Thomsen Foundation to celebrate her. If you are not familiar with the late Shirley Lusk, read about her in the BRIT journal. Indeed Shirley was mentor to many of us. Furthermore you will find her name mentioned ten times in the North Central Texas Flora. One entry is on page 558 for Ipomoea shumardiana.
The main group headed off with Lyle and Logan from the Thomsen Foundation.
However I had waited for Marilyn and Becky. They had got lost because they were looking at the beautiful roadside flowers. LOL.
A very small dragonfly that can easily be mistaken for a wasp, the Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera). This was a nice find right off the bat!
The Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon) is a common butterfly here. The host plant, Frogfruit is plentiful here.
We stopped to admire the Scarlet-pea (Indigofera miniata). You can tell when the flower has been pollinated when an insect has landed on it and the style has popped out.
Thistles are a great magnet for many insects! Here were a sweat bee, Texas Flower Scarab (Trichiotinus texanus) and the Eight-spotted Flower Longhorn Beetle (Typocerus octonotatus). Yum!
Indeed, the Western Horse Nettle (Solanum dimidiatum) also is attractive to the insects. Notice that the anthers on the middle flower looks bruised. So that also tells you a pollinator, like a bumblebee had been there!
Another interesting insect that commonly be found on the Western Horse Nettle. It is the Eggplant Tortoise Beetle (Gratiana pallidula). So this was a larva with their fecal matter packed on their back. Pretty clever disguise eh!
Since this was birthday celebration, the Thomsen Foundation provided the cake and ice cream! What a wonderful treat. Shirley would have loved it. Especially the ice cream! Though I must say the cake was awfully good with the ice cream.
Shirley’s children were all here!
And grandchildren too!
A big shout-out to the Thomsen Foundation for hosting this gathering. We all enjoyed the wildflowers that Shirley had devoted herself to.
Some of the fondest memories were the Thursday jaunts with Shirley – what a very special lady! She certainly made an impression on all. Will never ever forget her.
Love the scarab and the cake. I’ve seen grackles wait at signal lights till cars stop then eat bugs from cars grills. Opportunistic.
Very smart I would say!
It was a wonderful morning, and the cake and ice cream were delicious!
It sure was! Glad you came. 😊
A great day, wish I could have joined you this time! Thanks for posting the stand up for science and no kings links.
👍🏼😀
What a great celebration! I sure do miss Shirley.
Me too!
Some of the fondest memories were the Thursday jaunts with Shirley – what a very special lady! She certainly made an impression on all. Will never ever forget her.
She was a very special person!
Thank you, Mary!
This entry is especially meaningful to me–I was there when you took many of the photos.
Thanks for your kindness in waiting for Marilyn and me to arrive at this wonderful 100 Birthday for Shirley Lusk!
It was my pleasure. And it was great to learn more about your Green Arces project.