Yesterday we found some neat wildlife. Not the furry kind, never the less…pretty darn cool!
Indeed a really fresh Monarch on the Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa ssp interior)!
I won’t show you the Oleander Aphids (Aphis nerii) on the milkweed. Oooops I did anyway. Moreover I think they are cute little buggers. LOL.
Only a black spot where someone bore a hole in the bud.
Multiple of these Gray Lawn Leafhoppers (Exitianus exitiosus) tried hard to not be in the picture. So this one failed. 😉
The Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) drew my attention with the pink galls. They are the Poison Ivy Leaf Gall Mite (Aculops rhois) galls.
The always hard to catch Velvet Ant (Dasymutilla) in a photo! It seems they are always in a hurry. 🙂
Here it was! Finally my wish has been granted, the Five-spotted Hawk Moth (Manduca quinquemaculatus) caterpillar! So I have been waiting for than more five years to find this cat! See my big smile. However I still am waiting for one on my tomatoes.
The Five-spotted Hawk Moth differs from the Carolina Sphinx cat by the stripes. This one has the on-its-side “V” instead of the simple diagonal straight marks.
Additionally it has a blue to bluish-black tail unlike the other with an orange or yellow-red tail.
So say hello to this wonderful new friend! Now I hope he likes my tomatoes. And quickly pupates. LOL.
While editing and naming my photos I heard someone banging on the window.
Butterfly weeds are some of my favorites plants. Beautiful. So is that hornworm. Five years is a long time to wait for one.
It was but it made that much more special 😉
Is the roadrunner going to be the new cardinal?
Congratulations on your long awaited caterpillar!!
I sure hope not!
Assume 5-spotted references the moth as the cat has 8 spots! Wonderful scrunchy face.
Great shots of the hummer – especially the one at the glower!
Hooray for finding the elusive Manduca! Good luck with raising it! What plant was it eating when you spotted it? A horse nettle?