a place where nature, photography and writing meet
a pair of Ambush Bugs (Phymata) in deep gold coloration of late summer If it seems that I’ve been a little quiet lately, it’s true. As mentioned a few days back, after a hot, humid summer, I’ve been taking advantage of the cooler weather to do some house repairs and garden work. I’m just about […]
Butterfly’s last hurrah? I hope not. At least, not for awhile. However, it’s hard to forget that, relatively speaking, it won’t be that long until there’s snow on the ground. Brrrrrh! I photographed this male Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice)… or, at least, that’s what it looks like to me, last week. Since then, I’ve seen […]
As mentioned awhile ago, I didn’t do any tagging of Monarchs this year. However, I did rear a few caterpillars from small larvae found in the gardens surrounding our house. When we made the sudden decision to leave for a week’s vacation in Nova Scotia, I had to decide what to do with the last […]
Yesterday, while I was picking vegetables and herbs to make a tomato pie, I discovered two Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) butterfly caterpillars in the Dill plants. That wasn’t really such a big surprise, but it was neat to find that one of the caterpillars had just molted (see above photo – click on all photos […]
Copper Underwing Moth (Amphipyra pyramidoides) This summer, I havent’ been quite so diligent as intended when it comes to photographing night moths. Oh, I had great plans for this year, but by the time the moths come out in full force (usually around 10 p.m. or so), I don’t feel much like standing around on […]
On Saturday, while out for my evening walk, I checked Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) leaves for signs of caterpillar feeding. In just one small area of a meadow, I was able to find three different species of caterpillars. I collected three leaves to create the above photograph (click on all photos for larger views). From […]
As some of you will remember, back on July 9th, I wrote: Yesterday, I collected the caterpillar below — what is, in all probability, a Virginian Tiger moth (Spilosoma virginica), often referred to as a Yellow Bear caterpillar. It was found on the tall Sweet Clover plant (Melilotus alba), which is often seen growing along […]