- Curious about something you saw while walking in the woods? Spot the coolest bug ever? The prettiest flower and butterfly? Stumble on a rock and found a fossil? Or was it? This is the place to show your discoveries and share in the knowledge of the natural world right outside our doors. Join in the fun everyday at The Daily Bucket.
June 2016
All around the house and garden is stalks of Parsley, bolted to 3 or 4 feet high. The first year I planted Parsley in a garden bed and then let it go to seed and volunteer the second. The third year and forever after it started coming up outside the garden, in flower beds, anywhere I happened to drop a seedhead. It got carried away so to speak but that was fine after I learned that it is a host plant for Eastern Black Swallowtail (EBS) butterflies. Now each year I look forward to a new crop of caterpillars.
The butterflies themselves seemed late this year and with the Parsley bolting already I was afraid the plants might die back before I saw the first EBS. But they showed up a few days ago. I watched them often as they visited the tiny Parsley blossoms. I was able to recognize one by a missing piece of center hindwing. And in further amazement and wonder, this could be its wing that floated down right next to me.
Another Swallowtail visitor is the Spicebush. Guess this is prime territory because I have all these host plants: Sassafras, Tulip Poplar, Sweetbay, Redbay and regrettably, the non-native Camphor.
I've been trying to grow more nectar plants like this Butterflyweed but it's a challenge starting from seed and getting them thru the first year and then a few more before they even bloom.
Something different - this downy feather has been hanging out for 2 days now.
I forget what these little guys are called, the ones that carry litter on their back. Here's one crawling around a flowerhead.
And where did it get all the white fluffy material?
On the Parsley stems, left behind by what I think are Flatid Planthoppers.
Spider Alert!
Garden Spiders with their zig zag center webs.
A big one hiding underneath Parsley flowerheads with its web between stalks.
and a smaller one one stalk over,
and one that did not hide very well.
That was taken with my iPhone using an app called Camera+ with macro turned on. iPhone SE arrives Tuesday and that has a 12 megapixel camera and improved sensors and processing. Oh boy!
And a very small 1/4" spider with a big x-shaped center web
One last photo, this moth was on the screen looking in while I made coffee this morning. The big black eyes were outstanding. You can see part of the left eye here.
Of course I am leaving out a whole bunch of bees, flies and wasps that also stop by the parsley during the day for nectar but I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the more unusual visitors.
Your turn to share now — what’s going on in your part of the world?
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