We went for a walk in the park on Thursday, and Jon took a little bag of peanuts to give to the squirrels.  We saw lots of squirrels, and at the end of our walk, we saw Momma groundhog come out onto this big rock.  So Jon threw her a peanut.  See her on the left eating it?  Well, two youngsters came out of their hidey hole, and of course he had to give them some too.  There were four of the little freeloaders, and Momma wasn't giving up any of her peanuts.  

 

It was fun to watch them for a few minutes.  They were so dainty in their manner.  

 

 

HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!!!

 

After I showed you the two praying mantids on the cucumber trellis, I saw another one in the tomatoes.  This one was alone, and I wondered if it was one of the two I had seen the day before.  

 

I kinda remembered that the female eats the male after mating.  Actually, I thought I remembered that she bites his head off.  Well, I did go back and look that up, and found out that I didn't imagine it.  Praying mantises do practice sexual cannibalism, and the female does eat the male after mating.  AND!!!  Get this, she starts with the head!!!

 

Now that you've seen it, it's kinda hard to unsee it.  Sorry.  

 

But here's the up side:  Aren't you glad you're not a praying mantis?  Me too.    

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

Gross, but interesting.  The worms have drilled into this butternut while the skin is still soft.  They move in, and push out the pulp.  Of course, this one is shot, but there are lots of others with NO wormage, and tougher skin for protection.

 

So we are thankful for what we get, and let the critters have what they get.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I also saw this little guy resting on a pepper blossom.  It wasn't that cold, but he seemed a little lethargic for a bumbler.  

 

And he sat still long enough for me to get this picture for you.  I thought you'd like it.

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER STILL!!!

 

I know I've shown you one of these before, but it is always so exciting to see one.  

Jon was putting the cover on the Jeep, and said, "Hey, come look at this!"  It was a stick bug, about 3 and a half inches long.  The Seek app told us that males are about 3 inches, and females are 3.7 inches.  

 

Hmm.  Do we really need to know?  I'm thinking that WE don't, but probably:  they do.

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!

 

As we were walking in the park, I saw this caterpillar on the ground.  I probably wouldn't have seen it at all, except it was resting on this yellow tulip poplar leaf.  It really grabbed my attention.  I've seen this kind of caterpillar before in my garden.  It is a Gulf Fritillary.  This leaf is NOT one of its host plants;  it is just hanging out here so I would notice it.

 

I have seen many of these caterpillars in my garden because their host plant is...Passionflower!!!   The leaves of the passionflower feed the baby Fritillary caterpillars.  And this is so cool:  if there isn't enough food to get the caterpillars big enough to cocoon, they will overwinter as larvae and continue feeding in the spring when the passiflora regrows.  Another good reason to let the passionflower grow:  they support Fritillary butterflies.

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!! 

 

I love it when the light is right to see spider webs.  These popped into view when we were staring at the boogie-woogies.  Fortunately, they were not ACROSS the trail.  It's creepy to walk into a spider web, but when we see them from the side:  it's OK.  

 

Yep, that's their real name:  Boogie-Woogie Aphids, well, one of them.  They are also known as Beech Blight Aphids, but boogie-woogie is so much more fun to say and easier to remember.

 

We see them nearly every summer in the park.  They hang out on American Beech tree limbs, and are in constant motion.  That is their number one defense mechanism:  constant movement.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to add a video to this blog, but you can go to Wikipedia and see a short video there.  You can also read more about them, if you like.

 

Meanwhile, if you live near Beech trees, look up.  You may see these little white aphids on the branches.

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

And this one was in my garden, under a cucumber leaf!  As I was checking out the cucumbers, I bent down and saw this Luna moth underneath one of the cucumber leaves.  

 

How lucky am I to have seen two in the same week?

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

 

As we were walking on the path in the park, I noticed a green spot on this tree stump.  We got closer and saw this Luna moth.  It was about 10 am, and since most moths are nocturnal, we figured this one had recently emerged.  It was drying its wings before starting its new life as an adult.  

 

When we read about Luna moths we learned that they only live about 2 weeks as adults.  They have no functioning mouth parts, so they don't feed.  Their sole purpose in those two weeks is to reproduce their species.  

 

It makes me so happy to see them, whenever, and wherever they are.  I hope you see them in your travels.

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER!!!