Maybe I should have saved this post for Mother’s Day next month but I haven’t posted here in a long time and thought I should just go ahead and maybe moving the insect post off of the front page of my mobile browser would be a plus too… Yesterday our Tulip Magnolia tree was in spectacular bloom – like I literally gasped out loud when I saw it. I couldn’t believe the hundreds if not thousands of beautiful open blooms on this gorgeous 78 degree day. For the first time in a while I was inspired to get out my camera and play. I have a few images I love, but this one was the one that touched my heart the most. Maybe no one else will see it but I have two daughters and when I saw these twin buds it made me think of them. When I look at this image with the flower in the background looking out at the two buds in the foreground it reminds me of how it feels to be a mom watching her two daughters and all that is just about to be… Many times a picture of a flower is just that… a picture of a flower. But when a picture of a flower makes you feels something that has nothing to do with that flower, you know you got a good one. Even if it’s just for you.

This is a jagged ambush bug – genus Phymata. 

Interesting note – I originally believed this was mating behavior but after some research I found some information on bugguide.net that the image below shows what is called coupling and it is not, in fact, mating.  It may be a way for the insects to hunt together and take down larger prey.

This is one of the over 100 species of insects I’ve photographed on my mountain mint plants this summer.  I will continue to post as I have time to edit.  In the meantime, if you’d like to see what’s been posted so far look at the menu above under “In the Garden” and “Native Plants.”  Every day I still find 2 – 3 species I had not yet photographed.  And I’m over 100 so far… it’s really incredible.  If you’re looking for a plant that really provides support for a huge number of insects consider adding this one to your garden and strengthen you’re backyard ecosystem!

I’ve seen two separate individuals of this moth so far this summer and both are pictured here.  Both are females.This moth is an Owlet Moth and the subfamily is called Acontiinae – common name “Bird Dropping Moths,” which is completely appropriate because before I looked up the species I had sorted this one into a folder on my computer called something like “bird dropping mimic” moth.  The common name for this particular moth (assuming I identified it appropriately) is “Exposed Bird Dropping Moth” with Tarache aprica as the scientific name.  They are “sexually dimorphic” which means males and females look different – which has me hoping that maybe I’ll come across a male before the summer is over.  Both individuals I’ve spotted so far have been females. 

According to Bug Guide, the caterpillars for this species feed on Hollyhock.  I don’t think I have any of that in my yard but it is common in gardens in our region.  Bug Guide also indicates that there are 34 species of Tarache moths in the US but they aren’t all photographed from what I can tell so this is my best guess based on the info available.  If you’re a moth expert (I’m FAR from it) please do correct me if I’m made the ID incorrectly.

The male would have more white on its upper wings and example photos can be seen at the bugguide species information page.

This is the individual I saw today.

I’m just getting started with posting the pictures I’ve taken of visitors to my patch of mountain mint this summer.  I’m astounded by how diverse and numerous the insect life is on this plant.  It’s definitely a good one to support a lot of insect life in the garden.  I have short-toothed mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) and they love it!  To see more of the images from this backyard naturalist project check out “In the Garden” in the menu above and look under Native Plants or click here.

This one made me smile because of those big giant eyes.  Especially in the image below – he just seemed to be keeping an eye on me.  He was a relatively small moth – this is Pycnanthemum muticum (Short-toothed mountain mint).  The flower heads aren’t all that large.

Thanks to a generous member of the Moths of the Eastern United States Group on facebook who helped me with ID of this one.

And if you’re interested in seeing the other species I’ve photographed on the mountain mint so far this summer (at least the ones I’ve gotten around to identifying and publishing so far) click the menu link above under “In the Garden/Native Plants.”  Things you See on Mountain Mint.  There are SO many still to come!  This plant is FANTASTIC for wildlife visitors!

This was the first ladybug I submitted in several years but the project is still accepting submissions and you can participate too!  When I first noticed this ladybug on my common milkweed I noticed it didn’t have spots.  Googling, the first thing that came up was the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) but after looking more carefully I noticed the markings on the head didn’t match.  I suspected it was a Cycloneda species and had that confirmed in a FB insect identification group.  So I’ve now settled on likely Cycloneda munda (although if you’re an expert and see that I’m wrong PLEASE don’t hesitate to comment and correct).  I submitted my photo so should be able to get confirmation that way as well.  This ladybug was also kinda cool because both sides of the body (both wings) were slightly different shades.  From what I can read on the species page on Lost Ladybug Project, this is a female.  I wasn’t sure if this was C. sanguinea at first but according to range maps we shouldn’t be in the range for C. sanguinea, making this likely C. munda here in N. Virginia.  However, the map was marked as 1985 so I am curious whether anything has changed in the later decades.

Here’s the pretty little beetle I spotted on my common milkweed… thankfully there to take care of the aphids that are moving in this time of year!  They’re good garden helpers eating the aphids in our flowerbeds!

Here’s a link to the Lost Ladybug Project identification page for this species.

I was especially happy to see this was one of our native ladybugs.  Those of us out in the country that notice ladybugs entering our houses in the fall know the invasive species well.

It’s really motivating to me as a gardener to SEE the results of “If you plant it they will come,” and to really understand what the impact of planting a particular plant in my garden can be.  I do that by taking pictures.  I spend a lot of time slowing down and looking at the insects visiting my plants, seeking help from facebook identification groups and keywording my photo collection.  I would love for visitors to this blog to be able to visit the keyword tags for a particular plant and see what I’ve seen visiting those plants – and that maybe my posts might encourage someone else to choose that plant for their pollinator habitat.  I understand that for many people seeing lots of bees or spiders or wasps might be a turn-off but I hope that over time people will at least dedicate a portion of their yard to wildlife habitat – even if that garden needs to be far from the front door.  And that maybe over time, and through seeing others post about these mostly docile species of wasps and bees in addition to butterflies and other insects that the fears will lessen and the understanding of the incredible impact that insects have on our food web and thus our survival will increase.  Without wasps we have more garden/vegetable food pests.  Without insects we have fewer birds because they have nothing to eat or feed their young.  Without pollinators we have poor crops of food that have to be hand pollinated by people which surely can’t be enough to feed our growing population.  Insects are in trouble.  And that means we are too because we depend on insects as an important part of our food web.

So – anyway – explanations aside – I’m adding a third plant to my photographic survey.  Now I’m documenting milkweed (various types), mountain mint and purple bee balm.  Here’s my first intentional post for Monarda fistulosa – although I will go back and add a tag to old posts that feature this plant as well.  The plant stands about four feet tall in my garden (my first year plants are much shorter… but in subsequent years they get to be about shoulder height on me).  It’s gorgeous in bloom.  It does need staking if you like things tidy (I think next year I’ll try some flower grower trellising that it can grow up through which will help it withstand hard winds and rains – this year I just have stakes and strings on each corner of the plot I have it planted in).  If you don’t mind a little flop/whimsy then not staking is perfectly fine, or plant it thick with other tall stuff and let your plants support one another!

Here is a Red Admiral that visited the garden a few days ago.  I’m just starting to see these in my yard this past week.  Usually I see them in early spring as well but it was a really weird weather year.