Praying mantises have been hatching in the garden this week and I keep finding these tiny little “aliens” all over the place. Right now, they’re about the size of an ant, but I’m sure better photos will happen as they get bigger! 🙂
Micro Mantis
Category: insects
El Destructo
I had no idea this little grasshopper-thing (edit: katydid) was so colorful until I took a closeup look at him. This doesn’t mean that I’m not annoyed by all the leaf chewing.
Dragonfly
I couldn’t get a clear shot from the opposite side of the dragonfly, which is unfortunate because the sun shining through its wings made them appear as if they were spun out of golden thread. I caught myself thinking that the dragonfly looked very much like a piece of art nouveau jewelry that had been placed in the tree as I was comparing its wings to Tiffany stained glass, which is funny because this insect was the original inspiration for such works of art.
Harlequin Hatchlings
Yes, more bugs (and eggs).
Sunday Paper in the Garden
Future Pipevine Swallowtail
Hard to believe this little creature may become a beautiful butterfly if all goes well.
Baby Beetles
Little harlequin beetles clustered around the eggs they emerged from. As a gardener, I really shouldn’t encourage this sort of thing, but I can’t help but be fascinated by these little bugs and their bulls-eye eggs: http://365project.org/skelly10/365/2013-04-29
Harlequin
Last month I posted a photo of a harlequin beetle in my garden. Since then, several of those beetles have moved in, so I let them have a broccoli rabe plant in order to keep them out of the rest of the garden. A few days ago I noticed eggs on the plant… quite a bunch actually. I suppose I’ll have to destroy these since I don’t want the garden overrun by stink beetles, but they are so very interesting looking. They’re also quite tiny; I’ve placed them on a US penny here for size reference.
More photos at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skelly10/sets/72157607142398738
Busy Bee
It was tough to get a photo of this speedy little bee, and she’s a bit blurry here. She tried out various tubes all afternoon in between trips to gather more pollen, but unfortunately I haven’t seen her since. I don’t know if she laid any eggs before she disappeared.
Mosh Pit Bee
Not really, he’s a carpenter bee. A mountain or foothill carpenter bee – either name applies. I live in the valley, and I usually see valley carpenter bees in my yard. The valley bees are much bigger, but this guy will bonk right into them. He chases the hummingbird too.
