There's nothing more interesting and relaxing than to check the gardens to see who's visiting. Sit back and enjoy observing some of them.


Tortoise beetle on Ipomoea (Cardinal Climber Vine), an annual that feeds her and the hummers. She really is as metallic golden she appears.


Virginia Ctenucha moth and friend on Butterfly Weed


Syrphid Fly on Black-eyed Susan


Robber Fly on Japanese Beautyberry


Copper Larva on V. bonariensis


Paper wasp on Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)


Fritillary cat on Violet


All all black bumblbee- Strange!


Digger Wasp on Mint -He eats Japanese beetles yay!


Monarch cat w/ frass on Butterfly Weed


Augochlora sweat bee on Evening Primrose


Dragonfly on Clematis Vine


Question Mark Butterfly feeding on a windfall apple


? Looks like Wavy- lined Emerald moth but it's burnt orange


Female leaf-cutter bee emerging hole/nest. She'll keep plugging them up!


Some leaves used by the LC bee

You have some very cool bugs, Cheryl!

Thank you so much for the pics. I need to do that for my visitors as well. I had several dragonflies that were spectacular but they seem to have only stayed long enough for the honeymoon then left after tlaying eggs.
I'm surprised I haven's seen Ladybugs lately, and only one baby Praying Mantis. I know they are out there; guess I need to "smell the roses" more. We have a southern toad - deep brownish red (I had never seen one that was red before), but he seems to keep to himself. There are lots of lizards & a gecko (he was eating a grub that was as big as his whole head!), and we have a mating pair of bluebirds still busy in a hollow high in the tree out front. Only one hummer but he is a beautiful green with a red throat that is almost blinding when the sun catches it just right.
So... now I guess I need to figure out how to make that digital camera work...

Bob, your garden sounds like it's so full of life! Don't let us only imagine, please try to capture all those beauties. Even flies sometimes are the most dazzling metallic colors. I'd love to see other member's garden visitors -and on a regular basis here. How fun would that be? All my pics are taken with just an iPhone. Saw toads last year but not yet here. Habitat fragmentation is probably partly to blame. Too many new fences going up and pesticides, herbicides, etc sure don't help either. I understand about spending too much time "serving" the garden and not enough just simply enjoying and documenting it. Right now I'm trying hard to catch a photo of the wool carder bees in my garden. The male guards his territory from other pollinators in the area. When he spies one he pops them with sharp spines on his body. He hangs out near plants that have fuzzy material which the females use to line their nests. When one does show up, they mate rather roughly and off she goes to another flower patch!

Cheryl, your little wavy lined burnt orange moth is a Little Butterflt - Pyrausta tyralis.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/...
http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

The Tortoise beetle looks like she belongs on a necklace!
I've been enjoying the photos.

Ann, I bet you're getting tired of identifying that moth! The backstory is that I saw one and posted it in the June butterfly thread and Elaine had already posted it earlier in the month and Ann identified it. I knew it looked familiar, but I didn't realize it was already on the same thread!

http://garden.org/thread/view_...
http://garden.org/thread/view_...

FYI, Ann I think where it says "Little Butterflt" on Bugguide it's a typo. Like, maybe someone submitted the picture as that and then someone else came along and identified it with the Latin name. Because it's definitely a moth.

Cheryl, I went out this morning to see if I could get some shots of critters. Murphy's Law set in - everyone seemed to be getting ready for the 4th of July I guess; the only thing I found out there was a June bug trying frantically to get out of the pond (a couple of the fish were giving him motivation as well). I assisted him out then "accident;y stepped on him so the roses will have one less visit. I suspect too many already "enjoy June bugs without pics~

When I got back from running errands a beautiful dragonfly happened by - of course the camera was in the house and he was gone when I got back out. I'll try again - even Murphy's Law has limits!

mellielong said:Ann, I bet you're getting tired of identifying that moth! The backstory is that I saw one and posted it in the June butterfly thread and Elaine had already posted it earlier in the month and Ann identified it. I knew it looked familiar, but I didn't realize it was already on the same thread!

http://garden.org/thread/view_...
http://garden.org/thread/view_...

I know! That moth keeps turning up everywhere lately. I found that common name to be very strange also & wondered about it. How would you pronounce that anyway?

flaflwrgrl said:Cheryl, your little wavy lined burnt orange moth is a Little Butterflt - Pyrausta tyralis.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/...
http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

The Tortoise beetle looks like she belongs on a necklace!
I've been enjoying the photos.

Thank you for IDing that moth Ann,
It had me wondering for a while. The golden Tortoise Beetle feeds on morning glories and the larva hides its body from predators with its own poop--blech! I've found a different type in the past that really looked like a mini turtle! I'll stick some more pics up here later on. It's a fun challenge to get something less seen.

You're welcomeCheryl!
Ewwwwwwwwwww, hiding in it's own poop. Yuckkkkkkkk! I never knew that.

Corrections: photo #9 is a mason /potter wasp and #11 is an Agapostemon sweat bee. Sorry!

Yesterday evening as I was photographing flowers, I was fortunate enough to take this picture of a dragonfly, what a pretty thing.

DigginDirt said:Cheryl, I went out this morning to see if I could get some shots of critters. Murphy's Law set in - everyone seemed to be getting ready for the 4th of July I guess; the only thing I found out there was a June bug trying frantically to get out of the pond (a couple of the fish were giving him motivation as well). I assisted him out then "accident;y stepped on him so the roses will have one less visit. I suspect too many already "enjoy June bugs without pics~

When I got back from running errands a beautiful dragonfly happened by - of course the camera was in the house and he was gone when I got back out. I'll try again - even Murphy's Law has limits!

Tell me about it! I have so many instances of "the one that got away!" Currently it's the birds here goldfinches and hummers. I have photos but none too close or sharp enough to post here. Same goes for the lager butterflies

Avedon said:Yesterday evening as I was photographing flowers, I was fortunate enough to take this picture of a dragonfly, what a pretty thing.

Oooooo it' so beautiful it almost looks airbrushed!

Thank you, Cheryl, I can hardly believe the picture turned out like this, what extraordinary luck. This pic is not so good, the wind was blowing quite hard and I couldn't get as close as I wanted, but I love the color of blue on this dragonfly.

Stellar photos Avedon!

I just remembered I have another picture of a dragonfly perched on our trellis for a clematis. The dragonfly stayed there a long time, I think it wanted to be photographed.

[quote="Avedon"]I just remembered I have another picture of a dragonfly perched on our trellis for a clematis. The dragonfly stayed there a long time, I think it wanted to be photographed.






I LOVE the woods too! It makes a nice backdrop for the pics. I'm beginning to think that almost everyone on ATP lives in Texas or Florida.