marsrover said:Yesterday afternoon I returned to the north fence to check on any flying critter activity. Nothing was happening at the sedum or the sage, but there was at the UFO (Unidentified Flowering Object).
First up was a tiny neon green wasp:


Then another tiny wasp happened upon the UFO:

The session wrapped up with some images of a neon green wasp who looked like it had been rolling in a pile of UFO pollen:

While I can't be certain on your UFO
These are bees, not wasps
--you can tell by the hairy legs they have for pollen collection
great photos Mars!

Thank you for the bee ID, Dirt!!

I captured a honey bee in flight yesterday.

neat!

dirtdorphins said: While I can't be certain on your UFO
These are bees, not wasps
--you can tell by the hairy legs they have for pollen collection

There I go again, blurting out my ignorance!
Did an internet search for neon green bees and found a bunch of info on Metallic Green Bees (Genus Agapostemon; Species angelicus or texanus). They are ground nesters but may burrow into dead wood. There are a ton of images of these little critters on bugguide.net.
I have sentenced myself to mow the lawn as punishment.

Don't be so hard on yourself, Robert. We're all learning from each other.

The weather is lovely here today. Some weird stuff I saw while taking a walk...

A huge spider startled me but then I realized there were ants all over it. As big as it was, I wonder what caused its demise.


I came upon this mudbug/crawfish house in the middle of nowhere! I find it so curious how that happens. As I leaned in to get a closer look inside, there we were looking at each other.



At first I thought this was some kind of fuzzy caterpillar but it's one of those galls, probably from a gall wasp.


Loading pics is going slow again this morning.

Ageratina havanensis vs Ageratina altissima - Most of the white flowering Bonesets (Eupatorium spp.) look alike. Any internet search will so substantiate.
It doesn't make any logical sense that a Texas wildflower just shows up in Pennsylvania where a close relative wildflower is native all around him.
Zone 8 plus vs Zone 5 or 6. Come on...

I think you're right.

I think you are right too, J. It does look so much like it though and since Ageratina havanensis is sold at nurseries I thought it might be possible. But, not so logical.

Robert, you might want to post pictures of the plant over in the Plant ID Forum for an official identification. http://garden.org/forums/view/...

Our little thread did very well this week! According to the newsletter, we were the fourth most active thread this week!

And the following people received noteworthy acorn tips:

@flaflwrgrl led the pack with 8 users giving her tips for her post where she showed off her Summer Tanagers: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

@GrammaChar had five people tip her for her photo of a Giant Swallowtail: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

@jmorth got three acorn tips for his post with actual bees :http://garden.org/thread/view_post/1292567/

@dirtdorphins also got three tips for a bee butt and chickens: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

I would have to agree with J about the White Snakeroot...I have it all over and am about an hour away from Robert...it's pretty weedy here in PA but still a butterfly magnet. I pull most but leave some for the late season bees and butterflies

Christine, I love those weird things that show up the most!! It seems there's always something new to discover all the time....even if I had several lifetimes I'm sure I'd still be learning.

Regarding the poofy white flower of Robert's:
Yup- I'll toss in my 2 cents here, since I'm also an hour from Robert. The Snake Root is blooming like mad about now. Two of my friends had it growing in their "waste places" One of them gave me two very small plants on Tuesday that were growing in the cracks of their driveway and steps. It's terrific for pollinators.

Since there isn't much going on with me wanting to brave the chilly wind lately, here's just something trivial. A neighbor sawed up a few large tree boughs that had broken off and he let me scavenge the pieces to make another small woodpile. A funnel web spider seems to approve:

---
Off topic, but kinda fun anyway:
I went to the Landis Valley Farm Museum harvest festival today. There were vendors and craftspeople dressed in period costume. So much rich Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsche) German history here! Bought several cool Spingerle cookies made from copies of three centuries old molds from Germany and Switzerland. There waaaas one round one with a nifty bee motif, but a certain little kiddo got to it before I took the pictures At least there was still one left of a woman tending a bee skep. You'll have to click on the enlarge and see the amazing detail

Unaware of the intense discussion my UFO was causing, I went out to the north fence and caught a few images at the Russian Sage:
The second image (not on of my sharpest) is the first image's carpenter bee at lift off:

Then, bumble bees arrived:

Finally, I caught another bee in flight (with blurred wings ):

I thought it interesting that the arc of wing motion appears to be only around ninety degrees.

Great photos! Cheryl, that's the first funnel web I've ever seen, and those biscuits (cookies) are amazing - far too beautiful to eat! Love the bee in flight, Robert. You must be a very patient photographer.

Okay, is that one cookie a hedgehog? If so, I'm #TeamHedgehog!

Robert, you're starting to give me a complex about my less than stellar photography. Go be a perfectionist on one of our photography threads! Honestly, you could probably teach everyone a thing or two. Although, we definitely have different definitions of "blurry".

Okay, getting ready to leave for vacation! See you this evening!

Despite a breezy and solidly overcast Saturday, I went out to see if any flying critters were present and if I could get a few images.
As it turned out, only bumble bees were present. Started at the Russian Sage:

Then, caught another liftoff :

The next three looked like they were hanging on for dear life :


Finally, shifted over to my controversial UFO :

Ended up with a shot I really like, along with a tightly cropped version to check the detail:

cutest little sweat bee

beeneck

beeface

quick little beebath, just before

liftoff


and,








wait for it...







duckbutts

since this post clearly lacked beebutts

Since we're looking at bird butts already...

1.)Think I might have already shared this before.
2.)BUTT just to be sure.
3.)Here's an encore:

Hi bee people! I'm down in Naples, FL this week and I started a thread in case you want to follow along with my adventures. No bees yet, and far too many pesticide application signs. The thread "Melanie visits Naples, Florida" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum