Summer.
Time for county fairs and beautiful nights...
and for plants to leap skyward,
providing room and board for the myriad bugs that live among them.
Turquoise-eyed flies (probably related to horseflies)
none of which I noticed when I took the photo. Flies 4, bb 0. =)
In a quest to improve my attitude about summer
(it gets bloody hot here & I'm the first to drop)
I'm shining a light on summer-associated goodies that I adore.
Tiny plume moth. I've NEVER seen one before last week. SO exciting.
ID thanks to Chris Grinter (@skepticalmoth). That body is less than a centimeter long.
A small ant (lower left) to provide scale for this wee, tiny moth.
Spotted assassin bug (Rhynocoris ventralis) on gaillardia.
First time I think I've seen this particular, dashing predator.
Nicely color coordinated with the gaillardia, eh?
Tarnished plant bug (Lygus hesperus).
A tiny little charmer.
A day later, the same species played peek-a-boo with me
Here you get a better idea of how tiny it is. =)
Crab spider dining upon an earwig, underneath a chrysanthemum bloom.
So many mysterious (and frequently tiny) creatures
to find and try to name.
An assassin bug (that I cannot ID, so far) dining on an unlucky bee or fly of some sort.
An ever-changing populace of
invertebrates in the garden.
Ants, seemingly obsessed with carrot flowers.
For the plants
the plant pollinators,
the plant eaters,
and plant-associated-bug predators,
summer is no joke.
Lovely, little lynx spider female living on a mint plant.
She's so spiky.
Live life now,
for tomorrow is never guaranteed.
Which reminds me of two views I gained from the Ferris wheel:
the quick,
and the dead.
It's always good to have a reminder.
Nature will do that for you.
xoxobb
