Wordless Wednesday, 'cause I've got time for that...

Summer's bounty--flowers & bugs, living fast & hard

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

Super stylish spined assassin bug on Coreopsis

Actually figured out what this puppy is--hooray!

Spined assassin bug, Pselliopus spinicollis.

So pretty and sparkly-looking w/all those light bands on the legs & wing edges.

And in this pose you can see the tiny front feet, a bit.

It moved very slowly, apparently they hang out at flowers, etc.,

to find and grab prey w/their forearms, sort of mantid style,

so sayeth (more or less) California Insects by Jerry A. Powell and Charles L. Hogue.

And this weekend while at the San Francisco Ferry Building farmer's market,

I asked a flower vendor what some flowers were, and she said Coreopsis.

So now I know what all the flowers are that I've been posting.

FYI, there's a bug that looks a lot like this one,

the western corsair, that, according to Powell and Hogue,

has a bite that is more painful that most other bugs around.

My motto: When in doubt, photograph, and politely back slowly away. =)

xoxobb

flowers & bugs quickie

Am working. But here are some cuties fm. the garden. Enjoy!

Crab spider casting a shadow.

I can't get OVER the degree to which it matches the flower. ROCKS!

Kinda blurry, but cool little wolf-y spider?

Don't know WHAT this is, but shot it 'cause looked like a mosquito

(in person, now I see GIANT eyes) that was methodically stabbing

the tiny flower tubes for nectar (I presume).

Seen this moth on these flowers 2 separate days,

so clearly loves them. Notice TINY yellow on antennae tips,

nice work coordinating w/the flower.

I. love. bugs.

xoxobb

1 bug, 1 flower, 0 words xo

I'm not dead... I think I'll go for a walk!

 

Pretty much over the flu,
back from weekend travels & recovery,
now back to editing.

In the meantime, this guy was on our screen, outside.
He looks armored, like the knights in Monty Python and the Holy Grail*.

Blends in pretty spectacularly well with the grey metal screen.

But has much more personality....

Super wild guess is a hemipteran,
tho' I've not stared at it very closely, yet.

bb

*Post title is lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, wherein a thin, old man is being offered prematurely to the man who gathers dead bodies off of the street. And the subject line are a few of the things he interjects into the conversation between the man who wants to get rid of him, and the dead body collector ("It's against regulations.")

P.S. have a reservation in Lee Vining for this Saturday, so apparently biobabbler WILL get some nature this weekend, & bring Nikon. YAY!!!

big ol' mystery spider lady

 

Posting pics today, but traveling mega hours,
so will try and look her up (e.g. identify her) laytah.
She's pretty darn big; that's a broom she's clinging to.
Think I posted this on Google+ a while back but,
due to busy-ness, haven't returned there, of late.

Right now, thinking a Denver airport snooze is in order...

xobb

Super colorful mystery resident of sunflower face

 

Here s/he is...

Close up

Per Sue, this is a red-shouldered stink bug, presumably Thyanta pallidovirens. Wow, Sue's quick, fired out that answer within minutes of posting.

LOVE my smarty blog readers!! =)

Sun comets, streaking through space.

There's such motion and fire in their form.

Heaven.

Today, planning to yank "failure to thrive" tomato plants
and plant peas and broccoli.
I hate pulling live plants,
not even sure if I've done it yet,
but frankly,
they've looked so poorly all summer,
it'll be a relief.

And then, brand fresh baby plants! =)

I do love a good cotyledon...

xobb

furry study buddy (warning to arachniphobes...) & garden alert

 

Study buddy

This was on the window screen yesterday, nearest where I sit and edit.

Nice pedipalps, baby! Kinda furry, eh?

Nice to have company while I'm working.
And an excuse to get off my fanny and grab the camera.
I'll try to figure out who she is when I have more time,
ooh, and then I can add (presumed) her to my species pages...


Garden alert for No. Hemisphere folks

Dood, it's the last day of August!

I've not even BEGUN my August plantings. (eep!)
You know, peas, lettuce, and whatever else
grows happily when it's cool vs. 100 dF.

What do you typically plant in late summer, early fall?

And when are you expecting/planning the harvest?
Fall, winter, spring... ?

I'm still learning, so am interested to hear what you do.

Typically, I'm so hip-deep in the high tide of August harvesting,
I can't even think about planting. However, this year
I am determined to get more year-round from our dirt.

Gotta get to it!

=)

xobb

WHAT IS THIS?!? MUST post this freaky thing NOW.

 

So, THIS was on my sunflower plant.

!!!

What is it?!?!

It's SOO cool!

It's wee, less than 1 cm.

Check out the amazing clear wings,

and cute, chubby body.

A serious little expression on his/her face.

I think I'm in love.

*sigh*

My day is MADE.

Everything else is gravy.

So cute!

Seriously, though, anyone know what this is, I'm all ears.

Ooh, and if we get an answer, I can file it in the species pages!!

sweet

Heavens, nature is an endless source of delight.

xoxooxbb