shiny bumblebee bum-bum

 I love how you can see the dahlia flower reflected in this bee's hiney.

These bees didn't seem to be sharing very willingly...

The bumblebee is SO much bigger, it sounds like a C3 plane relative to the honeybee.

Such a shiny, profoundly-black animal.

Finally caught it on film.

Been pursuing this creature (or something like it) all summer. =)

 Thank you, providence!

And, thank you dahlias, for drawing so many fascinating creatures nigh.

=) 

xoxobb

2 peas and a teeny tiny bee: Mumday post

Bees 3 ... Wordless Wednesday

xoxobb

TINY mothies: apparently I've been DYING to see them & I DID!!!

I've REALLY wanted to see 

a really small moth ever since I learned about them

from Chris Grinter (@skepticalmoth).

Last night I DID spy tiny moths & got some photos.

Dark thing in lower left corner is a small ant, for scale...

Nectaring on a gaillardia...

Same moth, with flash... sparkly!

Only took a few shots w/automatic flash--seemed to upset the poor creature.

Paparazzi--SO gauche.

Here's a different (slightly larger) individual w/in (my) reach of the 1st.

That body plan confounds me.

Chris thinks these are probably plume moths, from the family Pterophoridae. 

He is ALL about these tiny little animals,

plus lots of other fabulous inverts, has a great blog,

and takes SUCH great photos, you may want to slap him.

Here's just one example of the

amazing images he shares of microleps

(what the pros call the TINY lepidopterans).

Meanwhile, back on the ranch...

The wings!!

Flying tiny apparently poses different challenges,

hence microleps are known for narrower, feathery wings

versus the big, dusty plates of their larger brethren.

Like feathery oars...

If I remember correctly, when you're REALLY small,

the air is relatively more viscous (thicker),

so different structures work better to move your tiny bod.

When they fly, you just see a wee blur,

drifting past, like plankton.

And you think, "What the heck was that?!?"

Legs, legs, legs.

So spiky.

I'm guessing all those spikes help them hang on,
and not get blown away by the tiniest breeze?
Although the other one's legs aren't nearly so spiky.

Can you tell I'm fascinated?

*sigh*

So, didn't get to sleep until LATE (for me) 'cause I was SO pumped about this. =)

I've been SO richly rewarded for the pollinator-attracting seed mix I planted years ago.

I HIGHLY recommend it. Best part of summer, IMHO.

Well, that and perfectly ripe peaches.

=)

xoxoxoxo bb

I can't resist bugs (+ herps + quiz answer & winners + bb gets a name)

It is not my GOAL to constantly take and share photos of bugs.

crab spider on zinnia

Esp. bugs on flowers.

crab spider crop

tiny flight toward cleome

But, it just keeps happening...

tidy flyer

a  honey of a tummy

another TINY crab spider, on cleome bud

itty-bitty crab spider Eric Eaton (@bugeric) ID'd for me

bee dip

 Of course, there are other things in the garden that I like...

Sierran treefrog (Pseudacris sierra)

and wandering around the property,

young, beautiful Pacific gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer catenifer)

morning, noon, and night...

one of our local black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus)

but, I keep coming back to the bugs.

Guess we'll all just have to suffer.

[By the way: if you wanna see photos sooner or more frequently, you could follow me on twitter @biobabbler,  or if you want photos & less blather, check out my tumblr account xoxo]

****************

Quiz Winners!!!

Sue and Diana Studer NAILED it.
You two have my never ending respect. =)

WOO-HOO!!!

The word was: haconechloa.

Pronounced hawk-in-uh-cloh-uh,
rhymes with walk in the snow, duh.

It's a deciduous perennial grass used in gardening/landscaping, native to Japan.

Photo by and (c)2006 Derek Ramsey. Location credit to the Chanticleer Garden.
Obtained via Wikipedia.

I'd heard it listening to the Good Enough Gardening podcast.
I listen to them over & over;
they keep me company as I putter in the garden
or do chores in the house.

Apparently, that word got in, and required explanation.


So, enough about the GENIUSES who got it right:
now, for the GENIUSES who guessed wildly.

I'd HEARTILY encourage you to read the
MYRIAD, super entertaining guesses you creative people came up with.

*happy sigh*

Love when y'all go there. =) You rock.


Thanks EVERYONE for participating
and just generally being your cool selves.

xoxobb

p.s. Navel Gazing: I now call myself Samantha Biobabbler on twitter, 'cause why not have SOME real name, right? I'm not really anonymous for any particular reason, so, there ya go.

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

pre-Mono wind mums: pollinator, schmollinator...

 
Having read the forecast re: crazy winds, I went to the garden one late afternoon for a last chance photo session. I assumed the winds would strip our precious flowers of their dazzling petals.

Who knew chrysanthemums were so stunning in the fall when all else is drab, drab, drab? I, clearly, did not. Consider me re-educated.

By the way, I am (was??) not a big flower person.
I love them, but feel that growing food is a higher priority
and possibly a better bang for my carbon buck.

However, I am a color pig.

AND, the pollinators LOVE all these flowers,
whether it's spring, summer, or fall,
and that draws them to my garden,
wherein pollination of squash, etc., occurs.

So... I think I'm changing.

I believe in FLOWER POWER!

xobb