Critters Big and Small Vol. 12

Oops lol, I had an error message, and thought I had lost everything. I guess I should try again euh? Please pardon my tardiness on posting them again.

Nice, burn, that ladybug larva is certainly eye-catching.

Hack

Very cool to see those three stages of the Ladybug, Burn!

Hack, Pretty pink flowers with those bumble bees. I missed that the first time around.



This message was edited Aug 16, 2012 8:27 PM

Nice capture of the bumble bee on the pretty snapdragon Hack. Bernadette, love that series of the ladybug transformation. It's a pleasure to find those in the garden. I've been watching this Preying Mantis since spring. It does morph rather slowly. Then yesterday I discovered a second one on my little container garden. Beside these two green ones. I saw one (preying mantis) that is brown, and its body varies somewhat, it look half walking stick-like, half preying mantis. If and when I find the picture of that brown Mantis I'll post to share here.

Second pix, I've two Tersa Sphinx moths that eclosed earlier this morning. As it's turning dard outdoor, I'll free them to enjoy the flowers outside. The pictures are pretty much self explaintory, the last one shows a little cup with two remainder Tersa Sphinx pupae and a Tobaco hornworm pupa.

Glad to see the Sphinx moth. They are interesting creatures that I seldom see unless I go to the arboretum in Houston where there are usually a couple of different types. Hope you can get a shot of the brown mantis.

This doe and her fawns came by almost every morning last week!

Nan, they're so adorable. How cool is that to see them coming so close to the garden. Bet your grandchildren are glad to see them too. Patti, I found the photos of the brown Preying Mantis. Will be back with pics. in a moment.

1, 2, & 3 are those of the brown Preying Mantis, look at its abdomen; it takes shape of a walking stick's, rather than the Mantis' ab. What say you?. #4 is the seedpod on a double blooming datura that was polinated by one of the nocturnal moths. And I am giving credits to my Tersa sphinx Moth-- I'm pretty sure because of their present in the garden thus made my seedpod viable. By far I had quite a few blooms, but only this lone seedpod survived. Others probably were not pollinated. I released a 3rd Tersa sphinx moth yesterday. :))

Nuts, what an adorable ground squirrel and a nice clear shot of the bunny.

Hack, great catch of the bumble bee...I love to watch my bumble bees and try to photo graph them...not an easy task.

No burn I don't raise butterflies, well sort of, I help them out and do have a garden full of them and host plants for the cats. The oleander cats ate every single leaf on my plants, now I see the pretty moth flying around...hope to catch a photo of them...sort of looks like a colorful wasp.

lily hunting for the praying mantis was like "Where's Waldo"...lol. I don't think I've ever seen a praying mantis in my garden.

nanny, how wonderful to have visits of deer in the mornings, they are so cute.

We have a family of 5 wrens and a family of 3 cardinals. that we love to watch every morning and evening in our garden. I just can't seem to get close enough for a good photo...have to use the zoom in. And forget getting a shot of the hummingbirds...maybe I should get a feeder and they'll stay still long enough.

The dark swallowtails are loving my pentas right now, they don't seem to mind me while photographing them.
Last shot is a brown anole with his dewlap extended.

Agreed, Sherri. Those Mantises are quite elusive. Love your photos of the critters in the garden. These past weeks I've seen baby Mockingbird and a feisty Momma tried to swoop down on my dog during our morning walk. It's funny since the dog was oblivious to the action of the tiny bird/aggressor above his head. But the bird was non-so happy seeing the big dog by the Azalea shrub that the birds nest is inside. The Anole is quite big isn't it? neat photo!

Burn, love the shots of the ladybug at various stages...very cool! Thanks for the compliments on my pics. I wonder if I can teach the Squirrels to plant in rows. They'd get a much larger harvest that way!

Lily, great shots of the Praying Mantis and the Tersa Sphinx! Is the Tobacco Hornworm like the Tomato Hornworm?

Awwww, nanny, such a sweet family!! The fawns are darling! During the Summer, our Deer mostly come at night. We start seeing them more during the day in Autumn, then much more in Winter.

Nice (and interesting) pics, Lily! You peaked my curiosity with that unusual brown "Walking Stick" Mantis. I searched a little online, but all I found is that brown is a common color and sometimes even just humidity levels will change the color, but no mention of one that looked more like a Walking Stick. But it appears that lots of people ask about that based on the comments I found.

Thanks for your kind comments, Sunkissed! Your pics are great! I love the Brown Anole...perfect timing!

n.a.n. The two Hornworms are very similar, one has a V stripe and the other a one stroke-like slant. V = Tomato, and the one / is for the tomato. They do eat plants that are in the nightshade family, such as tomato and tabacco potatoe ect. The Tersa however feed on Pentas which is a tender perennial here in my zone.

1- This skink is one skittish critter. I caught it peeking around the corner on my porch and got a pic. When I tried to move to get a better view, it was gone in a flash.

2- This butterfly was flittering around, landing on dead grass. It never did visit any of my flowers. It is a Cloudywing Skipper - a little bigger than a quarter.

Bye, Hack

Great pictures everyone! I would never have seen that praying mantis. Amazing how they camouflage. The butterfly is gorgeous! The fawns are adorable.

Lily we had mocking birds that nested in my garden every year and they would get nasty if anyone came around their babies, and my poor dog, they'd swoop down on her all the time. She didn't mind them either. However over the years the cardinals have staked their claim here and I see them chase the mocking birds away. They all love to eat the berries on my Podocarpus trees.

Hack I think skinks are so cool looking, they are pretty skittish though. I have some good shots of some, I'll have to dig in the archives to find them.

I'm just thrilled! I've been seeing quite a few insects on my Gaillardia (and also a few on my Black-eyed Susans) that I don't remember seeing before. Naturally I figured they were an invader of some kind, but left them alone till I knew for sure.

I posted a question in DG "Insect and Spider Identification" earlier today and got an answer very quickly from "Flapdoodle"

It turns out it's a beneficial pollenator and predator called a Soldier Beetle 'Chauliognathus'. Many of you may already be familiar with them. I guess they're pretty common so I'm not sure why I don't recall them.

I took a few pics this morning so I could get it identified. I think it's kind of a neat-looking bug. I hope all of you are lucky enough to have some of these guys.

That is very interesting, Nuts. I came upon the same bug, for the first time this summer. Thanks for the info on it. You've done the work for me. :)
Neat skink, Hack. I'm sure he enjoys playing hide and seek with you. lol
Great find, Kim. He is not easy to spot.
Ohhh nice catch on the black Swallowtail butterfly, and the little anole, sunkissed.

You're welcome, burn! And that is interesting. I wonder if they are "on the move" into areas they haven't been before. Well, they're welcome to hang out in my yard!

Lily, Thanks for explaining the differences between the two Hornworms!

Hack, the Skink is cool! I don't see lizards around here. I used to see all sorts of them as a kid in California. Pretty Cloudwing Skipper, too!

How neat, we can learn about interesting bugs from each other which we'd never have noticed before. n.a.n. The bug's has stripes on its abdomen looks somewhat what as if it mimics a Wasp? I am glad to share what I've observed.....only now I can't post photos on DG. I hope THE bug can be worked out soon.

Lily, I was so fascinated by this insect that I wanted others to know about it, too.

I agree about the new uploading feature! I've been following the two threads about it so I know you've not been able to load pics. I'm able to upload, but some pics won't load at all and just sit there. I also can't use the CTRL multiple upload feature even though it works for me on every other website I've used it on. Personally, I was perfectly happy with the old uploading feature...Hmph...progress!

So was I-- being contented with the old uploading feature. It would be sad if I should have to part with DG eventually due in part due to PROGRESS. I don't know what else to do.... trying to FIX something I don't know how to is proven quite nonappealing.

Lily, you mentioned that you thought you were on G. Chrome, but that you were actually on IE so you switched around. If you can go back to IE, try clicking on "Tools" at the very top of the screen (where it says File, Edit, etc.). about half way down does it say Compatibility View or Compatibility View Settings?

If it says Compatibility View, does it have a check-mark next to it or is it grayed out?

n.a.n. I do indeed have IE9, but under "Tools" I do not have "Compatibility View"...

Hmmm...that is very odd??? I'm sorry, I know it's so frustrating. Would you try one more thing? This needs to be done while you're on DG. At the very top of your screen next to the browser, do you see a funny-looking Icon that looks kind of like a broken, jagged white square? If so, try clicking on it. That's another way to change Compatibility View.

After reading about this in the thread, I've tried switching back and forth. What I've found is when Compatibility View is ON I can't see the "Choose a File" link. As soon as I click it off, that link comes back. Even so, the new feature is still having problems, but at least you should be able to load one pic at a time.

Edited to say: Oops, I should have mentioned that the icon might look Green instead of White, which means Compatibility View is ON. If you click on it to turn it OFF it should turn White. Either way, check to see if you have "Choose a File" after clicking it.

This message was edited Aug 26, 2012 1:59 PM

I'm just checking out they new photo uploading since I'm reading some are having problems. I have Google Chrome, and don't seem to have any problems...maybe they have some kinks to work out.

These critters are my three sons, twenty years ago. :)

Oooh, they look "wild"! Very cute, sunkissed!

Neat memory picture of your 3 sons Sherri. n.a.n. I did what you've suggested, still no "choose file" button. :((

So sorry, Lily...maybe tomorrow (fingers are crossed).

Tomorrow is ... beautiful! I'm so glad that my problem is solved. Here we go; a mating pair of damselflies. One of my fav. photos of the day.

Ooh, so cool! Also lovely pic of your lake!

Here comes the Praying Mantis. I think it's a female, and that she's pregnant maybe? She looks it anyhow. I noticed 3 Mantises in the garden. However, this particular one isn't very elusive. "She" seems to have chosen this brug. as her domain. When the wind is high, or the temp. is very hot. She will mozy down to the base of the container for shelter. Then sooner than later she's would come out to hunt and play.

1. The same Mantis this morning.
2. A Damselfly on Impatiens.
3. A spider with its prey.
4. A Silver Spotted Skipper.
5. Last but not least, a young Mallard.

Love your pics, Kim! Your Mantis looks like she's "just chillin' and enjoying the view". Beautiful blue Damselfly. I rarely see Dragonflies or Damselflies in my area and the rare one I see is always when my camera's in the house.

Lily, the Damselfly on your Impatiens is my favorite. Nice color.

Hack

Thanks Hack, and n.a.n. Okay, here come couple shots of the Swan. It seems to enjoy being around the Pekin ducks. :)

Great pictures of your bugs Kim. beautiful blue on the damselfly. Love the spider with it`s prey.
Sunkissed, those are some awesome critters.:))
I went for a drive yesterday hoping to find some wildlife, But didn`t find any moose nor fox or snake, neither bears :( But did see Moose tracks in the mud.

Migration under way of Canada Geese.
I disturbed this moth, the other day, and it flew to my flower box, neat one.
A curious Downy WP.
A red dragonfly resting on a rock, near a beaver pond.
A small grass hopper.

Wow, Kim, that's awesome! Maybe your Swan likes that the Pekins are the same color. He/she(?) really comes close to the shore!

Burn, I love to hear and see the huge flocks of Geese flying overhead. We have them here year 'round, but there must be flocks that migrate through cause in Autumn we start seeing and/or hearing huge flocks. That's a really cool moth. Love your "curious" Downy WP and the Dragonfly and grasshopper shots are great.

Been seeing this little anole around, but never had the camera. Finally, I saw it basking in the sun so I set back aways and used the 7D with the 70-300L lens to snap the pic. I sure like this camera/lens combo.

Hack

Bernadette, those are great photos of all sort of critters in the garden. I'm near a lake and the Geese arrived in droves this past week. As temp. cools down, I'll be looking for American Coots migrating South too. n.a.n. The Swan and the Pekin Ducks kinda reminds me of the saying "Bird of the same feather...." lol

Hack, I love what the 7D and the lens combo. can do in providing such beautiful images. Such clarity! Hopefully Santa will bring me an upgraded camera and lens this Christmas. lol

I'm seeing Nuthatches and Chickadees are scouting out nest boxes for Fall roosting in the garden.