A MILKWEED TUSSOCK MOTH - FOUND IN THE FRONT GARDEN BED OF WALNEY VISITOR CENTER

 We were at Walney yesterday afternoon (the 24th) around 3 o’clock. I was very happy when I saw this beautiful caterpillar on one of the milkweed leaves. I wasn't looking for it in particular, more for the milkweed bugs you can see in the second photo. It was a nice surprise. I positioned my cell phone low and directed it upwards to get this and was delighted but very surprised it turned out reasonably well.

As many of you already know, you don’t ever want to pick one of these up with bare hands. They have a great defense system against predators. That applies to many other caterpillars. And while we are on the subject, as beautiful as nature is, we need a good dose of common sense about it all don’t we, and a bit of knowledge helps? This is something I have learned myself over these many years. I feel like I am still learning every day just by stepping out the front door.

There is a very interesting article to read here.

I will say more in another post. It's late and time to put my laptop away. 

ANN'S 4TH OF JULY CARD PLUS...

A few things today but first of all I wanted to share and thank Ann for her lovely 4th of July card. It's beautiful. All the components go so well together, a lovely color and pattern combination. 

Thank you Ann! 

Whenever I think you can't send anything prettier than what you have sent before, you do! It's beautiful!

I enjoy Ann’s blog too. It’s called Ann’s Snap Edit Scrap and you can click here to visit. 

I also want to thank everyone who sent me a birthday card, family and friends, and to everyone for your birthday wishes. It was lovely getting all of them.You are all very special and kind.

Not only that, but many of you gave great advice on my birthday meal. I still can't quite believe that ever happened. Not even a cheerful countenance and pleasant conversation saved that dinner, and letting me know what you would have done, gave me a clearer mind about it all. But there you go, into every sunny day a little rain falls to remind us not to take these things for granted. The lady avatar above I put together a few days later just for fun, and the eye rolling gave me a smile. It was like looking in the mirror, wink, wink! 

I was given a lovely birthday gift, which I will share later when I have it set up. The gift I can show you now are these. A pair of dangly earrings that I saw the other day and were a birthday gift to myself. I couldn't resist them. They are just costume jewelry, nothing expensive but I was drawn to them. Just for fun I tucked them into a sunflower for the photo.

My birthday flowers from Gregg, son and daughter-in-law. Those put a smile on my face too. I have separated them into vases and placed them around the family room.

I am a little late answering your comments. Over the last few days I have felt slightly under the weather. I went out in the heat and think I overdid it, even though I took my container of water with me to stay hydrated and wore my sun hat. I should have known to turn back earlier but I can become laser focused when looking for those butterflies! I have been out a few times to get some exercise, but today I knew better and made it a very short one. 

We went over to Walney Visitor Center to see if we could see butterflies but didn't even see a Skipper. A few bees and... 

a couple of interesting insects. The one below looks like the kind Ginny identified the other day, a milkweed bug. There weren't many but I expect they will soon be abundant. It seemed to be very taken with the milkweed pods.

I saw a hummingbird but not close enough to take a photo. It was for the mind's eye only and what a treat. Everywhere there have been mushrooms. Must have been all that rain we've had!

That's it for now. Thank you again for your delightful 4th of July card Anne, and everyone else for my birthday cards, wishes and great advice. Thank you for helping me feel better after my birthday post. You are all the best!

Take good care of yourselves, don't stay too long out in that heat like I did. I wish you a wonderful rest of the week.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - OAT GRASSES, BLACK EYED SUSANS AND MILKWEED BUGS AND SUCH

The Mourning Doves are cooing right now, such a pretty sound, so peaceful and relaxing. The sun is shining (I wrote this on Saturday the 9th), and it is 78 degrees F. (25.5 degrees C(?), going up to 83 (28.33(?) in Centigrade). We are off for another walk later on when the sun starts going down. 

Continuing the visit to Walney, in the same flower bed as the Black-eyed Susans, I saw Inland Sea Oats. At least I think they are, so if you can confirm or deny because you already know, go right ahead. I try my hardest to get a correct ID. On this website there is a debate going on, about whether to plant these oats or not. It is the first time I have noticed them. I have seen a lot of grasses but not these. Anyhow, if you are really interested in this yay or nay conversation, you can check it out at the above link. I think they look lovely together but I read that the Inland Sea Oats can take over if allowed to.

I was very curious about these Inland Sea Oats, so I did a search on Google. They are edible but I doubt I am ever going to try them. Unless I am 100% sure about what I forage, there is no way I would eat them. I am not 100% confident in my abilities, and then of course they would have to be pesticide free. Anyhow, not an expert and only read about foraging. But I enjoy finding out and passing on what I read. At the same time they are very appealing to me, and I would love to have a bed of Black-eyed Susans with Inland Sea Oats among them. In the meantime, I'll take note of what others' experiences are first, and I'll just be happy to take photos in any of the gardens where I seem them grow.

From Google: "Inland see oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) are edible. The seeds can be processed and used as a cereal grain or ground into flour. They can also be cooked and eaten as a grain, similar to traditional oats. Some resources note that they were a Staple food crop for some indigenous peoples."

And more: "The seeds of the inland sea oats are the edible part. The seeds can be processed similarly to traditional oats, including being ground into flour or cooked as a grain.

The Cocopah Indians are known to have used the seeds as a food source.

In modern use some foragers and wild food enthusiasts suggest that the seeds can be used in a variety of ways, similar to other cereal grains."

The next day (8-4-25) it was another very pleasant temperature, cloudy but I thought I could still get some decent photos. The first things I came across was these little creatures on the milkweed pods. They were several Milkweed plants in the front beds of the house, it was the right time to see these red bugs. 

On the left of center on the above photo, you can see the Small Milkweed Bugs which you can read about at this site. They also show the Large Milkweed Bug. There are other similar bugs mentioned. I found it a very interesting read. 

I have no idea what this is, some kind of shield bug perhaps? It seemed to me that it had caught the attention of the Small Milkweed Bug as it followed it around the pod.

As I hadn't taken photos of these bugs in a long time, I left them and turned to the Milkweed Nymphs. These are immature milkweed bugs that feed on milkweed plants. They gradually develop into adults through a series of five molts, which eventually brings them to adulthood.

Not cute and cuddly creatures by any means but fascinating to me. They lack wings at this stage, often found in clusters on milkweed plants. Their bright orange and black coloration serves as a warning to predators, indicating they are unpalatable due to the toxins they accumulate from milkweed. You can read more about them here, along with a few other insects that feed off the same plant.

Leaving bugs alone for now, here are some pretty flowers including the above spider flower and below, the garden phlox.

One last photo and that's all from Walney until the next time we go.

Thanks for taking the time to visit. 

Hope you all have a great day!

BEAUTY IS IN...

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

~Margaret Wolfe Hungerford~

After a lot of searching, I still can't say with absolute certainty, but I think this may be a milkweed nymph? Anyone out there who knows for sure and has its true identity, would you please let me know what you think? Thank you! It was on a milkweed plant. I have seen adult milkweed bugs but this one leaves me a little puzzled, as I know there is also a milkweed assassin bug but they are two different insects. The old saying popped in my head when looking at it. I think it is a lovely little bug but I daresay a lot of people out there wouldn't agree with me.

Added note Saturday, July 20th, 2024: thank you to those of you who offered ID’s.  David of Travel with Birds identified it as a Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus). I found a wonderful page with a very good profile at this link. It was extremely interesting reading about it. Thank you very much David!

David also has a marvelous post with extremely enjoyable photos of insects. You can see those plus much more at this link.

I got this information about the quote online: "It is believed to have first appeared in English in the 19th century. Margaret Wolfe Hungerford (nee Hamilton) is widely credited with coining the saying in its current form. Hungerford wrote many books often under the pseudonym of 'The Duchess'. In the 1878 novel Molly Bawn, there's the line "It is an old axiom, and well said, that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'".

Margaret (Apr 27 1855 - Jan 24 1897) was an Irish novelist whose light romantic fiction was popular throughout the English-speaking world in the late 19th century. She was born in County Cork, Ireland. As a child she enjoyed creating stories and she won prizes for her writing at school. Later she supported herself and her three daughters by writing books. Her first novel "Phyllis" was very successful. All my information came from Wikipedia. You can click here if you are interested in reading more.

A change of pace today as I don't often find a bug to take a photo of, but thought this was interesting.

 

Thanks so much for looking 

and have a great day!

GREEN SPRING GARDENS 10-1-23 CONTINUED...

 I was very happy to see the Monarch Butterflies on our last visit.  They seemed to like these orange flowers particularly.  They are Mexican Sunflowers and I will have more information about them in another post.  This time I am concentrating on the butterflies.  I haven't had any luck taking photos of butterflies this past summer. I haven't seen many at all, whether this was because of bad timing I'm not sure. I know they are another that has been put on the endangered list, and that is troubling. The following information came from this website.  I read: "Each Fall millions of monarch butterflies migrate to overwintering sites in Mexico and to a scattering of locations along the coast of California. In the spring monarchs return to breeding areas and the cycle begins again: a two-way migration that is one of the most spectacular on the planet. Yet, this migration appears to be declining. Some theories include: 

Loss of milkweed needed for monarch caterpillars to grow and develop, due to habitat conversion and adverse land management.

Drought conditions in California and other areas in the western U.S., resulting in lower milkweed biomass, and reduced availability of milkweed late in the summer.

Insecticide and herbicide use to control insects and weeds, with unintended consequences for monarchs.

Overwintering habitat loss and degradation in California, due to development within and adjacent to overwintering groves, and decay of overwintering trees as they age.  

Habitat loss in overwintering sites in Mexico due to illegal logging.”

There are suggestions on how we can help.

"The monarch migration occurs twice every year.  Nectar from flowers provides the fuel monarchs need to fly. If there are not any blooming plants to collect nectar from when the monarchs stop, they will not have any energy to continue. Planting monarch flowers that bloom when they will be passing will help the monarchs reach their destination. Creating more monarch habitat will help work to reverse their decline."

Plant milkweed! Monarch caterpillars need milkweed to grow and develop. There are 100 milkweed species that are native to North America, many of which are used by monarchs. To learn which species to plant in your region, and how to plant them, visit Bring Back the Monarchs Campaign (click on their name will take you to their website.

Plant butterfly nectar plants! Monarchs need nectar to provide energy as they breed, for their migratory journey, and to build reserves for the long winter.  Include butterfly plants in your garden and avoid using pesticides.

If you click on this link you will be able to download the free Monarch Plant List in PDF format.

From this link I read: 

The adult monarch butterfly typically only lives for a few weeks, unless it is lucky enough to be the last generation born in late August. The last generation is the migratory generation and can delay reproduction to live 8-9 months. They migrate south to warmer weather, because monarchs cannot survive Midwest winters. These migratory monarchs must make the journey to their overwintering grounds in central Mexico. For Nebraska monarchs, that means a 1,500 mile one-way trip; but for some Canadian monarchs, it can be over 3,000 miles!" The information on this website is from The Nebraska Games and Parks, on which you can read a lot more information. 

The explanation/photos on the difference between the male and female monarch, came from this website.

  In the next photo you will see the orange-red and black insect which is a milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus. It feeds on the seeds, leaves and stems of milkweed (Asclepias). It is found in small groups on milkweed often on the stems, leaves and on the seed pods. The bodies of milkweed bugs contain toxic compounds derived from the sap which they suck from milkweed. Milkweed bugs are true bugs (Hemiptera). Milkweed bugs are more of a nuisance than a threat to milkweed plants. They feed on the seeds by piercing the seed pod and can be found in all stages of growth on the plants in mid to late summer.In the above photo we found these milkweed plants at the garden. There is a great link here explaining all about the milkweed.  In the photo above you can see several milkweed plants. These were taken at another time when visiting Big Meadows on Skyline Drive.

Lastly but most definitely not least, I remember seeing one of Debbie's posts from 'It's All About Purple.' She was giving Monarchs a safe haven, allowing them to go through their life stages until they could be released. You can see her post here.  You can do a search on Monarchs at her blog. She has taken the most beautiful photos of them.

There will be more photos from Green Spring Gardens in a future post. I am spacing them out a bit, so as not to overload on photos.