A Stick that Walks
Today’s post features an insect I have always been interested in … the Walking Stick. Every time I see one, I am amazed at the camouflage ability of this guy in the garden. I was lucky this time … as he moved across the mulched garden bed, it was easy to see him as he […]
No Waste Here!
Today’s post features a fun image I captured a few years ago on a dew-covered Dorsett Hill Prairie (west-central Missouri). The Thread-waisted Wasp is an interesting find. With it’s uniquely long and very slim “waist”, this is a larger and nonsocial wasp. The Thread-waisted Wasp is an ambush attacker, immobilizing insect prey with a swift […]
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Swallowtails in the Garden
Today’s post features a few of the many Swallowtail butterflies that have been busy in the Monarch butterfly garden I designed this spring at the Lake of the Ozarks: Although this butterfly garden is new, and small, it has been very successful this first year. With more plantings planned for fall and again next spring, […]
Keeping the Species Alive
As you may know, Monarch butterfly numbers have been declining the past few years. In the new butterfly garden that I put in at the Lake of the Ozarks this spring is flourishing with Monarchs. Here are a few of my favorite images captured recently in this garden. Monarchs busy laying eggs: Monarch butterfly eggs […]
Fun Friday: “Squid” Spider
Caution, Acracnoids … Spider Ahead!!! Today’s blog post features an unidentified species of spider I found on a Tropical Milkweed leaf, while photographing butterflies at the new butterfly garden at the Lake of the Ozarks (MO). My first reaction was it looked like a very small, land-based squid! If you are an entomologist, or know […]
Monarch Nursery
Back home, after some R&R at the Lake of the Ozarks. Actually, spent a fair amount of time working a new butterfly garden that I’ve helped a friend put in. Over the past few months, I planted multiple milkweed species, along with other butterfly-attracting plants, and while working in the garden last Friday, I had […]