August 25, 2024

Summer really does seem to be sliding to an end.  When I got up at 6 am this morning, it was still dark outside.   One big change that is taking place as we speak is that the Goldenrod, which has been taking its time to bloom, is finally mostly bright yellow, and the creatures that I always think of as going along with this change are starting to show up.  One of these creatures is the Ailanthus Webworm Moth, shown in picture 1.  Picture 2 shows the Pennsylvania Ambush Bug.  He/she has a huge front claw!  We will be seeing some new creatures as the Goldenrod aroma permeates the world around us!  Picture 3 shows a spotted green-gold Beetle in the (guess what?) Goldenrod.  It seems to have eleven spots, which would agree with the identity of Diabrotica undecimpunctata, the Spotted Cucumber Beetle.

Let's start with the Flowers, which have been so lovely and still getting there.  Here are the Japanese Anemones, which were blooming well last week, and are just as vigorous now.

We've been admiring the Asters for a few weeks and now many of them are in full bloom.   I love this deep Blue color and so do many kinds of bees.  They are still hungry for the nectar of the deep Pink ones too.

 I especially like the intermediate stages of their opening.  The colors are wonderfully subtle.

Chaim has been planting peas and they make lovely little flowers too, right in the flower box.

Here is the cultivated Phlox I got from Horrock's years ago.  Next to it is the wild (probably Dame's Rocket) Phlox with its pal the Trumpetvine.

This yellow Hibiscus that I got at Family Fare here in Albion a couple of months ago is still blooming!  And so is the Ivy Geranium.

Moving on to other things,  I don't know what this biggish reddish Dragonfly is, but the Damselfly on the right was just identified on iNat as an Eastern Forktail

Here are a brownish Ant and a couple more different ones.  I am just terrible at separating these Ants from each other!  In case you are in iNaturalist.org, @mettcollsuss is a member who is wonderful at identifying these Ants that all look so much alike to me.  Another great identifier is @stevenw12339!   

There were quite a few little tree- or leaf-hoppers.  First here is a Two-horned Treehopper, Stictocephala diceros (which I hadn't seen for years) ; then the Red-banded Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea).  Lastly, a Treehopper of the genus Eratoneura.

Here's the Grey (or Gray) Hairstreak that we saw last week.  Second is what used to be called the White Cabbage Butterfly, now with the same scientific name Pieris rapae but now called the Small White.  I've also spotted a few more Zabulon Skippers now.

I didn't really see any Barklice to mention this past week.  But let me share some good news with you.  My friend Diane Young, a leading student of Barklice (Psocids) told me this week that her new book so aptly named Adventures in a Minor Order is most probably on the way towards being about to come out.  I believe it is in Texas A&M Press.  Diane is a former student of the leading Psocidologist Dr.Edward Mockford and I believe is his spiritual heiress.  Besides her book, the usual articles, and many identifications on iNaturalist and other places specializing in these little creatures, Diane has in the past few years been honing her talents at filming these tiny and lovely creatures in the act of Mating.  More as I find out how to get these little movies.  :-)  

Let's see how the Pond is shaping up as Summer wanes, the water temperature is falling slightly, and the sunlight shows itself less and less.  Last year, there were a few Green Frogs but this year there is only Froggy, the ONE amphibian (besides a few tiny Toadlets (which I haven't seen any of lately) out there.  The Fishes are doing well.  Look at those colors!

The Water Lilies are still coming along.  We only planted one new one this year, but the ones we planted last year are lovely if becoming a bit more sparse as Fall comes.  The Raccoons are spending less and less time out of the storm drains, and this is having a nice effect on the Lilies.  

Well, it has been a week - come drop by to see the real thing.  Be kind to this earth and to each other.  Oh!  I forgot to mention - tomorrow is my Big 84.  What a wonderful life to still be having.  Love, Martha