August 3, 2025

Here we are into August already.  It has been a strange weather time lately.  Last week a furious rainstorm shook the waters of the Pond, causing a lot of algae to color the water even greener than usual.  Several times I removed old water, replaced it with new and removed dead fishes, burying them in the garden.  You don't want to hear about this.  But the good news is that a couple of days later, things seem to have stabilized out there.  Here are some of the beautiful survivors.  Picture 2 shows the one I call Red Fish, one of the most beautiful of the lot.

Here are a few more of the loveliest fishes out there.  In picture 2, the huge whitish Fish is one

I usually save the planthoppers and other pretty "bugs" for later, but I have a batch that I haven't published before.  This first one is called a Citrus Flatid Planthopper (Metcalfa pruinosa).  One thing that attracted me to it is that it looks as if it had been designed out of fine white fabric!   Second is a Green Cone-headed Planthopper,  Acanalonia conica. Third  is a Sawfly called the Saddleback Grass-Cutter  (Eutomostethus ephippium) .  

Here are three Flies.  This first one is prettier than usual because of its iridescent wings.  Next is a Greenbottle (Fly).  Third is a Fly I don't know.  

Those Oleander Aphids we saw last week are fading out - but you can still see some of them.  The black creature in picture 2 is a black Aphid, but we don't know its full name yet.  The plant that had the infestation turns out to be some of the Milkweed I planted from seed a couple of months ago!  Picture 3 shows a Monarch caterpillar on this very Milkweed!  

Here is an interesting one.  It's called Scythris sinensis, a member of the Flower Moths (Family Scythrididae) . I got to wondering if these moths were called Flower Moths because they were especially pretty, but it turns out their larvae EAT flowers!  Picture 2 shows a Moth that I saw on May 29 (and am still waiting for an ID for).  And picture 3 shows a comical creature which seems to be trying to frighten me off.  

Here is a Pennsylvania Ambush Bug.  (Look at those claws) -- a bad sign for those of us who don't look forward to the Goldenrod season.  (Right now my flower borders are full of Goldenrod plants and I may have spotted a tiny bit of yellow out there yesterday.)   I do have a soft spot for the Goldenrod - for one thing it appears with a whole retinue of creatures that seem to thrive on this community.  This Ambush Bug is just one of them.  Ask me next week if I don't mention the characters.

I'm getting to really enjoy raising things from seed.  Here is one of the thistles I raised this spring from seed that someone sent me and just labeled it "thistle".  It is quite different from the plants that grew from seeds that I bought as "bull thistle". (I have been missing the ones that a neighborhood helper killed by mistake a couple of years ago.  I enjoy photographing plants that have attracted insects to live on them, and I'm looking forward to being able to drag my folding chair out to take pictures of the progress of life out there.)  So far, no takers that I can see.  If you're looking for "bugs" in one of your plants, make sure you flip the leaves over gently -- no self-protecting bug is going to sit on the top of a leaf.  The Thistle in picture 1 is seen with the other kind (probably Bull Thistle) in the same picture 2.

Here are a couple of Ants, possibly "nannying" a yellow Aphid.  Picture 2 shows a possible Ant with strange markings.  And picture 3 shows an Ant that belongs to the group of Slave-raider Field and Mound Ants.  

The Water Lilies have continued to bloom in the Pond.  Their pale pink color is different from day to day, but they are all produced by that ONE Water Lily I planted a couple or three years ago!  In picture 1, you can spot a reddish-looking Bee.  Similarly, a Bee appears in pictures 3 and 4.  

I get such joy from seeing these colors.  I hope they cheer you up too.  Please take some time to go out into the wildest part of your neighborhood and just enjoy the scene.  Love, Martha