September Harvest Full Moon

My Mother's Spiders, Part II

The Last of Last Saturday

Rattletree pods

Grasshopper and rosemary

The end of the day

Moth and Sage

Little Plants Propagating

This plant is popping up all over, all by itself.

The spider was a surprise bonus—I didn't even see it while I was snapping the plant and noticed it only after downloading.

I did not pose this acorn.

Oho!

Or, Alle ist Klar

http://www.uidaho.edu/so-id/entomology/green%20lacewing%20eggs.jpg

http://images.whatsthatbug.com/images/eggs_lacewing.jpg

Mrs B sent the links above. She and Miz J (Toad Fan) both win the prize for top researching! I don't know what I would do without them! My own research, for one. Adult image and info at the link below. Meanwhile, I have found two more patches of eggs in the outdoor shower.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysopidae

Spores?

Are they spores, or maybe eggs? The little strands are about a quarter of an inch long, if that. The lens fogged over slightly from going out into the hot morning air from the cool of the house.

Patience is a Virtue

Or, Perseverance Furthers

I can't believe I finally managed to catch some of them in flight so you can see them instead of a wee blurry blob. And look, when you get close enough, you can see that they wear tiny smiles!

Because There Cannot Be Too Many Photos of Dragonflies

The Kitchen Window Mantis

This mantis hangs out every night on the screen outside the kitchen window and the light that is over the sink. Night before last I thought it had been bitten by the lizard that also hangs out there, but it turned out that the mantis was just chowing down on a very large moth, the remains of which are seen here.

More Rock Roses (Non-murdering)

Murder and More Insects

It may be hard to see exactly what is going on here, but the bug on top (which I think is one of those dragonfly-like flying insects which have a much larger, bulkier midsection than the d'flies) is eating the bug underneath, which I think is a dead grasshopper. It was also carrying it around from place to place, but that could have been to avoid my gardening.

Other Saturday visitors of interest: Beetle and Moth

Esperanza

Commonly called yellow bells.

What Big Eyes You Have, Little Dragonfly!

I say "eyes," but those are probably not its eyes at all, partly because they are on the back of its head. So what are they? In what not-yet-unpacked box in the closet is my insect guide? Not that it would necessarily cover the anatomy of the dragonfly, actually. Sigh. I need more books.

So the obsession continues, and I'm not done yet. Stay tuned.

The Tiny Toad and the Giant Slugs

Saturday was a day of adventure in the garden. I spent most of the day outside raking and sweeping and cleaning up and kept encountering interesting things, like the tiny toad and the giant slugs I found underneath a potted plant. I don't know how that toad even fit underneath the pot, but there he was, and beside him, the two biggest slugs I have ever seen in my life (shudder—now there's a horror movie subject for you, but I bet it's already been done).

Skippy Says Hello to Mrs. B

And below is one of Skippy's berries visiting with an acorn.

Rock Rose

The Dragonflies Taunt Me

The air is just swarming with dragonflies. I went out to empty the compost bucket and on the way back spied this guy actually sitting around, which is a rarity. I got him twice as well as the one below, but most of them come and fly around and around and around and around and around and around and around right in front of you and never, ever alight on anything. It's maddening. And it also makes you quite dizzy after a while, if you follow them with your eyes while you are waiting for them to maybe, just maybe, sit down for just one second.

There are some giant ones out there. Two of the ones flying around and around were huge and electric blue; another pair of giants were hooked up and, flying together, were the size of a small bird. I kid you not.

Pretty Things

The Ants Bury the Bones, Part II

This is a large pile, about 3 inches in diameter. I saw the creature before it got covered and its skull must be quarter-sized or more. I am not sure what piece of bone is showing here. I was going to uncover it but the ants are still working on it, so I left it and them alone. Some of the ants were busy with bringing over the cedar bits to add to the blanketing.

My Love Affair with Bees

This guy was getting groovy with the string on a chair on the patio. Why, we do not know; it is a chair, and it is made of wood and string (or twine, or whatever). But there he was grooving in the lazy, late evening sunlight. I love bees so. What more is there to say?

What is the Why of this Bark?

This tree grows in the middle of our patio. I don't know what kind of tree it is. It always has this bizarre bark. Is it normal? Is it fungus? Is it a mutant tree from outer space, here to take over the world?

I've never seen anything like it.

Tuesday Morning of a Busy Week

I am not often up for sunrise at this time of year, or at least outside for it, and the fact that I was this past Tuesday morning indicates that it was a busier week than usual; hence the lack of time for photos and blog. I hope this week will be better...

Dragonfly at Night

This dragonfly was stuck under the porch roof on Friday night until I took the stepladder and showed him the way out. I am fascinated by the underneath of his eye (click on the photo to zoom in).

Do daddy-longlegs eat dragonflies?

The Russet Hummingbird

Who is this guy? He repeatedly caught my eye as he flew past the window, as he is so noticeably russet, especially in sunlight. Is he a new guy, or someone that I know already in moulting colors?

The Square Spiderwebs

These webs are a continuation from the day of the Kingdom of Spiders. I have never before seen webs like this. They were square, or at least rectangular, and there were no interstitial strands, only the strands radiating from the center. (I hope that interstitial is indeed the correct word to use there. If someone has a better one, feel free to let me know.)

A person close to me, in fact a person actually related to me, asked me if I was absolutely certain about that, implying that maybe I just couldn't see them or something like that, and I insisted vehemently that no, there were only the radiating strands and that was it, as can be seen in these photos. *Ahem.*

There were two of these webs, quite close to one another, and the spiders (as you can see in the middle of each web) were very tiny. One of them had larger gaps between strands than the other. Most curious, most curious. I have not seen any spider webs around the shower since that day.