29-AUG-2014
Bumble bee (Bombus) on Physostegia
A bumble bee about to enter the flower of the obedient plant (AKA false dragonhead), Physostegia virginiana. The bee is most likely the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens). A fine shot by Lorne Peterson, taken in the Butterfly Meadow.
White-faced meadowhawk on obedient plant
This vividly colourful image was taken by Lorne Peterson in the Butterfly Meadow. The Obedient Plant (Physostegia) also known as false dragonhead, is a member of the mint family, and very attractive to insects. It is not unusual to see a variety of late summer bees going in and out of the flowers. The plant is native to areas further south of Ottawa, but grows very well here and is a favourite garden plant.
If you look in the lower left corner, you will see a pennsylvania leatherwing (a soldier beetle) whose yellow and black colouration makes them a good wasp mimic. They are abundant at this time of year, particularly on goldenrods.
28-AUG-2014
Butterfly meadow in the late day sun
The sunlight was pouring down on the butterfly meadow, bathing everything in a hazy glow. This particular area is often alive with insects including butterflies, bees, wasps, caterpillars, moths, etc.
Bunch gall on goldenrod
Bunch galls are fairly common on goldenrods, and at first glance they look like a flower at the top of the stem. They're formed by tiny Cecidomyiid midge in the Rhopalomyia genus.
28-AUG-2014
Weevil species (Curculionidae)
On the tip of a goldenrod leaf. One of many tiny weevils that are difficult to identify from photos. Weevils come in all colours, patterns and sizes, some are easy to ID from photos, many are not, except to the experts of course.
Liverwort
This odd looking plant likes damp, shaded places and if it is happy in the location, will grow and spread well. This is an example of a Thallose liverwort. Sandy photographed this one in the old woods.
Nightshade (Solanum nigrum)
The old woods is now much more open with the removal of over 50 big ash trees. An abundance of plants has hastned to fill the void, including this non-native relative of the more familiar Solanum dulcamara.
29-AUG-2014
Pennsylvania leatherwings (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus)
These soldier beetles are common and even abundant, especially on goldenrod, which is where Barry photographed this mating pair. Late summer is when they really appear in good numbers.
Amanita mushroom
Sandy found quite the gathering of amanita mushrooms. These are probably the most well-recognized as well as amongst the most beautiful of fungi. They are NOT edible!
29-AUG-2014
Banded tussock caterpillar and asian lady beetles
Quite a busy leaf! Barry found and photographed the banded tussock caterpillar and the ladybeetles on this leaf, which also has a couple of galls, or so it appears.
29-AUG-2014
Stinkbug (Pentatomidae)
Now is the time to find many species of stinkbugs in our area, including at the FWG. The variety is remarkable, and while many are plant feeders (they suck juice out vegetation), others are predatory on other insects.
29-AUG-2014
Locust Borer (Megacyllene robinia)
This boldly marked, large beautiful long-horned beetle is associated exclusively with Black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, its larval host. The adults, however, are partial to nectaring on goldenrod where they are most often found, as this photo by Barry shows.
29-AUG-2014
Rolled sumac leaves
Barry said he was fascinated by the rolled leaves on the tips of sumac leaflets. No doubt these are made by leafroller moths, though other insects will also roll leaf tips at times. Still others, will uses the vacated rolled tips as shelter.
29-AUG-2014
Spot the moth!
Hard to believe there is a large moth on this tree trunk. But if you look closely you will see it. Kudos to Barry who took this photo for his sighting. We're waiting for it to be identified by Diane.
27-AUG-2014
Garden orbweaver (Argiope aurantia), female
A terrific shot by Diane of one of the most commonly seen orbweavers in our area. These large spiders are especially abundant in open fields where there intricately spun webs can be seen especially well in early morning when the dew is on them.
27-AUG-2014
Eastern cottontail
A very cute rabbit having a snack on the grass in the Backyard Garden, and photographed by Diane.
27-AUG-2014
Unspotted Looper (Allagrapha aerea), #8898
A new species for our moth list, spotted by Diane, who is the go-to person for moths at the Fletcher Garden. This is an intriguingly shaped member of the Noctuidae family.
27-AUG-2014
Blister beetle (Epicauta sp.)
At this time of year these large black blister beetles are a fairly common sight, particularly on goldenrod. Diane photographed this one around the Butterfly Meadow.
27-AUG-2014
Curled Rose Sawfly (Allantus cinctuss)
Diane photographed this lovely sawfly with the granular appearance, curled up on a rose leaf. A new species for our insect list. According to Bug Guide, this species is "native to, and common across Eurasia, probably adventive in NA".
27-AUG-2014
Turtlehead (Chelone)
A striking photo by Diane of some cultivars of the native turtlehead flower. The wild flower is white, but many cultivated species are pink.
25-AUG-2014
Gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor)
Diane photographed this treefrog in an unusual pose. I expect he was just about to head down the cattail leaf when she caught him mid-move! Treefrogs are quite common at the garden and can frequently be heard and often encountered.
25-AUG-2014
Long-jawed orbweaver (Tetragnatha sp.)
A fantastic shot by Diane of this spindly spider caught in a ray of sunlight as it hangs head down on a cattail.
25-AUG-2014
Woolly bear caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella), #8129
Also by the pond, a familiar woolybear caterpillar, the Isabella tiger moth.
25-AUG-2014
Egg mass on cattail
At the moment, we have no idea who made this egg mass, but will continue to try and find out. Diane photographed it in the amphibian pond.
25-AUG-2014
Waterlily Borer moth (Elophila gyralis)
An aquatic Crambid moth found and photographed by Diane while working in the pond. It is really the larvae of this moth that are aquatic, boring into the stems of waterlilies.
25-AUG-2014
Nursery web spider (Pisaurina mira)
Walking across the duckweed, this spider has found a chunk of perhaps flowering rush stem, to rest on.
25-AUG-2014
Egg mass on cattail
These eggs, photographed by Diane, look like they are probably beetle eggs, but which species is difficult to determine.
25-AUG-2014
Nymph of a darner dragonfly
Another aquatic inhabitant Diane photographed while in the pond helping remove invasive plants.
25-AUG-2014
Darner dragonfly exuviae
Diane said she noticed a number of these exuviae attached to cattails, a good sign that we have a healthy dragonfly population at the garden.
25-AUG-2014
Marsh fly (Sciomyzidae)
Diane found this fly while working in the amphibian pond, removing invasive species.
22-AUG-2014
Eastern Garter Snake
After years of no snakes and thinking it unlikely they would discover the FWG, we are now seeing Eastern Garter Snakes several times a year. Our volunteer, Gordon Robertson, found this one basking in the Butterfly Meadow.
12-AUG-2014
Joe-pye weed in the old field
Planted in 2012 in one corner of the old field habitat, these joe-pye weeds are doing very well.
12-AUG-2014
Old woods
This is what we are now calling the woods previously known as the Ash Woods! In the openings created by the tree removal many species are growing including the non-native annual, giant foxtail grass.
12-AUG-2014
Gray-headed coneflowers (Ratibida pinnata)
These beautiful tall flowers are native to areas south of Eastern Ontario, but they grow well in our area, and their seeds attract seed-eating birds. This cluster is growing by itself, north of the old woods.
12-AUG-2014
Egg masses of the Enchenopa treehopper
The branches of some nannyberry shrubs are dotted with these little white masses, which are the eggs of the enchenopa treehopper.
12-AUG-2014
Golden tortoise beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata bicolor)
This beautifully coloured little beetle is on a morning glory leaf, and you can see the characteristic holes this beetle makes on the plant. The usual colour of this species is a gorgeous bright gold, like a little golden jewel, but when agitated or excited, they turn this lovely red. Like most, if not all tortoise beetles, their larvae protect themselves with fecal shields.
12-AUG-2014
Butterfly meadow
This is beautifully lush and dense with many plants including the goldenrods here, nettles, cup-plants, swamp milkweed and many others. These goldenrods lining the pathway are a mecca for insect watchers!
12-AUG-2014
Very wet bumble bee
Many bumble bees were clinging to the underside of drooping goldenrod plants, as the rain intensified, sending everyone to shelter. Others were seeking shelter under leaves of various trees, which offered a lot more protection.
12-AUG-2014
Chalcidid wasp cocoons - now empty
These cocoons on the underside of an ash leaf, appear to have been opened and the pupae eaten. Maybe the wasps left of their own accord, but these cocoons seem to have been torn open, as for food. When I think of exit holes made by wasps I think of neat, tidy, little holes not these messy things. But who knows? Perhaps the Chalcidid wasps are so eager to emerge that they forgo neat and tidy!
12-AUG-2014
Insect Hotel
I'm tempted to say "now open and ready for business", because this summer it has suddenly become a very busy place. Last year, when Sandy first built it, a few bees checked it out, but nothing like this year. Now it is well used. No less than five nests have been built by grass-carrying wasps Isodontia mexicana), for example.
12-AUG-2014
Grass-carrying Wasp nests (Isodontia mexicana)
Sandy's insect hotel obviously has just what these wasps like! You can see the long grassy tufts extending from the nest holes.
12-AUG-2014
Brush pile, Old Woods
The Ash Woods is now the Old Woods, given there are no more ash trees left! Some of the logs are being used to create large brushpiles. As Sandy (who built this one) said, back in the early days of FWG, David Tomlinson who provided the original plans for the garden, gave instructions for making such a brushpile, but until recently we never had enough logs of the right size. Birds and small animals make ample use of brushpiles.
01-AUG-2014
Common pug caterpillar (Eupithecia miserulata), #7474
This small caterpillar is often found on black-eyed susans and on this day I saw several. This species seems to be pretty much of a generalist when it comes to which plants it decides to feed on. Seems almost anything will do.
01-AUG-2014
Great black digger wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus)
Right now these very large wasps with their beautiful iridescent wings are common around flowers. This one is on swamp milkweed. These wasps capture large grasshoppers almost exclusively, which they paralyze and leave in their nests for their larvae to feed on.
01-AUG-2014
Leafhopper (Aphrodes)
An introduced leafhopper species, which appears to be widespread.
01-AUG-2014
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
This large, robust mayfly may be in the genus Hexagenia. The order Ephemeroptera is an interesting one and worth learning more about. These insects spend most of their lives as nymphs underwater and only a few days as adults. During that brief period they must mate and lay eggs. Mayfly swarms are common sights in summer, and consist mostly of males.
01-AUG-2014
Ragweed fly (Euaresta bella)
These very tiny and very attractive little flies appear along with the ragweed on whose seeds their larvae feed. They are a beneficial species, helping control ragweed. If you look closely at a stand of the native ragweed you are sure to see some of these flies flitting around. You can tell they are members of the Tephritidae (Fruit Fly) family by their delightfully patterned wings.
01-AUG-2014
Virginia ctenucha moth (Ctenucha virginica)
These day-flying moths are quite spectacular, especially when they fly and you see flashes of bright blue. This one is on queen anne's lace. The caterpillars of these moths can be found very late in autumn and often very early in spring. I've even seen them wandering across late winter snow and ice.
01-AUG-2014
Dogwood spittlebug (Clastoptera proteus)
Earlier in summer, dogwood shrubs, mostly red-osier dogwoods, are festooned with little white foamy globs. This is the "spittle" of the dogwood spittlebug nymph. Eventually the adults appear and can be seen quite commonly on dogwood shrubs. There are other species in this genus that look somewhat similar, such as the alder spittlebug, C. obtusa, not to be confused with another spittlebug called alder spittlebug (or more correctly, European alder spittlebug) in the genus Aphrophora.
01-AUG-2014
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
This rather battered and worn butterfly was nectaring on the abundant flowers of the wild clematis (clematis virginiana) in the front of the interpretive centre. I saw another one, not so worn, by the new woods. In July I found a caterpillar in some nettle leaves, and Diane also photographed an adult in July (both photos in the July blog). Red admirals are a migratory species, heading south in winter, and in spring coming north, sometimes as in 2012, in huge numbers.
01-AUG-2014
Green lacewing eggs (Chrysoperla sp.)
These tiny dot-sized eggs are suspended from nearly invisible filaments on the underside of an oak leaf. As you can tell, the eggs are being whipped around by the wind, which also made photographing these things nearly impossible. What you may be able to see if you look really closely, is a little aphid, slightly large than the eggs, clinging to one of the filaments above the egg on the right. As if going for a ride! Lacewing larvae eat aphids and the leaves have a good number of Myzocallis aphids for hungry larvae to eat. Thus, a sensible spot for the lacewing adult to lay her eggs.
01-AUG-2014
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
A native plant whose flowers attract lots of bees AND hummingbirds. This was taken in the old woods where the removal of many ash trees has opened up the site for a variety of other things to grow, including a huge stand of jewelweed.
01-AUG-2014
Leafhopper (Coelidia sp.)
These pretty green leafhoppers are abundant right now, as are their nymphs. Diane photographed several of the nymphs and they can be found in the July 2014 blog.