28-JUNE-2011
Asian ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis)
I like the way Barry photographed this very heavily spotted ladybeetle in the middle of a fleabane.
29-JUN-2011
Question mark caterpillar (Polygonia interrogationis)
Diane and I found this very tiny caterpillar on the underside of a stinging nettle leaf. I asked Ross Layberry if it could be a question mark larva and he said yes, it most surely is. Stinging nettles are attractive to several butterfly species for egg laying, and an important plant.
Last year, someone took it upon themselves to cut down stinging nettle in the Butterfly Meadow. Why? We have no idea. It was not alongside the path and you had to really look to find it, so it was someone who must have decided that they knew best what should grow in that site. We have more nettles growing in hidden locations and hopefully other butterflies will find them and use them.
29-JUN-2011
Meadow Spittlebug (Philaenus spumarius)
Meadow spittlebugs come in an astonishing variety of colours and patterns. This is one of the more commonly seen, along with the distinctive brown and white two-toned pattern.
29-JUN-2011
Clavate tortoise beetle (Plagiometriona clavata)
Diane and I were thrilled to see this beautiful little tortoise beetle (good spotting, Diane!). It was sitting near a big patch of Physalis plants, which is one of its favoured host plants. It is sometimes called the teddy bear beetle, because it has a passing resemblance to a cuddly little teddy!
29-JUN-2011
Immature grasshopper
Grasshoppers are becoming much more common, many are still in the immature stage, and some are so tiny as to be barely noticeable.
29-JUN-2011
Stinkbug nymph
Not sure which species this is, but it is a lovely bronzed looking little bug.
29-JUN-2011
Ichneumonid wasp (Diplazon laetatorius)
This tiny little wasp was stalking amongst the aphids, looking for aphid eggs to eat! Their larvae are parasites on hover flies.
29-JUN-2011
Uroleucon aphids
These beautiful red aphids are abundant this year. We always see them on the plants in the sunflower family, but this year they seem to be more noticeable than in the recent past. Amongst them were Asian ladybeetles, syrphid (hover fly) larvae, and of course, ants.
29-JUN-2011
Syrphid larva eating an aphid
When you see aphids on a plant, take a closer look. You might see some other interesting critters, such as this syrphid larva.
29-JUN-2011
Tumbling flower beetle (Mordellistena ?)
This is a tiny little thing, a few mm in length. On an ox-eye daisy in the Butterfly Meadow.
29-JUN-2011
Tumbling flower beetle (Mordellistena)?
This back view shows the distinctive shape of the tumbling flower beetles. When disturbed, these little creatures roll and tumble off the their flowery perch.
28-JUN-2011
Dog-strangling Vine/Pale Swallowwort
Here you can see the white-flowered and red-flowered DSV. The white-flowered is no doubt a white form of the usually red-flowered DSV, but there has been some speculation by researchers that this particular white flowered DSV is a separate species. Maybe we'll learn more one way or another in time.
28-JUN-2011
New signs in the Butterfly Meadow
These signs spell out the obvious: Please stay on the paths. It is interesting how many people do not, which is why the signs are needed. It only takes one person to crush a newly planted flower.
28-JUN-2011
Plant bug (Neurocolpus)
Plant bugs, Miridae, are a very large group of bugs, and come summer, you will more than likely see scores of them on vegetation in open sunny spots. Some, like this one and the Miris dolabrata are relatively large, but others are very small and many probably go unnoticed. Not all plant bugs, however, feed on plants. Some feed on dead insects, some catch live prey, and some do it all!
28-JUN-2011
Potter wasp (Eumenes sp.)
On a milkweed leaf near the centre. As the name suggests, these tiny wasps build little pottery nests of clay!
28-JUN-2011
European skipper (Thymelicus lineola)
This was one of about a dozen European skippers that were mostly keeping low in the vegetation. It hasn't been the greatest year for butterflies anywhere in the region, thus far, but things may pick up for the later butterflies (fritillaries, hairstreaks, etc.). Hope so, anyway.
28-JUN-2011
Plant bug (Miris dolabratus) on Timothy grass
Many of these plant bugs around today. The Genus seems to be Leptopterna now, rather than Miris, although Miris is still widely used in guides.
28-JUN-2011
Chipping sparrow
This one was searching for food near the parking lot. There are quite a few chipping sparrows nesting around FWG this year.
28-JUN-2011
Firefly with mites
Fireflies seem to be particularly vulnerable to attack by mites. I frequently see them laden with this little red burden. Insects attacked by mites don't have much chance and usually succumb before long. I have seen some insects so covered in mites that they look deformed.
28-JUN-2011
Eastern forktail (Ischnura verticalis)
Perched on a Canada thistle plant.
28-JUN-2011
Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Milkweed is just beginning to bloom and, as expected, is attracting a lot of nectaring insects. If you get near a stand of more than a few plants, the smell is heavenly! They really are an attractive and useful plant. The only time they may create a problem is if they invade a field where cattle are being pastured, but even then, cattle usually ignore them - unless there is nothing else to eat.
28-JUN-2011
Physalis
There was a nice sized patch of this non-native flowering plant, also called ground cherry or clammy ground cherry. It produces large orange seedpods in the fall.
28-JUN-2011
Roesel's katydid (Metreoptera roeselii), female
An introduced species commonly found in eastern Ontario (and eastern Canada), one of the shield-backed group of grasshoppers. You can tell this is a female by the curved ovipositor.
28-JUN-2011
Sundrops (Oenothera)
Clearing out the DSV in an area we'd worked in before, we saw a nice patch of these garden escapes, Sundrops. Also a big stand of Physala, and lots of stinging nettle for red admiral butterflies!
28-JUN-2011
Plume Moth (Pterophoridae)
Moths were abundantly hiding in the DSV this morning. Every time I moved, a number flew up and vanished again under nearby vegetation. This white plume moth fortunately sat still for quite awhile and allowed me to take some photos. I think these are such intriguing creatures. They do not look moth-like at all!!
In addition to all the moths, I saw quite a number of cabbage white butterflies, European skippers, one pecks's skipper, a eastern forktail(damselfly), a few bluets (damselflies), and a common whitetail (dragonfly). As well there were numerous Eristalis hover flies around, looking like perfect imitations of honey bees. The tiny, tiny, tiny Toxomerus hover flies (we have two species here), are abundant, and can be seen all over the place. And what else was around? Well, scores of plant bugs of several species, particularly abundant on the cow parsnip, which also hosted some of the parsnip webworms (moths). Bumblebees are also abundant, and I noticed some of the pretty red-banded ones too. Potter wasps, mason wasps, ammophila wasps, leaf-cutter bees, sweat bees, etc. etc.
28-JUN-2011
White admiral (Limenitis arthemis)
Heading out to do some DSV cutting this morning, I stopped on the bridge and looked down at the vegetation that has sprung up after the bridge work and noticed this white admiral sitting perfectly still.
14-JUN-2011
Sweet pea
This pretty but non-native garden plant usually pops up somewhere at FWG each summer. It doesn't seem to spread much at the garden (yet, anyway). The ants were all over the blossoms.
14-JUN-2011
Prince basketail (Epitheca princeps)
While cutting DSV this morning, I found this very, very wet basketail clinging to the bottom of one of the DSV stems. Yet more reason to be careful when working around the DSV. I moved it to a sunny location and as I took some photos it began pumping its wings and soon, once dry, off it flew up into the treetops. Last year while looking for moths at the garden one night, one of these odonates spent the entire time sitting on the white sheet hung out to attract moths!
In addition to this dragonfly, I saw a male common whitetail, a dot-tailed whiteface, and a 12-apotted skimmer. As well, there were some damselflies around including some bluets and a lovely ebony jewelwing!
14-JUN-2011
Leaf-cutter bee (megachilid) on corn gromwell
Megachilids are amongst my favourites of all the bees. Maybe it is because, unlike most bees, they carry pollen on their abdomen, as you can clearly see here. This is the bee half turned belly-up as she reaches for nectar in this corn gromwell. Note how yellow with pollen her abdomen is. I was also interested in seeing the corn gromwell being used as a nectar source.
14-JUN-2011
Song sparrow in Dog-strangling vine
Song sparrows will nest at the bottom of tangles of DSV and use last year's dry fibres for their nest. This is why we try to be careful when working with this invasive plant, we don't want to inadvertently cause a disaster.
In addition to song sparrows, I noted chipping sparrows, American redstarts, yellow warblers, a common yellowthroat, cardinals, Baltimore orioles singing constantly, green heron, chickadees, house finches, tree swallows and of course, red-winged blackbirds. I was happy to see that there is at least one successful nest of this latter species. A female was feeding 3 half-grown young today. After the disasters the disappearing nests a few weeks ago, I was beginning to think that no blackbirds would nest successfully.
14-JUN-2011
White admiral (Limenitis arthemis)
The white admiral obligingly landed on the trail in front of me.
14-JUN-2011
Long dash skipper (Polites mystic)
I'm still not seeing the wide variety of butterflies at FWG that I usually see at this time of year, but things are picking up and I'm hoping that in the coming weeks things will improve even more. In addition to this one long dash skipper, I saw a couple of hobomok skippers, a Canadian tiger swallowtail, a silvery blue, one cabbage white, a white admiral, and at least 15 common ringlets.
14-JUN-2011
Green frogs (Rana clamitans) in BYG poond
These two looked like they were just hanging out, enjoying the water and the weather.
14-JUN-2011
Hover fly (Helophilus sp.)
Yet another hover fly. They are certainly abundant at the garden from spring right through fall, and the variety of hover fly species found here is remarkable. Many are bee and wasp mimics, and the most intriguing are the bumblebee mimics which are dead ringers for the Bombus group.
14-JUN-2011
Hover fly (Eristalis sp.)
Another of the Eristalis species of hover fly. I didn't get a good look at the back of this one, so can't say for sure which of the Eristalis it is.
14-JUN-2011
Hover fly (Eristalis arbustorum) on Canada anemone
It was a sunny,warm (not hot) day and the insects were certainly out and flying. Lots of hover flies around the garden, including this Eristalis. There are many species within this genus, and all look like honey bees as they buzz by quickly.
11-JUN-2011
Fly Rivellia sp.)
This tiny pretty fly is in the small family, Platystomatidae, which has only three genera in this part of the country, but it seems only this one is commonly seen.
10-JUN-2011
American lady caterpillar (Vanessa virginiensis)
A gorgeous caterpillar photographed by Diane in the BYG.
08-JUNE-2011
Ornamental onion (Allium)
Photographed by Steve Begin in the BYG. A gorgeous purple bloom!
08-JUNE-2011
Chrysoma sp.
Steve photographed this stunningly pretty green fly in the Backyard Garden. This is more than likely Chrysoma megacephala, an introduced fly in the Calliphoridae family (Blow Flies).
08-JUNE-2011
Hover flies, mating pair (Toxomerus marginatus)
A gorgeous capture of a mating pair of hover flies in flight, by Steve Begin. These flies are very tiny, a few mm in length.
07-JUN-2011
Hobomok skipper (Poanes hobomok)
This nice fresh male landed obligingly in front of me and allowed one shot!C
07-JUN-2011
Unhealthy looking DSV
We often see DSV with the signs of insect feeding, but I at least, have not seen this kind of diseased looking DSV. There were several plants growing between dame's rocket (a mustard) and goldenrod. The goldenrod leaves were also yellowing. It may be something in the soil at that site, or it may be something else. We are always hopeful we will see something that will finally get the better of this invasive species. So, we've left the plants standing and will monitor to see what, if anything, happens.
07-JUN-2011
Cutting DSV
Tuesday is our invasive species control day. Here Barry is wielding a big scythe to cut large masses of DSV. Before we do this, we make sure there are no nesting birds nearby, and we also make sure that there are no plants growing amidst the DSV that we want to save. Across from where Barry was doing this (this is the Old Field), we found four stems of white-flowered DSV, as well as patches of stinging nettles (good for red admiral butterflies) and other plants such as goldenrod that we want to save. This area was cut by several of us using shears which is slower, but allows us to cut around plants we want to protect.
While working here I mentioned to Marg that we should keep our eyes open for tiny treefrogs that like to sit on the DSV leaves. I had just cut a clump of DSV and as it was falling, saw a treefrog! I felt so awful but the little guy hopped off the leaf and away.
07-JUN-2011
Swift river cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis)
A new dragonfly for our FWG list, and a new species for me! I was walking to my car by the centre when this dragonfly flew over and landed waaaaay up in a manitoba maple. The photos really stretched the limits of my camera and the lighting was appalling, but I was determined to get a few photos to help with ID, because I knew I had not seen this before. Initially it was thought this was a Twin-spotted Spiketail, but thanks to Bruce Ripley and another visitor, and confirmed by Chris Lewis, we now know it is the swift river cruiser.
02-JUN-2011
Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)
A member of the Mustard family, this very pretty garden escape comes in a variety of pinkish-purplish colours, as well as white. Attractive to nectaring insects.
02-JUN-2011
Common whitetail
One of several dragonflies I found today.
02-JUN-2011
Ravine
I'm standing on the bridge by the pond, looking down the ravine. I was marvelling at the sheer expanse of reed canary grass that is spilling down the slope and through the ravine.
02-JUN-2011
Lupine
A truly pretty flower that attracts a lot of insects. Not the native lupine! Growing in the Butterfly Meadow.
02-JUN-2011
Fox
This beautiful adult fox was observed by Ben Mancini at the garden on June 2nd. Diane also saw a fox in the same general location. That is good news, as they haven't been quite as common there as they were a few years ago.
02-JUN-2011
Four-spotted skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata)
Found in the Butterfly Meadow.
02-JUN-2011
Green frog (Rana clamitans) in BYG pond
This frog is really green, unlike many which can range from almost black to pale brown. I counted five in the BYG pond today, and there could have been more. They are calling from the Amphibian Pond, along with treefrogs, which were very vocal a few nights ago.
02-JUN-2011
Ebony Jewelwing, female (Calopteryx maculata)
This was taken in the Arboretum, but I include it because we also find them at FWG. So, keep your eyes peeled for these pretty damselflies. The males are particularly spectacular!
02-JUN-2011
Hobomok skipper (Poanes hobomok) on DSV leaf
Early June, and the hobos are back! As predictable as clockwork! I say "back", but really they have overwintered as a chrysalis, not flown back from somewhere else! It was the only butterfly I saw this afternoon at FWG, but it was very windy and cool, so not surprising.
02-JUN-2011
Haploa caterpillar
We often see these distinctive caterpillars at this time of year, particularly on hound's tongue (Cynoglossum officinale).
02-JUN-2011
Butterfly Meadow
This is the older section of the Butterfly Meadow, with lupines and comfrey. The new section is just behind where I am standing, and is full of a great diversity of plants, thanks to the work of Diane and her crew of Wednesday evening volunteers.
02-JUN-2011
Hover fly (Sphaerophoria sp.) on goat's-beard
Another of the small hover flies common at the garden.
02-JUN-2011
Hover fly (Toxomerus marginatus), female
These minuscule flies (4-6mm)are abundant, and I found many of them throughout the garden.
02-JUN-2011
Crab spiders, male and female (Misumena vatia)
Found on a Viburnum trilobum in the Butterfly Meadow. Males of this species are rarely seen, and you can see why! They are minute. Yes, that is the male on the abdomen of the female! The female measures about 8-10mm, while the male is 3-4mm. When I first saw the female, I thought she had a speck of dirt on her back, the male looked that tiny. Only when I took a shot and then reviewed the image in my camera, did I realize I was looking at a mating pair!