Back home for a couple days, see what I found!

Family dog Holly (Canis lupus familiaris)

Praying mantis (Family Mantidae sp?) in a precarious situation

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Female common whitetail (Plathemis lydia) view 2

Bee on Mint (Family Lamiaceae)

Silver-spotted Skipper
 (Epargyreus clarus) on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Funnel web spider’s funnel (Family Agelenidae) with praying matis nearby

Praying mantis (Family Mantidae sp?) in a precarious situation view 2

Morning glory (family Convolvulaceae)

Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Bee on “Lo & Behold®” butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii ‘Blue Chip’)

Female common whitetail (Plathemis lydia)

Went home for a few days (7/29/2013) before fully moving back to Delaware from NC and here are some things I found around the yard at home. I am now fully returned to Delaware and will post some of my last pictures from NC in a few days.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 187

Bee (Bombus sp?) pollinating a passion flower (Passiflora sp?)

Bonsai “Mount Mitchell” various species

Bonsai “Rest in the Shade of the Trees” Shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. Shimpaku)

Bonsai European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Full body mantis, either Chinese (Tenodara aridifolia sinensis) or European (Mantis religiosa)

Mantis (sp?) on a scarlet pitcher plant (Sarracenia x ‘Scarlet Belle’)

Mantis, either Chinese (Tenodara aridifolia sinensis) or European (Mantis religiosa)

Mating pair of mantids, either Chinese (Tenodara aridifolia sinensis) or European (Mantis religiosa)

Most likely a five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus)

Pretty sure this is a cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus)

My roommate and I went to the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville today and so you get more pictures than usual. The mantids were out and about all over the place, though I still don’t know whether they are Chinese or European mantids. I caught a mating pair, which means that the male is going to lose his head at the end of the process 🙂  I got a full body shot, but perhaps the best shot of the day was a mantis that was clinging to a cultivated variety of pitcher plant. I suspect that it is taking advantage of the pitcher plant’s attractiveness to other insects (usually scent) and waiting for a meal to land, otherwise it may end up in the pitcher plant as well. There were a bunch of five-lined skinks running around the arboretum, they’re quite skittish and this was probably one of the better shots.

A couple more insects, both links take you to the same pdf with some information on non-honey bee stinging insects in North Carolina. I saw what I think is a cicada killer wasp based on another one I saw near it actually carrying a cicada combined with the fact that it was nesting in the ground which is typical of this species. Apparently the female wasps catch cicadas, paralyze them and then lay their eggs in them and when the eggs hatch they feed on the still living cicada. For something a little less horrific we have a bumble bee pollinating a passion flower blossom. You can clearly see the pollen collecting on the back of the bee and that the anthers and stigmas of the of the flower are arranged so that as the bee gathers nectar by moving around the center of the flower it both picks up pollen from the anthers and drops pollen on the sticky stigmas.

Finally, the arboretum has a permanent bonsai exhibit. Bonsai (literally means plantings in a tray) is a Japanese art based on similar art forms found in China but with its own aesthetics and rules. Since this is primarily a nature blog I will not go into any more detail about bonsais only to say that there are many remarkable examples using many different species of primarily woody plants.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 144

Silver-spotted skipper
 (Epargyreus clarus)

Black-and-yellow argiope (Argiope aurantia)

Magellen™ orange zinnia (Zinnia elegans ‘Magellen™’) bud

Green colored mantis (Family Mantidae sp?)

American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus [formerly Rana catesbeiana])

Brown colored mantis (Family Mantidae sp?)

Two different colored mantids for today, unfortunately I still can’t figure out how to identify them real well. Members of the same species can vary in color and can not change color either. Another silver-spotted skipper butterfly was visiting our butterfly bush. I thought the bud of the zinnia was interesting for its geometric pattern. I am certainly not a huge fan of spiders but the black-and-yellow argiope is a rather attractively patterned specimen. They are considered orbs-weavers as they create large circular webs, often with a central zig-zag pattern. This means that they are great at catching flying insects such as mosquitoes and flies which I dislike even more than spiders, especially since most spiders don’t really wish to encounter humans. Last another shot of our resident bullfrog.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 115

Taking a break from the butterflies. Found another green mantis crawling around. I also failed again to get a shot of any lightning but the sky looks neat. In case I didn’t mention this before, not all “praying” mantids belong to the genus mantis. There are several genera in the mantidae family. They’re able to turn their heads 180 degrees and it’s a true fact that the females will sometimes eat their mates after or during the mating process. So not only do they eat their own on occasion but they’ll eat a variety of other insects that they catch with their front legs that give them the the look of prayer which is where the name praying mantis comes from. Mantis is apparently derivation of a Greek word for “prophet”.

Mantis (Family Mantidae sp?)

Mantis (Family Mantidae sp?)

Storm clouds beyond the trees, no lightning though

Year in Nature Photography – Day 97

Some more cabbage white butterflies, which seem to be loving the lavender. Also a little praying mantis on a screen. There is a native species of mantis, but there are some non-natives as well and since this is a small one it makes identification a little difficult. Mantis’s are great insect predators though and so should be welcome in the garden, though they do not discriminate in their food and may eat other beneficial insects.

Cabbage White
 (Pieris rapae) on Lavender (Lavandula intermedia var. ‘Provence’)

Praying Mantis (Order Mantodea sp?)

Cabbage White
 (Pieris rapae) on Lavender (Lavandula intermedia var. ‘Provence’)

Praying Mantis (Order Mantodea sp?)

Cabbage White
 (Pieris rapae) on Lavender (Lavandula intermedia var. ‘Provence’)

Cabbage White
s (Pieris rapae) on Lavender (Lavandula intermedia var. ‘Provence’)