While watching the Praying Mantis
She spied me!
These are wonderful insects to have in your garden. As a child I got a nickel for finding one of these and relocating it in our garden. Lady Bugs, the real ones, were a penny apiece. I also earned money by removing potato beetles. The Adult was worth a nickel and the young were a penny apiece. I became rich!
I am glad to see any pollinators but the honey bees have become a rarity.
The Cone Flower/Echinacea is now growing its second round of blooms while the others prepare to seed.
A pair of Pearl Crescent Butterflies, I think, dine together.
Sometimes I have trouble identifying them, Alex.
If someone knows the right name. please, let me know.
18 comments:
Great photos . . .
Preying Mantis and pollinators . . .
I believe the pair are skippers. Some look like they have four wings, but they don't. Your insect shots are great, especially the mantis. So sad that the bees are dwindling. I hope someone finds a fix for colony collapse. I got a chuckle abut your childhood earnings! Sounds like a fun way to make some change.
It's ages since I've seen a Praying Mantis...but then again, I've not gone looking, either.
We'll just call them bugs.
We've had a few praying mantises, but not many over the years.
neat way to make money. :) i think those are a type of skipper, but don't know what type.
We've seen a few praying mantises, but I suspect there are more than I've seen. At least I hope so.
I am bad at identifying what I see in the yard, but I think your photos are great and I enjoy seeing your butterflies.
Stay cool and have a great day!
I love the coneflowers, my butterflies love them too. Cool sighting of the praying mantis. Cute story and post. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!
Love that praying mantis. The cone flowers are magnificent. Really great shots of them. I never got paid for anything when I was young but my brother used to earn Nichols by rubbing Daddy's neck while we were driving.
Really nice shots! No Manti around here :-{ , but I used to play with them in the Toronto area when I was a kid.
I, too, have loads of bumble bees, but no honey bees. Of course, the tenant farmer of the field next to me liberally sprays his field with Roundup. When confronted, he told me not to worry - it "goes away". There is no "away". I digress. When I was a child, I had a praying mantis nest in a jar. It hatched millions (or so it seemed) of tiny baby mantis' and I let them loose in our garden. I've never forgotten it.
I don't know the name. We have lots of honey bees around here now that my son has become a beekeeper. He keeps going out and rescuing hives that other people want gone!
Your photos are amazing. I never knew the name of those Pearl Crescent Butterflies. We always just called them the fast little butterflies. You got pictures of them. Really nice Gail.
Ha ha, I use to collect grasshoppers but it was 10 for a penny. You had a better employer.
Nice to see the back up pollinators doing their job.
I've been wanting to plant flowers that bees love but I'm having a time finding any that have not been treated with toxic chemicals. And then I wonder if it's a good idea to attract them when others in the neighborhood have flowers that are treated with chemicals. When did planting bee-friendly flowers become such a struggle? Your pictures are fantastic!
Such a wonderful post with lovely images. It is sad how much the honey bees have declined. Breaks my heart.
cone flowers, so beautiful and a great attractor of many critters!!!
Beautiful photos! You do such a lovely job of capturing nature for us. Coming here is always a treat!
it worries me that honey bees are even rare where YOU live. Sheesh. Not good.
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