...well, beauty is rather subjective. I'm sure another Milkweed Stem Weevil could be attracted to this one here.
Monarch butterfly caterpillars are the usual residents of milkweed city, since the plants are their favorite food. However, this large stand of plants has attracted many different tenants...
...like this pretty black Virginia Ctenucha Moth. I never realized that some moths are so active during the day.
This gorgeous Garden Spider was quite small, but they can get really large.
Here are two more monarch cats, munching away....
.....so they can grow beyond their current teeny size.
What's this? A drag race?
I never noticed this pretty butterfly before!
Turns out it's a Red Admiral.
This Daddy Long Legs looks small on the large milkweed leaves...
....but the Red Milkweed Beetle is easy to spot!
This sleek pollinator is a Bald Faced Hornet...
...and my froggie friend the Spring Peeper enjoys the sturdy leaves, cover, and insect buffet!
This exquisite Crab Spider has spots that actually match the blooms! Excellent camo!
A less attractive resident is this Robber Fly...perhaps he represents the "criminal element"of milkweed city.
Along with plenty of ants, milkweed city hosts the Banded Longhorn as well...
.....along with a spider I wasn't able to ID (yet...it becomes a kind of obsession with me :) I'll edit in whatever I find out later. Update 10/20/12: this is a Long-Jawed Orb Weaver, more info here and here ...better late than never, eh?
But it's the well-known "celebrity" of milkweed city, the Monarch butterfly, who's the star of the show (and the reason I've happily let this stand of milkweed get so huge). They aren't always too easy to photograph clearly, and I followed this one a long time to try and get a shot with the wings open. This was as good as I got....
.....most were near-misses like this (see it taking flight in the upper right-hand corner?)
They're even more dizzying in their "holding patterns" above the city...
....looking for a place to land.
11 comments:
What a great post, Lisa, especially as I had not known who the red milkweed beetle was, though I had a photo of one in my latest post. The spring peeper is gorgeous, as is the spider--I'm glad there's some other woman besides me who finds some spiders cute! And it's always a treat for me to see frogs--even though I do the frog & toad survey each spring, it's in the dark by sound, and the only froggies I see in my backyard are American toads. Also love the drag race shot! Ha! Thanks for taking me to Milkweed City with you. :)
Thank you! Honestly I find all the bugs and creatures in my yard to be beautiful. Milkweed City has been exceptionally entertaining and full of photo-ops :)
Those catepillars are so pretty. What kind of butterfly does it turn into. Lot's of neat critters!
They turn into Monarch butterflies, the orange-and-black ones in the last 3 pics. I was very excited to see so many different bugs and such, I was just trying to photograph the monarchs when I saw them :)
Amazing!
I had one of those white spiders in my garden recently and it was creepy.
Thank you! I'm a little surprised that you find the crab spider creepy, since it isn't too big or hairy. They certainly do have a "black widow-esque" sleekness about them, and I feel bad for my pollinators (since that's what they are stalking). But since they've ALL been around longer than I have, I like to observe the natural "Clash Of The Titans" as it is :)
I absolutely loved my tour of Milkweed City and I hope I get to visit again next year!
I hope I have my own Milkweed City in a few seasons, then you can tour my city and we can compare residents. :)
v.
A veritable plethora of bugs. Ok ok. I'm getting on the beautiful bug program and left the milkweed and a few other selected weeds alone in my gardens for their benefit this year. :)
V-Thank you! I'd love it if we could compare residents next year, it would be really cool to see the different bugs enjoying milkweed in your climate.
Troutbirder-Hooray! I'm glad to hear that you're "coming around"...you'll be glad you did! :)
Mom this post rocks! I love all the killer insect life!
Thank you! Me too :)
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