Year: 2013 (Page 38 of 59)

Bug of the Week: Moth Worth a Second Look

May 8, 2013 / Roberta / 0 Comments

Little brown moths tend to get overlooked.

For example, this one visiting a flower.

Take a little closer look. In the sun the scales on its wings were shining gold.

Check the left wing. When the light was just right, this little “brown” moth was wearing brilliant rainbows of color.

Maybe it was worth a second look after all.

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Interested in moths? National Moth Week (July 20 – July 28, 2013) is a great way to participate in citizen science and celebrate moths.

Go see if there is an event near you. The Kids’ Page has a free coloring book to download.

May 7, 2013 / Roberta / 0 Comments

The plants that produce these are blossoming right now, so I don’t have any photographs of the seeds.

Fortunately I found a photograph online by Steve Hurst @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database.

Please leave a comment if you recognize these mystery seeds.

Edit:Â the answer is now posted.

May 7, 2013 / Roberta / 0 Comments

Our oddly bumpy mystery seeds from last week were from a vine in the bean genus Phaseolus.

Here in the Southwest, there are a number of native vines in the genus Phaseolus that are related to the tepary bean, Phaseolus acutifolius var. tenuifolius.

They all have lovely pink flowers that look alike.

They all have trifoliate leaves that can be lobed during part of the season,

or look more smoothly rounded.

This particular plant had a pair of small spines behind the center leaflet.

As with their other beany relatives, the seeds are produced in small pods.

It appears that the taxonomy of this group is still being worked out.

So, it appears that the plant that we found growing in our yard is still a bit of a mystery.

Do you know what species of Phaseolus this is?

Note:Â The common green bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is also native to the U.S.