It was a bit cold, cloudy and rainy over the weekend, so I wasn’t expecting to find any insects. But there it was.
A praying mantis, bold as can be.
Isn’t it interesting how the pink shades on its thorax match the pink flower buds of the fairy duster plant it’s resting on?
The cold weather was probably making it sluggish, because it did not move when I ran to get my camera or the whole time I was taking photographs.
Perhaps it is wishing for warmer days.
Even after all these years of recording insects in our yard, it is still possible to discover a few new ones.
Take last week. I found this tiny caterpillar feeding on a Thurber’s cotton leaf.
(I’m afraid the photograph is a bit blurry because it was a windy day.)
With a little research I found out it is the larva of the cotton leaf perforator moth, Bucculatrix thurberiella. The youngest caterpillars mine the leaves on the inside, creating tiny tunnels. When they get larger, they stay on the surface chewing out window panes of leaf tissue.
You can see photographs of the adult moth at Discover Life.
Am I worried about this caterpillar feeding on my plant?
Well, no. First of all the caterpillar is very small, and the plant is very big. Secondly, it is winter and the cotton plant is losing its leaves anyway. What difference does it make if a caterpillar takes a few bites before the leaf falls off?
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This is what the Thurber’s cotton plant looked like earlier in the year:
You can see more at this related post about Thurber’s cotton.
Going over my photographs from the last 12 months, I realized I took many fewer shots of insects than in years past. It was still difficult, however, to limit the selection of favorites to just 10.
Blue seems to be the color of choice around ponds and streams.
Blue mixed with green, that is.
These photographs were taken in the company of some of my favorite people.
A flower fly feeds on the nectar of Robin’s Plantain, I believe.
This skipper butterfly sips nectar from a clover flower.
A tattered wood nymph rests on a leaf.
This queen butterfly just emerged from its chrysalis.
Not to be outdone, here’s a monarch caterpillar feeding on rush milkweed.
What’s this ant doing on this leaf? Probably searching for nectar or honeydew.
Exoskeleton of a cicada nymph clings to the trunk of a tree.
That wraps up Bug of the Week for 2016.
Wishing you all a very happy New Year!
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.
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