NATURE NOTES: October 2013

We were surprised to find this Painted Lady butterfly still out and about this late in the year.

Even the underwings of the Painted Lady are striking.

The Common Milkweed seeds are ready to parchute off and provide new plants for next years butterflies.

Only the Showy Goldenrod and the purple New England Asters are left blooming on our prairie. We have had our first frosts the last two nights.

CATERPILLARS OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Not sure about this species-perhaps Black Arches-guide books not good enough on this one but it is striking.

White-lined Sphinx or "hummingbird moth". See the caterpillar below.

White-lined Sphinx caterpillar. Almost as large as my little finger. To view more of our nature photos go up and to the right and click on October 2013 or any other month desire in our archives.

Another member of the Sphinx moth family. Watched this one eat a leaf in less than two minutes.

Not sure of species on this spiked or branched caterpillar. Several groups of butterfly larvae have spikes-Frittilaries and Checkerspots included.

Monarch caterpillar on Common Milkweed. Monarch were way down in numbers this year.

Milkweed Tiger moth-not many this year , had hundreds last year.

Tent caterpillars come in several species and were not as common this year as in 2012.

Woollybears are very common right now. They develop into a rather dull gray moth.

THE LAST PRAIRIE BLOOMS PROVIDE POLLEN & NECTAR FOR MANY INTERESTING INSECTS

Our prairie is producing the last of this years blooms. The yellow Stiff Goldenrod and the purple New England Asters are the most common right now. Both flowers provide a last supper for many insects and bees. The most common insect on our flowers right now are actually flies that imitate bees with there stripes and color patterns. These flies that look like bees are called flower flies-I prefer to call them bee flies.

A second species of fly that imitates the bee family. This species is called a Drone fly.

A third species of bee or flower fly on a New England Aster.

White-lined Sphinx moth gathering nectar. Shot this photo at 1/1000 of a second and it still did not totally eliminate the blur from the motion of its wings.

Spotted Cucumber bug on New England Aster.

Hornet on Stiff Goldenrod

Wasp gather pollen from Stiff Goldenrod. TO SEE MORE OF OUR NATURE PHOTOS GO UP AND TO THE RIGHT AND CLICK ON OCTOBER 2013 OR ANY OTHER MONTH DESIRED.

Bumble bee on New England Aster

This bumble bee is almost buried in the flower to get at the pollen

My granddaughter found this dead cicada in an alley in Spring Valley. This is the insect that makes the loud buzzing sound from the tree tops on hot days.