Common Ladybug
We finally released the ladybugs from their "ladybug lantern" cells. It was neat for Libby (and us) to watch them crawl all over our hands before flying away:
Ladybugs
For Libby's first birthday party, which had a ladybug theme, Shannon had the foresight to order live ladybugs for the event. Unfortunately the company would not ship them for the party because temperatures were below freezing (and they would have died in transit).
Now that the weather has warmed up the company has shipped them, and since their arrival two days ago Libby has been fascinated with the little bugs:
Yellow Striped Garden Spider
Found this Yellow Garden Spider on one of the bushes we recently transplanted to the back of the house:
As best I can tell this spider is in the genus of Argiope, species of Aurantia. Regardless of it's menacing appearance it's venom is not deadly: "the responses to the necrotic envenomations from these species are generally mild, although victims may exhibit localized distress." *
Like other orb-weavers (family Araneidae), this species has three claws per foot (one more than most spiders). Orb-weavers use this third claw to help handle the threads while spinning. When disturbed, the spider might first vibrate the web to try to make its body look bigger, but if that fails to deter a predator she will drop to the ground and hide. *
Corn Earworm
During the summer we buy almost all of our produce at the weekly farmers market. We do this for many reasons, but mostly because everything tastes so much better. Corn in particular is stellar (though given that we live in Indiana that probably goes without saying).
When I was shucking the corn from this week's trip to the market I found another little critter that seemed to enjoy eating the corn as much as we do (click for bigger pic):
It's called a Corn Earworm (aka Helicoverpa zea). This is just the larva - eventually this little guy will grow into a large moth.
Honey Bee in the Garden
I don't know why, but I really enjoy looking at pictures of insects. The above picture is from some plants on the side of our house, but you can find much better invertebrate photography out there (i.e. Dope on the Slope).
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