Pictures Of The Week 3

Last year a pair of barn swallows built a nest over our front door. (You can see video of them building the nest HERE and video of them feeding the babies HERE). Last week they showed back up and are doing a little remodeling. In the picture on the right, the darker part of the nest at the top is what they're adding on. I'll keep you posted on any eggs and fledglings. Last year I think all five fledglings made it out of the nest. Hopefully we'll have the same outcome this year. UPDATE: I just posted a third picture that shows how much they've added to the nest just this week. I assume they put a new "floor" in the nest, but I'll check it when they're not around.

I planted milkweed (specifically Butterfly Milkweed or Butterfly Weed -- Asclepias tuberosa) 2 or 3 years ago hoping to attract some Monarch butterflies. Milkweed is the only plant Monarchs will lay their eggs on, and the caterpillars eat the plants once they hatch. This week we finally found some Monarch caterpillars. Unfortunately I didn't realize how quickly wasps would take them. Overnight about ten of the caterpillars disappeared. I'm assuming it wasn't birds that got them, since milkweed contains a toxin that also makes the caterpillars toxic to birds. The one pictured is the only one left, and I now have the plant it's on covered by a protective mesh enclosure. I'll move any other caterpillars I find to this protected plant. You can see a short video of him eating HERE.

Ladybeetles (ladybugs, ladybirds) go through a metamorphosis much like butterflies do. Their larvae look nothing like the adults (there's a photo of a ladybeetle larva shedding its skin towards the bottom of the Pictures of the Week Page 1). When the larvae are ready to change into adults, they attach themselves to a plant and form a pupa - like a moth caterpillar forms a cocoon or a butterfly caterpillar forms a chrysalis. Inside the pupa it goes through a drastic change and emerges as the winged, spotted ladybeetle we're used to seeing. Both the larvae and the adult ladybeetles are beneficial insects in the garden. They're voracious predators of aphids and other pests.

Our Lamb's Ear is in bloom now, and it really attracts honey bees and bumble bees. The two photos on the left are of honey bees. In the far left photo, you can see the tongue of the honey bee getting pollen. The photo on the right is of a bumble bee. The yellow patch on its leg is the pollen it's collecting to take back to its nest. Honey bees also store pollen on their legs like this to take back to the hive. Through this process of collecting pollen, bees help flowers, plants, and trees reproduce. Without them there wouldn't be nearly as many fruits and vegetables at your grocery store, not to mention how much more expensive they would be. It's because of this huge role bees play in our agricultural needs that scientists are especially concerned about the drastic decline in bee populations in the United States. The overuse of pesticides, both in farming and suburban settings, is considered a key factor in the decline.

These are male and female American Goldfinches. The male has the black mark on the top of his head. Females aren't as brightly colored as the males, although you can't tell from this picture. In the winter months their color turns to a very dull yellow, almost gray, and they really don't stand out at all. This is a feeder designed specifically for goldfinches. It holds nyjer seed, also called thistle seed. Goldfinches have to hang upside down to reach the food ports. For some reason, the house finches can't do this -- in fact, we've never seen another bird that can eat from this feeder. When we first got this feeder, I set up my camera to see if other finches would be able to eat from it. You can watch what I captured HERE.

This is part of toads' (and other amphibians) mating ritual known as amplexus. The male climbs onto the female, latches on, and basically waits for her to release her eggs. When you click on the photo for a larger view, you can see how deeply embedded his front feet are in the female's side. We saw these two like this for two nights, and the female seemed oblivious to her extra baggage. She was still hopping around, eating, chasing insects, etc.... When she's ready, she'll go to water and release her eggs, at which point the male will fertilize them. Multiple males can latch onto the female in amplexus, and all the males can fertilize the eggs. We never found egg strands in any of our shallow pools. You can watch video of these toads in amplexus (and the female's disinterest) HERE.

This is a male Common Green Darner dragonfly basking on a stake. We're lucky to have several types of dragonflies that patrol our yard looking for insects. They're some of the best predators of mosquitoes, so we'll take as many dragonflies as we can get. I suspect we have so many because there are lakes in our neighborhood, and dragonflies lay eggs on aquatic plants or directly in the water.

These are the most destructive insects I've found in our yard. They're Lace Bugs (not to be confused with the beneficial Lacewings). The picture on the left is one adult; the picture on the right has two adults and a mass of nymphs (immature insects). I planted several New England Asters this year, and for the past few weeks they've been infested with these pests. The adults lay numerous eggs on the plant, and the leaves -- usually the underside of leaves -- will be covered with the nymphs. Both adults and nymphs suck the juices out of the leaves until they turn yellow and the plant dies. It's the first year we've had these insects, so either they were drawn to the plants or they were on the plants/soil when I bought them. There are several kinds of Lace Bugs -- these are Chrysanthemum Lace Bugs which feed primarily on plants in the Daisy family, which Asters are. For some reason, none of our usual beneficial insects (green lacewings, ladybeetles) have laid eggs on these plants to help with controlling the Lace Bugs -- like they do on milkweed plants when there's an aphid infestation. I'll probably try buying some ladybeetles and putting them on the infested plants, because I'm tired of squishing Lace Bugs.

Assassin bugs lie in wait for unsuspecting insects to get too close. Then they pierce them with their beaks, paralyze them, and suck the juices out of them. The picture on the right is a close-up of the beak, which is kept folded underneath the head. There are lots of different kinds of assassin bugs, and they can look quite different from each other. They're generally considered beneficial insects because they keep garden pests under control, but they're not picky about what they'll eat. So they'll also eat caterpillars and other insects you might want around. I think the trade-off still works in your favor. I found a few dead flies underneath this one -- it dropped what was left of a fly just before I took these photos.

This is a Black Swallowtail caterpillar in what's known as a "J-curve". After eating for about 2 weeks, the caterpillar assumes this position right before pupating, or forming its chrysalis. It attaches itself to a branch or other surface with a silk thread, which you can see better in the close-up photo in the middle. It will stay in this position for about 24 hours, and the pupation process takes less than 30 minutes. During pupation, the caterpillar sheds its outer skin for the last time, revealing the chrysalis, which then hardens. The picture on the right shows a J-curve and a chrysalis (which can be green, brown, or black) next to each other in a protective enclosure. You can watch videos of Black Swallowtail caterpillars pupating HERE and HERE.

Lantana is one of the few non-natives we'll plant (there are some native species in Florida and Texas, but they are not what's pictured above). It's not invasive in Tennessee; in fact, in our USDA Zone 7, it's almost always an annual because our winter temperatures kill it. Occasionally one or two will come back the following summer. It doesn't need any more water than native plants, and it's a huge favorite of butterflies for its nectar. Lantana is an invasive species in many other countries, as well as some of the southernmost U.S. states where winters aren't cold enough to kill it.

This is a juvenile five-lined skink. When they're still young they have this brilliant blue tail that will change to match their body color as they get older. The stripes on their body often fade with age also. If a predator grabs them by the tail, it breaks off and twitches violently, even hopping off the ground (I witnessed this once on our patio). This distracts the predator (thinking they've caught something) long enough for the skink to escape. When the adults are in mating season their heads turn orange. You can watch a video of skinks in our yard HERE.

Sometimes when it's dark I like to take a flashlight through the yard and see what's going on. Usually I find some kind of creature I don't usually see in the daytime, like this cartoonish looking insect. It's a Leafhopper nymph (an immature insect). I see adult Leafhoppers regularly on plants, but this was the first time I'd seen the nymph form. Leafhoppers suck juices from plants, which can cause leaves to turn yellow. Although they're common in our yard, I've never noticed enough damage to worry about.

This may be the first time this toad has set foot on land. About one month ago we found about forty or fifty tadpoles in our small fountain/pond. They've been growing slowly, but some are more developed than others. Several have legs now, but the one in the photo above is the first one we've seen that has lost its tail and looks fully developed. I saw him climb out of the fountain this morning. I had no idea they were this small when they came out of the water -- that's a dime it's sitting on. You can see a video of the tadpoles the first day we saw them HERE.

Last Sunday, the Gulf Fritillary Butterfly on the left deposited an egg on a Passion Flower (passionvine, maypop) in my yard. I planted a few Passion Flowers this spring just for this reason. It's the host plant for Gulf Fritillaries, the only plant on which it will deposit eggs, and then the caterpillars eat the plant. The second photo shows a close up of the egg just moments after it was laid (you can see the butterfly put deposit this egg in THIS video). On Wednesday the caterpillar had already hatched. In the third photo you can see the newly hatched caterpillar eating its shell, which is a common behavior with butterflies. The last picture is from Saturday of another caterpillar that hatched the same day, and you can see how much it's grown (that's what's left of its egg next to the chewed part). I've found about six Gulf Fritillary caterpillars so far. Since this is the first year we've had Passion Flowers, it's the first year we've ever had Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. I'm hoping I'll get to see them forming a chrysalis and emerging from it.

This was the first time I had ever seen this type of dragonfly. It's a female Eastern Amberwing. The males' wings are amber-colored, and the females' wings are clear. It's the shortest dragonfly I've seen, and it's body is thicker than any of the other dragonflies I've seen in our yard. It's reported that in the southern U.S. the Eastern Amberwings have more markings on their wings than they do in the northern U.S.

This is the nymph (immature insect) of a Leaf-Footed Bug. Technically, only insects that have mouthparts that pierce and suck juices out of plants or other animals are "true bugs". Aphids, Stink Bugs, and Assassin Bugs are also in this group. CORRECTION: I originally wrote that Leaf-Footed Bugs are predators of other insects. This is incorrect. They are plant eaters (suckers, really) that often target fruit. Because of this they are considered by many to be pests, especially for their damage to crops. I don't have any fruiting plants to speak of in my yard, so they've never been a problem for me.

When a monarch caterpillar is ready to pupate, it usually leaves its host plant and finds another location where it attaches its hind end to a leaf, branch, or other surface and hangs upside down in what's called a "J-curve". In this position it forms a chrysalis, which it will stay in while it transforms into a butterfly. Out of about six monarch caterpillars I found on our milkweed last month, this was the only one I found in its final location. It had moved to a plant right next to the milkweed it was eating. Unfortunately, it died during the metamorphosis. Apparently this happens a lot, but the large number of eggs most butterflies lay helps offset the high mortality rate. The photo below shows the chrysalis just beginning to form, but that's as far as the caterpillar made it.