Pictures Of The Week 6

In all the years we've been at this house, and of the hundreds of toads we've seen, this is the first time I've seen one with its vocal sac inflated. It was at the edge of our fountain tonight, making its mating call, which can be really loud and last a very long time. I think it was trying to woo what I believe is a female toad in the photo on the right, who was taking a dip in the water. I think these are Fowler's Toads. I've read lots of different explanations on how to distinguish Fowler's Toads from American Toads, and one observation was that Fowler's Toads usually have a white stripe down the middle of their backs. The fountain has attracted toads and leopard frogs, and I think the sound of running water helps draw them to it.

The toads and frogs in our yard have been really loud this past month. Last weekend I was working in the yard when I heard someone "chirping" near the house, and I followed the sound until I found this green tree frog in the flexible downspout that directs water into one of our rain barrels. The picture on the right shows you where he was. I have a flip-out diverter attached to the gutter, but it doesn't extend out far enough to let the water fall into the barrel, so I had to attach the flexible downspout. I guess it turned out to be a safe place for this frog to hang out during the day.

If you've ever worked in a flowerbed you've probably found some of these. This is a moth cocoon, or pupa, similar to a butterfly's chrysalis. I think this is the cocoon of a type of Sphinx moth, but I've seen cocoons of other moths that look similar. This one is a little over an inch long. I have yet to see a moth caterpillar form its cocoon or see a moth emerge from its cocoon (eclose), but I'm hoping to capture that on video one day. Unfortunately the animal world doesn't work around my schedule.

When we get lots of rain these mushrooms pop up in the mulch, sometimes by the hundreds. They're very tiny, usually one to two inches tall. In this photo they remind me of jellyfish floating in the ocean. Mushrooms help break down organic material and return nutrients to the soil. I believe the mushrooms in this photo are Coprinus impatiens.

Our Pink Swamp Milkweed is in full bloom right now. I planted it so Monarch butterflies could lay eggs on it, but it's attracted lots of other animals too. Bumblebees, lady beetles, and honey bees like the one pictured above are constant visitors. Because it's a milkweed plant it regularly has aphids covering it, which in turn attracts aphid predators like lacewings and syrphid flies.

I found these Lady Beetles mating on one of our fennel plants. They were easy to spot because of their color. I believe this type is Coleomegilla maculata, which is known as the Spotted Lady Beetle or the Pink Spotted Lady Beetle. It's more elongated than most of the Lady Beetles I see in our yard and is a great insect to have in your garden because it (and its larvae) eat many common pests.

These are the flowers of the Button Bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), and they're supposed to attract butterflies. I planted it last year, and this is the first time it's bloomed, so we'll have to wait and see. The sphere of the fully-bloomed flower is about the diameter of a quarter. It's also a host plant for many types of moths, including Sphinx Moths. Button Bush (sometimes written as Buttonbush) is native to North America. It likes wet areas, so it's doing well in a small "wetland" flowerbed I created in an area on one side of our yard that used to have standing water for long periods after heavy rains. I dug up all the sod and clay, filled it with some topsoil and mulch, and planted water-loving native plants like this.

Caterpillars look like they have many pairs of legs, but because they're insects they really have only six legs. These are called true legs (top right photo), and they're the legs with claws close to the head. These will be the butterfly's legs after metamorphosis. The other pairs of legs are called prolegs (bottom right photo) and will disappear during metamorphosis. As you can see, they help the caterpillar hang on to plants and also help the caterpillar move from place to place. This is the caterpillar of an Eastern Black Swallowtail. It's eating fennel, one of its many host plants.

The photo on the left shows Small Milkweed Bugs, and the photo on the right shows Large Milkweed Bugs. They were both on a Pink Swamp Milkweed plant. Their markings are pretty similar, but you can see a difference. The color varies from orangish to red. I've seen lots of disagreement on the Internet over just how destructive these two insects are to milkweed plants. They feed on the seeds and "tissue", but I've never noticed any significant damage to the plants, especially compared to what aphids do to the milkweed. In areas where milkweed could grow out of control, insects like these help keep it in check. Just like Monarch caterpillars and butterflies, Milkweed Bugs are toxic to predators because they ingest toxin from the milkweed plants.

This is a "dark form" female of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail enjoying the flowers of a Buttonbush. Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are more commonly seen in their yellow form (see small photo below), and reportedly the males are always yellow. The females can be either yellow or dark. It's easy to confuse this dark form with the Black Swallowtail. Each year when I first see one or the other I have to go back to my books or the Internet to re-educate myself on how to tell them apart. In the top left photo you can see the "tiger stripes" that are prominent on the yellow form. As always, you can click on the photos for larger images.

Two weeks ago my picture of the week was of mating Small Milkweed Bugs and Large Milkweed Bugs. It looks like they were successful. These are the nymphs, or immature insects. They're all over our Pink Swamp Milkweed plant. On the left and in the middle the nymphs are checking out the seed pods and seeds, which is what they eat. On the right you can see one of the nymphs shedding its exoskeleton. I'm not sure whether these are nymphs of the Small or Large Milkweed Bugs. The picture on the left probably includes both.

This is the flower of the Malviscus, a bush native to the Southeast United States. It is covered with these red blooms in the fall, just in time for the southward migration of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds. Right now these hummingbirds are regularly visiting the flowers, but surprisingly they don't feed at the stamen protruding from the petals. Instead they stick their tongues into the lower part of the flower where the stamen originates. Some of the common names of this plant are Turk's Cap and Wax Mallow. The variety we have is Malvaviscus drummondii. It hasn't reached full maturity yet, but I estimate it will be about 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall. There's a picture of the fruit it produces in Photo Gallery 20. I just read that the fruit is edible -- I'll try the next one I come across.

I believe this is a Blinded Sphinx Moth. It sat in the same spot on the wall under our patio light for two days. I suspect it had reached the end of its very short lifespan. Its hindwings, which are hidden from view, have a large eyespot on them. I probably could have spread the wings out for a better photo, but I try to leave wildlife alone. They're not that interested in my website.