It's mantis season again!
Despite the fact that we crush the egg sacs of these large invasive insects they still proliferate, especially in the fall, and especially on the front porch. They feast on the many insects drawn to our porch lights, and I am always a bit fearful, stepping out in the dark of the early morning to feed Claudia. There might be a bug-eyed, serrated-armed, six-inch behemoth hanging over my head!
I found another scary insect in the garden this week, but I was actually pretty thrilled. I've been looking for "cow killers" since I heard that they were pretty active in the fall, and I'd never seen one. A cow killer is a velvet ant, and they get their unsettling moniker from the rumor that their stings are so painful that they can easily kill a cow. Well, that's unsubstantiated, but they are rated as having the fourth worst insect sting on the planet.
A velvet ant isn't an ant at all, but a type of wasp that resembles an ant. Males have wings, but females are wingless. Up close, you can see the fuzz that gives them their name:
I wasn't a bit worried taking these shots, although I did squirm a bit when watching
this video about velvet ant stings (jump ahead to 9:55 to get to the sting). I'll just have to be careful where I put my hands when I'm working there! This velvet ant female will wander, looking for a ground bee/wasp nest. She'll lay a single egg, which a bee larva will consume. Then it will incubate inside its body, parasitizing it. They're pretty interesting insects!
Although I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for velvet ants, I'm actually more worried about the goldfinches. They are decimating my sunflowers! See this female under the flower head in the middle? By this time of year, they've totally lost their fear of humans.
I want to split the seeds with them 50/50 (or even 75/25 in their favor), so I tape newspaper over some of the heads until the seeds mature. Then I can cut them down and harvest for next year.
Happy to see monarch butterfly caterpillars...
...and black eastern swallowtail caterpillars...
...in the garden this week! This bodes well for lots of butterflies next year. We still have quite a few fluttering around, although several of them look a bit worse for wear, with torn wings and faded colors.
Our hummingbirds are still here...
...but with overnight temperatures dipping into the 40s (!!!!!) this week, I expect that they'll be heading south soon. For now, they're absolutely devouring the flower nectar.
This is "summer's last gasp" for crickets and cicadas. I've found three types of tree crickets in the past few weeks!
I grew up being more familiar with the brown crickets that you'd find under overturned rocks, but tree crickets are just as common. You're probably really familiar with their
chirp, although you don't necessarily see them!
Geese are flying overhead...another sign of fall...
...and even Claudia seems more active, actually bringing us a vole this week! I think it's the first time in months that she's roused herself from the porch.
And so...many...turkeys. This is their really active time.
The corn will be ready in a couple of weeks, too! This ear was partially eaten by crows, but when the husk was peeled back, I saw what the rest will look like. I'll even turn the dried stalks into decorative bundles for the porch.
Pumpkins are coming along and I expect to start harvesting them in about three weeks.
In line with everything else right now, our apples are ripe...really ripe.
Although we had a fair amount of rain and moderate temperatures this year, we just don't have many apples. I don't expect to get more than 10 pounds from the entire tree. We have a lot of blue jays that peck holes, which are rapidly filled with and expanded by yellow jackets. I cleared all the lower branches of apples this morning, and got a grand total of two pounds. Just enough for a small apple crisp in an 8" x 8" pan. We'll take the ladder out this week and get the rest. Better luck next year!
Dahlias really come into their own in the fall. My favorite ones are blooming...
Pick them and more will grow. I love putting them in late-summer bouquets! The other colors I selected...orange, white, and purple...are great for fall too.
It's just a really wonderful time of year. Honestly, mid-September until Christmas is just the best, although the kittens don't like it when we close up the windows for the year. They spend quite a bit of time in front of our dining room screen door, "taking the air" like Victorian dandies.
For their benefit...and for fresh air circulation in the house...I still open the windows for about an hour in the morning, no matter what the outside temperature. The only time I leave the windows closed is when the humidity is near 100%. The floor actually becomes slick with moisture and it's pretty unpleasant. Thankfully, I think that season is nearly over. Welcome, fall!!!
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