"Khaaaaaaaaaaan!"

South Carolina hasn't been as humid as Indianapolis, but it's just as hot.  Last week, when some cool weather blew in, I felt too distracted to focus on my work.  I remembered one of my favorite things to do in Indianapolis - take my camera and sit on the edge of a flower bed, just observing insect behavior and getting a few shots.  It's incredibly relaxing and peaceful, and I'd often lose track of time.  I haven't done that yet in South Carolina, but the mild temperatures drew me outside.

It was a real treasure trove of activity (don't forget to click on pictures for larger view)!  I first found a picture-winged fly (Delphinia picta) on the front porch.  I've always called them 'anteater flies' because of their long snouts.  Don't they have beautiful wings?

I saw, too, my second green lacewing larva of the season, carting around a disguising load of fluff to help it surprise unsuspecting prey.  Without it, it looks a bit like those mind-controlling slugs in Star Trek: Wrath of Khan - the ceti eel larvae.  I was tickled to read that a retired entomologist for New Hampshire said of the larvae, "If they were the size of dogs, all humanity would be in trouble," referring to their famed ferocity.

Green lacewing larva:  link here
Wrath of Khan slug:  link here and here

Am I the only one who sees it?  :) 

A wasp, resting on a leaf:

 

Oh, how I love leafhoppers!  I know they're pests, but...

...aren't they beautiful?  Here's a striped one:

I was really pleased to get a shot of one excreting honeydew. 

Ants love to harvest this for food, since it's so sugar-rich...hence the name honeydew. 

A little beetle, buried in the lantana, gets some food of his own:

I was happy to see this little iridescent fly.  It's a long-legged fly of the Condylostylus family.  They're great to have in the garden, because they eat many pests.

A common bee...

...and a little 'sweat bee' in my daisies.  I've been stung by these little guys more times than I can count! 

Being close to water means we see a fair amount of dragonflies.  They're not easy to catch sitting still, though!

I loved watching this skipper butterfly:

They're rather shaggy for butterflies.  Look closely to see how 'furry' they are!

I spent some time looking around our flowering bushes, like the Rose of Sharon.

I actually prefer the fading flower, because it turns the most beautiful shade of light blue.

Look closer...there's a bee hiding in there!  Actually, the bee was dead - proboscis out and all.  I've read that wild animals, knowing that they're dying, often seek out a quiet, sheltered place to wait.  This seems to hold true for bees, too.

Look at those full pollen packs!

I also stumbled across a newly-dead cicada, who didn't mind a bit as I posed him for a few shots.

Those 3 red dots on the forehead are actually additional eyes called ocelli, which means little eyes in Latin.   If you like cicadas, you should watch this quick video (link HERE) that someone sent me.  It's amazing and gives you an even greater appreciation of these little guys! 

Keep an eye out the next time you're near some flowers or shrubbery - who knows what you'll spot!

Have a great week!  

Hydrangea Hideaway

The sun has come out at last!  It seemed like we alternated cloudy days and rainy days for weeks and weeks.  Truthfully, because of the rainy weather and the swarms of mosquitoes that seemed to come with it (including the Asian Tiger mosquito, who doesn't bother with the 'dark or dusk' rule of most mosquitoes and feels comfortable attacking at any time of day), I've been staying inside most of the time.  At the first sign of sun last week, however, we packed up and went to the South Carolina Botanical Garden.

Because of the near-constant shade at our property, I was naturally drawn to the shade gardens there.  One of my shade favorites, the hydrangea, was blooming in full force.

White hydrangeas...

Pink hydrangeas...

Blue hydrangeas...

And one of my favorites, oak leaf hydrangeas...

Look at those flowers!  Green and white is one of my favorite combinations, too.

The "non-ruffled" are still beautiful, though.

My blue hydrangeas never bloomed, probably because of overcast skies and too much rain.  I have high hopes for next year, though.

I'm still learning about how colorful shade gardens can be.

It's still strange to me to use leaves instead of flowers for impact.

Next year I'm going to fill in our bare shade patches with impatiens.  They're annuals, but they bloom all summer long and provide nice color.  If you're lucky, the leaves help out too!

Even though I'm laser-focused on shade, I couldn't help but admire the sun-lovers there.  Crepe myrtles are blooming all over the Upstate area, in pink, purple, and white.  They bloom all summer long and have lovely, smooth trunks.

Coneflowers are great too, and very hardy.

Where you have coneflowers, you have butterflies!  This yellow swallowtail butterfly is very common here.

 Butterflies also graced the aptly-named butterfly bush...here we have a black swallowtail.

I bet these plants were happy to finally see the sun!

This interesting plant's petals formed a kind of balloon when closed.

It's a kind of bellflower (campanula), I think.  Very unique!

Borga *loves* a walk in the park.  The more new friends, the better!

SCBG has a large lake lined with lily pads.  Someday I want to have a huge water garden, and these plants are at the top of my list.  The "dirt" on top is debris from the trees, brought down by the rain.

No self-respecting lake is without a few turtles.

This turtle was sunning himself, but most turtles were swimming close to shore.

Of course we saw lots of dragonflies...

...and a motley assortment of ducks.

Hooray for the sun!

I've been "clicking" but not really "knitting" or "stirring" much.  I've finally started a new knitting project, and hopefully I'll be whipping up a new recipe when more company comes in two weeks.

Have a great day!