Wordless Wednesday

Gone, but not forgotten

The Last of the Hummers

And everybody said " Hooray!"

 The lilacs are starting to brown off now, and there are less and less of these around

 The tongue is amazingly long, and accurate!

 The windflowers are starting to bloom. It will be interesting to see what they attract.

 See you guys next year!

More Bugs

When a guy finally starts to get caught up around the acreage, more time can be spent with photography. The white lilacs are fully out now which means that the opportunity for humming bird moth pictures will become limited shortly.

 It is difficult to get a head on shot. For some reason, they seem to prefer side shots.

The tiger swallow tails are all over the place!

 Hopefully, there will be some butterfly diversity shortly.

 Some of these guys are getting pretty beat up. I don't know whether it is due to the wind, rain, or old age.

This two toned lilac doesn't seem to attract insects the way the white one does.

Making Up for lost Blogging Time!

It's kind of interesting to watch this fellow grow his antlers. A few weeks ago he just had little bumps.

 It looks like he has not done growing yet. So far it looks like a 3X3, but will likely be bigger. How much bigger? Stay tuned for future episodes.

 The white lilacs are blooming and my friends the hummingbird moths are back. For more info see Link .

 There were actually four of these today, and as they are only 3/4 of an inch long, very hard to track and keep in focus.

They have a very long tongue for getting into where the nectar is.

We must have at least 50  Tiger swallowtails around the lilacs.

My friend the hunting spider is back, and was enjoying a meal in the sun.

And of course, the horses  ( and dog} are still hanging about.

Other than that, all is quiet on the acreage.
Happy summer everybody. Tomorrow will be one second shorter!

Another Quiet day

I had five of these dudes on the lilac bush today

 Almost the perfect shot, but alas, I missed the focus slightly.

 Buttercups are pretty in moderation, but does anybody know how to get rid of a field full of them? The horses won't eat them and they are starting to choke out the grass.

 The north facing lilac was full of activity. Lots of hummingbird moths and tiger swallowtails.

I've got to go and batten down the hatches. It feels like a big storm is brewing.

More Silly Bug Photos

With a tongue that long, he can get right down to the bottom. 1000th of a second will not quite stop the wings. I have never seen one of these just sitting on a flower. You might say, "He's just a hummin".

lest we forget, this guy is only about an inch long. He is quick and very hard to keep in focus.

Thoughtless Thursday

This is the second hummingbird moth that we've seen this year. It is very difficult to get a wing stoppage like I lucked into last year.

More info on Hummingbird moth   http://wildwestfarm.blogspot.ca/2011/06/hummingbird-moth.html

 Some going to seed

 Some still blooming. I just found out that busy bees do not like being photographed. No stings, but I was warned.

Hummingbird Moth

 This is a moth that can do anything that a hummingbird can do, hence the name. 1/1000 of a second shutter speed just barely stops the wings.

I found him dining on our white lilac bush. He  is somewhat like the bumble bee, with a large body and like the bumble bee, should theoretically not be able to fly. Tell that to the moth!

Hemaris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hemaris
Hemaris diffinis Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta

Hemaris is a Holarctic genus of sphinx moths, consisting of about 17 species living in the Holarctic^[1], four of which fly in North and South America, three fly in Europe.^[2] Their main host plants are herbs and shrubs of the Dipsacaceae (Teasel) and Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle) families. Moths in the Hemaris genus are collectively called Clearwing Moths or Hummingbird Moths in the US, and Bee Hawk-Moths inBritain.

Eggs are small, spherical, and pale glossy green in color.

[edit]Form

The larvae are small, cylindrical, and granulose. The granules often have small bristles. While most larvae are green and brown, many color forms exist. All have a distinctive pale dorso-lateral longitudinal stripe from head to horn.

Pupae are enclosed in a loosely spun cocoon, and are glossy in most species. There is a prominent tubercle, or hook, alongside each eye. The cremaster is large, and flattened.

The imagos, or adults, are small, diurnal moths that resemble bumblebees in shape. They are often mistaken for hummingbirds, which is why their common name is hummingbird 

moths. 

The forewings have hyalineareas or are fully scaled. The species with hyaline areas are initially with covered scales, but these are shed during their first flight. The antennae are strongly clubbed in both sexes, with a small recurved hook at the end. The abdomen ends in a large fan-tail of setae which resembles a lobster tail.

The genitalia of the male are asymmetrical, having the uncus divided and the two lobes subequal, heavily sclerotized with a rounded apex. The ostium bursae of the female is angled to the left.

[edit]

So, now you know!