Category: insects

One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure

August 20th, 2019

Rumor has it that Washington, D.C. was built on a swamp. This is, in fact, a myth. I assume the weather here helps perpetuate the falsehood. D.C. summers are hot, humid, and mosquito-filled.

Mosquitoes seem like they are good-for-nothing, don’t they? Yet little on earth fits that category. Mosquitoes, which I see as nothing but the pestilential spreaders of itchy spots, are seen as tasty treats by others.

Bats, birds, fish, frogs, turtles, and dragonflies are all examples of creatures who dine on mosquitoes. Today I am going to focus on dragonflies – agile predators who love a good mosquito-filled meal.

There are many kinds of dragonflies, but the ones I have been seeing with the most frequency this summer are blue dashers. Blue dashers are small – about one inch long. Even so, they are quite easy to see. Blue dashers are a beautiful, eye-catching, iridescent-blue color. And blue dashers will let you get a good look at them; they often perch and stay still for a while.

I love it when dragonflies visit my garden. They are such fun to watch! Dragonflies have four wings, which make them powerful flyers. Their fancy flight-work is impressive indeed. Have you ever seen a dragonfly hover like a helicopter?

I have three more links about dragonflies to share with you today:

The first is a fifteen-minute video from National Geographic called The Secret World of Dragonflies, which delves into the lives of these insects quite thoroughly. I found it riveting!

The second is an article from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute called
Smithsonian Scientists Unlock the Mystery of Dragonfly Migration.

And finally, here is a short, informative guide to some common-in-this-area dragonflies from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Enjoy!

XOXO,
Bernice
Turning Frowns Upside Down

August 13th, 2019

The dog days of summer are upon us, and I confess I have been feeling crabby. I’m sick of the heat and I am sick-to-death of bug bites. I itch all over. Bah!

I grumbled my various complaints to myself as I walked down Massachusetts Avenue the other day. The Capitol building was to my right, Union Station was to my left. There were too many cars about, and they were making loud noises and foul smells.

I was not happy, folks!

And then, to my surprise, I came upon a patch of Black-Eyed Susans. It was delightful and turned my frown upside down. To make matters even better, there were bees flitting this way and that, busily pollenating. I love black-eyed susans – this native flower is the best part of late summer. And I ADORE bees. I worry about bees a lot, so it was marvelous to see so many about.

Hector and I recently decided to practice expressing gratitude on a daily basis and so I stopped to say my thanks to the flowers and the insects.

“Thank you, black-eyed susans, for sharing your beauty with me. Thank you, bees, for pollenating so industriously – no one knows what we would do without you. And thank you, both of you, for cheering me up!”

XOXO,
Bernice
Flutter On

July 16th, 2019

My muses informed me that they LOVE BUTTERFLIES and so I will write about them again this week. I find it is best to keep one’s muses well-pleased.

I went to visit my Great-Aunt Mimi again. I am always welcome at her place. We decided to sit in her milkweed patch. Mimi has planted a lot of a type of milkweed called butterfly weed and it is in full bloom.

The plant has been put in the garden specifically for monarchs to eat during their caterpillar stage of life, but many types of butterflies are attracted to the beautiful blooms.

The day was sunny and hot and there were a lot of butterflies fluttering about. Most of them were Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, which I find particularly beautiful. I love the bit of blue on their lower backs – so fancy! I asked Mimi what she had planted to attract that specific insect to her garden.

“They’re here to drink the nectar from a lot of different flowers, but I think the tulip tree next door is probably a favorite egg-laying spot for them,” Mimi said, pointing to a large tree in her neighbor’s garden.

The butterflies flew from bloom to bloom, filling their tummies with good eats. Mimi and I admired their industriousness while we lazed away in the sun.
Float Like a Butterfly

July 9th, 2019

My Great-Aunt Mimi has a passion for butterflies and has an absolutely divine butterfly garden. I went to visit Mimi over the weekend and there seemed to be hundreds of butterflies out that day, flitting from flower to flower in the hot sunshine.

Mimi has chosen the plants in her garden with care. She prefers native plants that support the butterfly population.

One such butterfly/plant duo is the spicebush and the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. Spicebush swallowtail butterfly larvae eat the leaves of the spicebush, so where you find one, you may very well find the other. There was a large crowd of the inky-black butterflies in Mimi’s garden when I was there.

Mimi and I spent the whole day in the garden. We weeded, we watered, and we talked, but mainly we relaxed and enjoyed the spectacle of all the beautiful butterflies who come to stay every year in my wonderful Aunt Mimi’s garden.
Ava Sees a Firefly

June 11th, 2019

The first official day of summer may not be for another ten days, but as far as I am concerned, once the fireflies start twinkling, summer in D.C. is well underway.

I went to my assistant’s house to check in with her regarding some illustrations she was very late completing for me (tsk tsk). We talked shop for a while and then NuNu told me she had to take her puppy, an eight-month-old Scottish Terrier named Ava, outside.

Auntie NuNu and I noticed the soft green glow of fireflies as soon as we got out the door, but at first Ava was too busy sniffing the ground for an acceptable place to do her business to notice the insects. Then the gentle green glow of a lightening bug hovering just in front of the little dog’s nose caught her attention.

Ava sat on the grass and stayed uncharacteristically still. She monitored the dark space in front of her nose with total focus. A few seconds later a firefly lit up from where it had flown to – about four feet away. Ava seemed mesmerized. I don’t think I have ever seen anything cuter in my entire life.

Do you have fireflies where you live?

XOXO,
Bernice