This is a TDB Special Report and I'm your faithful doggie commentator Chester L. W. Spaniel.
Today is Flower Friday. But I also have some great bugs and creepy crawlies to show you!
First up: a woolly bear caterpillar.
I looked up some information about woolly bears. Did you know that they can freeze solid through the entire winter? In Spring they pupate and then become moths.
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| Amazing! |
Here is a tussock moth caterpillar.
If you thought only monarch butterfly caterpillars feed on milkweed plants, guess again. These guys eat it too! Take a look at the big hole this one made in a milkweed leaf!
Too bad we haven't seen any monarch caterpillars yet.
Look out!
Here come the stinkbugs! They're looking for a place to hide for the winter, and love to get into your house any way they can. Doggies beware! I have had numerous epic battles with stinkbugs, and know for a fact, they're called stinkbugs for a reason.
But that doesn't stop me from trying!
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| A-hah! There's another one! |
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| Blah blah blah! Yucky! Ptooey! |
SPIDER ALERT! SPIDER ALERT! SPIDER ALERT! SPIDER ALERT! SPIDER ALERT!
The end of summer is spider time here in WNY! As long time readers will know, I live in a house full of science geeks. We all like spiders and think they're fascinating.
So without further ado, I'm going to show you a few interesting spiders we found in the garden today. Here's a beautiful daddy long legs. I found out that these spiders actually do not have venom, and they eat lots of different things. They're more closely related to scorpions than to regular spiders, and they've been around for as long as 305 million years!
So without further ado, I'm going to show you a few interesting spiders we found in the garden today. Here's a beautiful daddy long legs. I found out that these spiders actually do not have venom, and they eat lots of different things. They're more closely related to scorpions than to regular spiders, and they've been around for as long as 305 million years!
Here's a slender spider that showed up on the side of the house. (I almost caught that one!)
And we finally found an elegant orb weaver spider! She's a bit small for this time of year, but hopefully she'll catch lots of annoying flies and mosquitoes and get much fatter before winter.
Don't worry. This is our last spider picture. Here's our old funnel web spider friend who built his web between the milkweed pods. Today he's feasting on a fly.
Here's a link to web site (haha! A web site! hahaha!) about spiders in NY if you want to know more:
spiders R us
OK. Enough spiders! And now it's time for the flower section of my report.
And we finally found an elegant orb weaver spider! She's a bit small for this time of year, but hopefully she'll catch lots of annoying flies and mosquitoes and get much fatter before winter.
Don't worry. This is our last spider picture. Here's our old funnel web spider friend who built his web between the milkweed pods. Today he's feasting on a fly.
Here's a link to web site (haha! A web site! hahaha!) about spiders in NY if you want to know more:
spiders R us
OK. Enough spiders! And now it's time for the flower section of my report.
It seems the stone crop flowers are the big stars right now. All the bees just love them.
The last bug we found today was this lovely crane fly resting on a milkweed leaf in the last light of the setting sun.
Well, it's been a busy day of bug hunting and flower sniffing. Time for a nap.
Good night.
Your bugs are fascinating but we did skip through the spiders pretty fast so mom would not creep out. We do appreciate the advance warning
ReplyDeletehugs
Hazel & Mabel
BOL! We skipped through the spiders, too! Love the flowers, though!
ReplyDeleteThe stone crop flowers are just beautiful! We have noticed that the stink bugs are back too. YUK and double YUK!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Chester ... we have made a decision! When we read your bloggie, we'll have our 7 yr old grandboy sit with us ... you are such a good science teacher and he'll learn so much about "creepy crawlies" (and other things!) and it will make us
ReplyDeleteBOTH a bit smarter! Thanks for sharing, enjoy your nap, you deserve it!
Those are interseting bugs...and um...well; spiders. Petcretary is creeped out by almost all of them. BOL!
ReplyDeleteWe too have a bazillion buzzing bees on our stonecrop.
Have a great weekend!
Very interesting post. We did not know that about the wooly caterpillar. And those spiders - so many different varieties. Mom thinks she has seen all of them around here, but we want them to stay OUTSIDE. And NO stinkbugs allowed.
ReplyDeleteWoos - Lightning, Misty and Timber
We always look forward to seeing your creepy crawlies, Chester!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Jakey & Arty
I was very much enjoying your lovely blog when we saw the spider and climbed under the bed.
ReplyDeleteWe've had those stink bug experiences too. Yuck! You sure found a lot of different spiders. If only they could find a but to eat those stink bugs.
ReplyDeleteI love that bear caterpillar. They look really great and warm and fuzzy. I don't think we have any stink bugs here in Norway, at least I have never heard (or smelled) of them.
ReplyDeleteMara from Norway
Mom hung in there all through the spider pictures without spraying her phone with Raid or stepping on it. Good job, Mom. Great shots, C. "Web site!" Got it!
ReplyDeleteLove and licks,
Cupcake
Our mom liked the flower section but the bugs bugged her BOL!
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley