The Great June Clearance

There were several days out that I hadn't yet had time to download/viciously edit/post from the month of June. So, while it still is June, I better clear them out.

June 13th was opening day for the Botanical Garden native butterfly house and so that of course warranted a visit. But before we got so far as that we passed by the frog bog for a good number of dragonflies.

The Slaty Skimmer

Needham's Skimmer

And the Halloween Pennant

In the butterfly house there were beasts everywhere but, as usual, lots of people in the way. But did manage to find the beautifully posed and thoroughly preoccupied Monarch

And many many Zebra Swallowtails, feeding on a variety of flowers and laying their eggs on the leaves of the Paw-Paw. Nothing else just the Paw-Paw...the single species. Very picky about the host plant are the Zebras and that's why, even around here, distribution is so spotty. Where there are no local Paw-Paw then you'll not find a Zebra while a few miles away you'll find hundreds.

Other pictures from that trip include these millipedes found in a colony living in a hollow between branches of the tree. (Oxidus gracilis)

This long horn flower beetle (Strangalia famelica)

The Diurnal Firefly below

 

And this little bee visiting the Black Eyed Susan.

A Common White Tail (immature male) and Eastern Amber Wing

Back in our own backyard this last weekend we had the first high summer Black Swallowtail caterpillars. Though it looks so far as if this isnt going to be a very good year for them. Numbers are low and there seem to be a lot of wasps taking cats when they reach the 'right' size.

This one had just completed its first molt thats the discarded skin on the dill behind it.

  

I've shot this leaf hopper, the Broad-Headed Sharpshooter (Oncometopia orbona)

before in the yard but this one stayed long enough for a decent picture. I still think it looks like a jewel or the jeweled vampire automaton in Del Toro's Kronos.

Blasted birds still refuse to cooperate. I had to shoot this little Downy Woodpecker between the slats of the fence as it ate earwigs from the bark of a buddleia.

June done, here come July.

 And this year we'll be around all month. Vacation doesn't roll around until beginning of September this year.

I'll update with fuller IDs on the mystery beasts as soon as I have them.