Wednesday, June 30, 2010

June Visitors to the Americus Garden Inn

This interesting looking "guest" was a mystery. It is called an "eyed elater". In the click beetle family, it is the only click beetle whose larvae are beneficial as they eat other troublesome pests.
The lubber grasshoppers, however, are another story. They are not welcome guests. In a very short period of time, they can do a tremendous amount of damage. If you have never seen one, this one was about 4 inches long.
The following photos can be clicked on for a larger view, if you like.
This interesting spider was brought up to the porch by one of our cats.
I flipped it over to try to identify the spider. Haven't figured it out yet...
We found these spider egg cases in the sago palms.
Kim was trimming the brown fronds and came across the eggs. Never saw the adult spider.
The pink echinacea and the bee balm have been enticing hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.
A butterfly has landed on the echinacea.

A bumblebee and a butterfly were side by side enjoying the flowers.
Another butterfly made an entrance.
Two butterflies landed at the same time.
A long time ago, my grandmother gave me a cicada watch necklace. Today, I held a real cicada in my hand.

The cats were playing with something that was making a lot of noise. It turned out to be this cicada.

I held it for quite a while. It did not want to leave my hand.


It had a very interesting face with large compound eyes on either side.
And, its wings looked like beautiful stained glass.

I released it on the plant behind me in the photo.

Thanks for checking out our blog for today. Hope you have had a wonderful June.

1 comment:

blkfrhwk said...

incredible spider. what size is it? perhaps it's responsible for the egg cases you found in the palm?