Some McLuv'n!

C'mon, what's more American than a pair of cuddling Milkweed Beetles?!

Enjoy the 4th!

Cicindela Sexguttata

I came across this unique, neon green looking beetle the other day. It stands out on it's own but especially on the old log it was crawling across.  It was crawled super fast when I reached out towards it but then it took flight, very cool.

It's called a Six-spotted green tiger beetle. They're known as voracious predators of small arthropods, so very beneficial to have around.  They do not bite humans unless handled, so good thing I didn't reach out and try to grab this dude.

Although, difficult to see in the pic I took, above, both the common name and the species name of this critter refer to the six small white spots on the beetle's metallic-green to metallic-blue-green hardened forewing.

Beetles!

Admittedly, not the best pics, too blurry, my apologies.

There seems to be a lot of these Green June Beetles this years than in years past.  They're about the size of a US quarter, so very easy to see, plus they "buzz" when flying and look like oversized Japanese Beetles. You can't miss them.

I'm guessing the mild winters we've had the last couple of years and the plentiful rains in that time too could be contributing to an overabundance of critters.  For example, I don't recall seeing SO many wild rabbits as there are this year! Squirrels, chipmunks, deer, cabbage moths, ants and on and on and on...

It's that time of year too, with the pool up and running I am constantly needing to skim beetles out! There are scads of them that make for a messy looking pool - oriental beetles, Japanese beetles and by far the most, the May beetles, aka Junebugs, and others too -

I squash as many as I can but they keep coming, so I'll keep squashing!

Beat IT Beetle!

First beetle kill of the young 2018 season!

A lily leaf beetle, aka scarlet lily beetle or red lily beetle.

Spotted and caught this dude on one of our soon to bloom lilies.  They're bad news, well their larva are bad news, and will do a number feeding on the leaves.

These dudes have zero to offer when it comes to camouflage.  They rely on their bright red color and horrible taste to forewarn any would be predators to not bother with them.  However, that doesn't work with me, nope!  I prefer to catch this dudes by hand and pinch their little tiny heads clean off with my fingernails.  Best way to be sure the dudes are dead.

No need for harmful and dangerous chemicals, when the nails of a thumb and forefinger with wonders!

Sweet Potato Vine Pest

As I indicated in an earlier post, JoAnne and I got creative this year and made our own menagerie of flowering pots. I don't have the exact number but it was somewhere in the area of 15 - 20, that are now spread around our yard.

One of the plants that we really like, along with the licorice plant, is the potato vine. The golden color along grabs your attention, not to mention how the vine grows and spreads with ease. These make super accents to any flower pot, even stand alone.

This year, however, I noticed that something was eating and and leaving small holes throughout the leaves. Well, upon further inspection I came across the beetles in the pictures below, which are Tortoise Beetles. These are pretty handsome little beetles, as far as beetles goes. This, along with the fact that they really don't do too much damage, means that I can't let them be and enjoy them rather than spend time catching and squishing them.

Looked like these two were getting to know each other a little bit, wink wink...



This particular beetle flew off during our photo shot but I was able to track him onto the leaf of our honeysuckle vine plant.

Pelidnota punctata

I was out picking Japanese beetles and June beetles off of the raspberries, ferns and grapes when I came across this critter, Pelidnota punctata otherwise known as the spotted pelidnota, spotted June beetle and grapevine beetle.. He was contently eating and lounging on the grape leaves. He's slightly larger than an quarter, tan and spotted and now relegated to a bug carrier cage in the basement.