Dragonflies and damselflies

I love ALL of nature. But I think it's HUGELY cool that our "urban" yard–which is planted with a diversity of native species–has SO FAR attracted 15 different species of dragonflies and damselflies. We're not even close to water! Unless you count our little stock tank pond, and I rarely, if ever, see dragonflies or damselflies near it. 

Today I stalked an eastern pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) and finally got some decent photos. A new species for our yard. I was THRILLED! 

  

Kudos to iNaturalist for such a great and easy way to compile species lists.

Once upon a cactus fly

What a summer! We've been blessed with lower-than-usual temps AND occasional rain. Two nights ago, we had half an inch of wet stuff! Yesterday and today, the temperatures have stayed in the mid to high 80s, thanks to a cold front (in JULY?). So yesterday evening, I decided to sit outside on a patio and just enjoy the time. Now and then I batted at mosquitoes. But even they weren't too bad. Later James joined me. Then something lit on my arm. I nearly swatted at it, thinking Oh, bother, another mosquito. Then I looked closer. NOT! I took photos for an iNaturalist observation and, my goodness, the little fellow stuck around. He was so friendly! 

I assumed he flew off as we walked back into the house for the night. On iNaturalist, I proposed my little friend's ID as a longhorn cactus fly (Odontoloxozus longicornis). A new-to-me species!

Now fast forward to today at the kitchen sink, washing up from lunch. I happened to glance down by our pink sponge–

"HE'S BACK. HE FOUND ME," I exclaimed to James. A cactus fly was crawling on the back splash behind the sink! James laughed. He recognized it, too. Was it the same one as last night's? Well, of course, I'm going to believe so. Sure makes a better story, right? I shot lots more photos (below) for another iNaturalist observation and a blog post as well.

We went outside, and my fly friend stuck right with me on my hand. He flew off a few times but landed right back on me. My shirt. My head. My glasses. And my leg. Finally, I placed him on our house siding. He flew off, but this time didn't come back. Sniff. I miss him. Maybe he'll find me again sometime. 

This and that

 Flower of a Texas skeleton plant gone to seed. So pretty!

 A mystery butterfly chrysalis....

 Yours truly spreading some horsemint seeds, which I collected from seed heads on city easements. I put some in the Meadow, too.

Kermes scale moth (Euclemensia bassettella)...such a cool find!

Cicada days

This morning, I spotted this just-emerged cicada when I walked over in the back yard to get a photo of James mowing the Meadow.  It's likely in the dogday cicada genus of Neotibicen.

Crestrib morning-glory update

My Edwards Plateau crestrib morning-glory (Ipomoea costellata var. edwardsensis) vines have turned into a happy JUNGLE now! Take a look. They're the uncommon species I found in Blanco last November. You can read "New Plant on the Block," my article in Wildflower magazine that tells about my vine-finding adventure.

Cool ironclad

Hey, look at the cool ironclad beetle I found a few days ago at my mother's house in Kendall County. I just happened to spot it on an exterior house wall. I recognized the beetle type because its shape closely resembles that of a Texas ironclad beetle (Sopherus nodulosus haldemani), one of my favorite beetles. I believe this one is a Sesaspis emarginata. According to Bugguide.net, this species ranges in Texas, southeastern New Mexico and northern Mexico but is "....uncommon throughout Central Texas."

Meadow mowed

 The deed is done. James reported that the Meadow was the thickest EVER to mow. We can thank our abundant rains this year!

Madrone S.O.S.

Yesterday I noticed two more sickly limbs on our little Texas madrone child (Arbutus xalapensis). So I got on the horn and emailed Mike Prochoroff at The Madrone Way. Here's what he wrote back: 

"The difficult distinctions of Madrone reaction to water, especially in the summer, is that root damage from too much and too little water look pretty close to identical. The dark interior veins probably mean too much. The rest of the tree looks fine. Hold back on the water. Sparingly is the idea. I have native trees that do this same type of singular die-back, and a colleague in Washington state asked me if I had observed it. So I have a feeling it's common to both species. Again, heat plus water spells trouble. Don't prune the die-back, and let me know if they turn a hard-black or a dark-brown. Another compound problem I have had is when they wilt due to excess water (this is in a pot; different from the earth), giving them additional water exacerbates the problem since the remaining roots aren't re-growing as quickly (no root hairs). Patience."  Thanks, Mike!

Moths, moths, moths!

Texas wasp moth (Horama panthalon)

 In honor of Moth Week, July 20-28, I thought I'd share my cover story in the July 2019 issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine: "Like a Moth to a Flame." (Moth photos are mine.)

Harrisina coracina

Painted schinia (Schinia volupia)

White-lined sphnix (Hyles lineata)

Black witch (Ascalapha odorata)

Stock tank update

 Our stock tank pond is looking GREAT. At the moment, that is.

 Our dwarf lily 'Indiana' is blooming for the first time this summer.