Giant water bug

No, I didn't find this odd-looking critter! But a Blanco friend of mine did and texted me the photo, asking if I could ID it. A little sleuthing turned up a giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus). Looks sorta like a roach, right? But it's not. As its common name implies, this is a true bug. If you want to know, hop on over here to learn more.

Notes to myself

A couple of evenings ago, we visited Blanco State Park so I could catch some gambusia (mosquitofish) for our stock tank pond. It needs some new genetics. Turns out, JAMES netted all the new residents, not me. Thank you, James!

Screenshot from James' video

Some cool new faces in the gardens

As usual, I just happened to look in the right place at the right time. This time, it was down at a mealy sage leaf in the front yard. Something bright yellow caught my eye. I snapped one photo, then –– silly me –– I touched her. Whoosh! Up her drag line she zipped, way high in the wafer ash tree. Luckily, I got one decent shot. Anyone care to guess at this spider's common name? (Answer at the bottom of this post.)

 

Now meet a piglet bug. A what, you say? Me, too! I spotted this tiny critter on my rubber flip flop and nearly blew off getting any pictures. I mean, it was TINY. But I did. Good thing, too. Turns out I found a piglet bug, more precisely this one: Bruchomorpha nodosa. And that's all I know.

 This morning, I was walking down our driveway when I spotted.....A TIGER BEETLE! My first ever! I knew what it was right away. They're fast fliers, but I got some great shots. This one is a limestone tiger beetle (Cicindela politula). According to Bugguide.net, they occur in "limestone or calcareous clay and, in particular, dirt roads, bare areas, and trails near this type of substrate."

ANSWER: Butterfly orbweaver (Araneus pegnia). As soon as I got a close up look at this spider, I said, "That looks like a butterfly!" Hence, its cool common name.

 

Native natives....

Texas Flies, Oh My!

Last Wednesday, for the first time I presented my brand new program – "Texas Flies, Oh My - An Introduction" – to my fellow members of the Highland Lakes chapter of Texas Master Naturalists. I was rarin' to go! (I even wore a special T-shirt fand adopted a special friend or the occasion. See below.) I had so much fun talking about and sharing photos of our diverse flies. You'd be amazed!

Note to myself — rain lilies

For the past week, I've been harvesting LOTS of rain lily seeds from neighbor JJ's yard. She has a huge population of them in her fenced back yard and has kindly given me free rein in picking them. FUN, FUN, FUN! I'm spreading the seeds mostly in The Meadow. To be precise, these are Brazos rain-lilies (Zephyranthes chlorosolen), formerly known as evening rain lily (Cooperia drummondii). 

 

Note: We also have another rain lily species, which has a larger bloom: Drummond's rain lily (Zephyranthes drummondii), formerly known as Hill Country rain lily (Cooperia pedunculata).

Sawflies!

So first I spotted this cool black-and-red insect on a sorrelvine in the Meadow. Then I saw another one. And another one. Pretty soon, I realized what was happening! Some gal was ready to mate, and so were several males. Later, I learned that these insects are sawflies, specifically Ceratulus spectabilis. When I found yellowish larva on the same vine, at first I thought butterfly. Not! It's the larval stage of the same sawfly species! Aren't nature's puzzles so cool in how they fit together?