Critters that visit your garden - post your pics!

This guy came into my garden today. The most exotic thing I've ever seen around here! Body was huge, and hairy, and his antenna looked liked feathers. I figure he was some kind of cool moth. Was about the size of my hand.

This message was edited Apr 3, 2008 3:27 PM

Closer view for some detail.

Larissa, what you have is a Polyphemus Moth, I have had them too, and they are truly amazing, you are so lucky that it came to visit you.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3290
Josephine.

What a beautiful photo! We have a lot of them here too. Last week Dh brought a dead one to show me. I took it inside thinking I would like to sketch it later. Well, It wasn't dead. It was in some kind of egg laying trance and laid eggs all over my table. I kind of freaked out and scooped the moth and it's eggs up and put them under some parsley.

cocoa, I have a vision of the next person in your house going to make a salad...and...surprise!

The parsley is growing outside and not in a salad bowl. lol

I'm usually not so squeamish and wish I had kept them to raise. It just caught me so off guard. I think it may have been hurt, something was not right!

Spring is really bringing out the critters. One of my cats brought me a live baby bunny (turned it loose) and in the same day I saw a raccoon about 100 feet from me. We stopped and stared at each other then it ran in the woods.

Very neat moth ~ Larissa. I agree I am fascinated by the delicate features of them.

I found this Luna moth laying on the porch earlier this spring. I was careful not to handle him but held out a dried leave and he stepped on it. I took some photos and relocated him.

In the process, I educated myself a little... the Luna moth has seasonal forms where it is double brooded. The summer form has yellow wing margins, whereas the spring form has pink to purple wing margins. Larva feeds mainly on Sweet Gum, Hickory, Walnut, Birch and Oak. Pupa is active in its' papery cocoon, usually spun on the ground.

This one did have the purplish wing margins being springtime.

I used to have a cat that brought in live baby bunnies ALL the time, she'd hide them behind the toilet in my bathroom and bathe them and purr and then cry around the house for them when I rescued them and let them go. I guess she wanted a baby...

Oh, the lunar moths are my favorite! I admit I don't know much about them. I thought they only ate Sweet Gums and I've had Dh out searching for SGum all over.lol
He did find one Sgum not too far from the house but with the amount of LMoths we get it didn't seem like enough. But we have lots of oaks, walnut and hickory so it makes sense now. Sadly I see a lot of them but they are rarely alive.

Aww, Larissa. My kitty did not have the same sweet intentions.lol You should get her a bunny...I hear you can litter box train them.

That is one beautiful moth Larissa, I hope to see one of those. It is suppose to be common, but I haven’t seen one. I read the host plants are trees and shrubs including oak, willow, Maple and birch. I have three out of four so maybe I will get lucky. If you still have the eggs, put them on some leaves of one of those plants.

Cocoa, the Luna moth lives only to mate and lay eggs. The adult does not have mouth parts, so therefore doesn't live long. We don't have many of them in the DFW area, but they are gorgeous.

Thank you, Sheila! I've promised myself to learn more about all the winged creatures this year. My son's birthdays are close together and soon. I'm going to get them some really nice I.D books. Then I won't feel so overwhelmed in the butterfly forum :0)

Could you or Josephine recommend two books for me. I was thinking of getting one book on cats and the other on butterfly/ moth I.d. That way the boys could share. They are very good with their books, so I'm not really looking for "childrens" books, something nice they will keep and use for a long time.

Lynea, the books I have are for adults, but one i really like is;
Butterfly Gardening for the South, by Geyata Ajilvsgi
It is a very complete book about the plants and butterflies.
Josephine.

Thank you, Josephine that looks perfect and covers just about everything I wonder about. Does it cover Moths and their cats as well?

I looked and as far as I can tell it doesn't cover Moths, although it mentions them.

I don't know what kind of bee this is, but he and his friends were NOT happy about me getting close enough to take pictures of the Brazos Penstemon.

Thank you looking , Josephine,

Marylyn, Lol, he has his head cocked to the side, sort of a "buzz off" look to him. Your penstemons are beautiful.

The face on that bee is precious. I might just have to flex my photoshop skills when I get home, hehe.

Check out this Texas Hairy Moth we found hangin' in our lantana! :~)

This message was edited Apr 5, 2008 9:06 AM

I posted this one some time ago - chameleon yoga - truly a rare stretching exercise in preparation for some serious bug hunting -
Was it Jimmy Olsen who coined the exclamation... "leapin' lizards!"?

Hmmm...maybe Robin?

This message was edited Apr 5, 2008 9:19 AM

pre-butterfly double vision - what a wonderful ailment!

I must look like a landing site!

Maybe I am "one" with the Insect Universe....

Ummmmmm....would you believe.......leap frog on a very small scale?

More like Love Lady Bug. :)

Is that a dragonfly
Post #4761109

Those are great pictures. I love that yoga pose.. Is there a pose called lizard?

This critter visits my garden the most. Mango's extremely friendly and belongs to my neighbor.

I forgot what kind of spider this is, but it's a beneficial one.

Mango is my kind of "critter"! Cute name too...

The spider is an Arglope garden spider... what is getting ready to bloom in that photo?

Coreopsis, which died after last year's monsoon. I did get lots of seed before it gave up the ghost, though.

I knew the buds looked familiar ~ thanks...

Banana - yep, that's a dragonfly that landed on me while I was working in the garden....the DW had the camera handy & took the shot

I will be in Austin and then San Antonio from the 15 to the 25 maybe I will get to see some of these wonderful bugs.

Going to the Commerce Bridge to see the bats fly:)

Looking for neat places to eat, that will not break the bank.

D

Coco, back a ways you asked about a book to ID BFs, moths etc. I am not a reader, but I have found that there is a wealth of information at your finger tips on the computer by doing a search. But Debnes has a son that is into reading and she also has a great library. I am sure she will suggest a couple that would work great for them and you.

Can someone tell me what these beetles are? I was turning a flower bed and unearthed two today. They are lovely...

Thanks Sheila, I'll ask her.

Pod, that looks like a japanese beetle. An evil, evil bloom eater.lol

The devil you say! There were TWO of them and I let them go? Grrrrr!

They were big, bigger than a June Bug. Humpf! I shall have to go hunt them down...

Well pod, i'm wrong, sorry. I showed dh and he say "no", but doesn't know what it's name is... I'll go grab our field guide.

Whew! I was gathering my safari hat and flashlight and bug stomping boots... LOL

Fiery searcher...calosoma scrutator, "fiery searcher" is the name of the beetle, not just you on a mission in the dark:0)