Friday, July 10, 2009

Garden Journal 7/10/09: Designer Pollinators


Is This a Best Dressed Bug or What?

Realization of the Day:
It's Fashion Week in the garden.

I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for cool looking insects, especially if they aren't decimating any of my plants—and sometimes even when they are. Since these little beauties so far appear content to spend their time pollinating the showy display of leek blossoms (which is a whole other very disappointing story I'll hopefully get around to writing about one of these days), I'm content to simply gaze at them in open admiration.

I remember seeing some of these winged insects last year for the first time (lots of new and bizarre—and sometimes very unwelcome—things have been happening during our past two wetter-than-usual springs), and I don't recall them doing any noticeable damage.



That pattern reminds me of vintage fabric or wallpaper. And check out those subtly coordinated legs.



Then there's that underbelly! It's like a suit and matching jacket. So chic. The star of Fashion Week is definitely Mother Nature.

Anybody else into cute bugs—or know what kind this one is?

I'm slightly obsessed with pollinators in general (adorable or not):
4/10/06:
Look What Landed At My Feet
5/11/06:
Butterfly Conference
5/11/06:
My Good Deed For The Day
6/22/06:
Farms Depend On Pollinators
6/23/06:
You Can't Have Too Many Pollinators Around
6/24/06:
Butterflies & Sheep & I Love Spiderwort
6/28/06:
Butterfly Paradise
6/29/06:
Obsessed With Bunnies & Butterflies
7/08/06:
The Stuff Of Life
7/16/06:
Butterfly Bonanza
8/26/06:
Butterfly Photos Are Better Than Nothing
8/14/07:
Joint Pollination Task Force
9/11/07:
Welcoming Autumn with Open Arms
9/27/07:
The Squash Blossom Butterfly
1/1/08:
Fortunately All Flowers Look Perfect to Pollinators
5/8/08:
Luna Moth Love (and an amazing butterfly book)
7/6/08:
Abuzz with Activity
7/8/08:
Winged Spectacular
3/31/09:
Flash of Butterfly Brilliance
6/10/09: A Lovely Luna Moth

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the unfashionista foodie farm blog where my usual outfit of choice is overalls, a ratty shirt, and workboots. Thankfully the other creatures around here make up for my serious lack of style.

5 comments:

  1. That's really pretty! I wonder what it is... Speaking of decimating bugs, my chives, arugula, and chinese chives were attacked by aphids this year. Poo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://www.whatsthatbug.com/
    The above website is a really nice one run by people who know a lot about bugs. You can send them a photo and they will probably be able to identify it for you. I had found an interesting bug in my garden last year and they identified it and posted it on their blog for me. Very nice people.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think that's a tree of heaven moth. They make bags on trees of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), which are hugely invasive, and they don't hurt my other plants. So they're all right by me! I've also seen it called a goldenrod moth.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I enjoyed reading your post about the Designer Pollinator, its is a lovely looking bug, if I spotted that bug in the garden I think I would be mesmerized by its colours, you were definitely in the right place at the right time with a camera!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just found your blog (while searching for info on Masai green beans...). And noticed the bug photos. LOVE insects! Other than my chickens & flowers, they're my fave things to photograph. Lewru is correct -- the moth is Atteva punctella -- the Ailanthus Webworm Moth.

    ReplyDelete

March 2013 update: My apologies for the inconvenience - I know word verification is a pain - but I've had to turn it on to help stop the ridiculous number of anonymous spam comments I've been getting every day. Thanks for your understanding.

Welcome to InMyKitchenGarden.com! Thanks so much for taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love to hear about what's going on in your own garden. I know, too, that other readers also delight in reading about your garden successes, failures, helpful tips, and lessons learned. Feel free to leave comments on older posts!

I try my best to answer all questions, but sometimes it takes me a few days to get to them. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your visits to my kitchen garden!