Meet the Neighbors: Checkered White For the introduction to this series, see here. This butterfly is a member of the large family called whites. Some of these butterflies are pests. They lay eggs on cabbages and kale that we want to eat! If you find a little green caterpillar in your greens, it is probably […]
What’s In My Backyard?-Checkered White Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp For the introduction to this series, see here. These brightly colored wasps are master builders. They make nests of mud in shady sheltered places like bridges, garages, barns, and behind shutters. Their Latin name means builder of walls! They place captured spiders in the nests for their larvae to
What’s In My Backyard?-Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Field Crescent For the introduction to this series, see here. This beautiful little butterfly lives in the western half of the country. Here in Colorado, I am on the eastern edge of its range. There are many species of Crescents so there is certainly one near you if you live in the
What’s In My Backyard?-Field Crescent Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Elegant Grass-carrying Wasp For the introduction to this series, see here. This wasp is a member of the grass-carrying wasp group (genus Isodontia). These interesting wasps live up to their name. You will often see them flying along carrying a blade of grass longer than themselves. What are they doing with the
What’s In My Backyard?-Elegant Grass-carrying Wasp Read More »
What’s in my Backyard? Backyard Safari: Moths and porch lights For the introduction to this series, see here. Night. It is mysterious to us daytime creatures. It is home to a whole host of nocturnal creatures. Today we are going to find out how to study nocturnal insects. The main problem with looking for nocturnal
What’s In My Backyard? Moths and porch lights Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Widow Skimmer For the introduction to this series, see here. Here is a beautiful species of dragonfly that is very common around ponds across much of the US. You also might see them in your yard in the late summer looking for mosquitoes and other insects to eat. Why are these dragonflies
What’s In My Backyard?-Widow Skimmer Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Long-tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp For the introduction to this series, see here. Here is one of the most dramatic wasps you might see in your yard. This is a rather scary looking insect. After all, look at that long appendage on its tail. You might think that is an enormous stinger! In
What’s In My Backyard?-Long-tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Common Checkered-Skipper For the introduction to this series, see here. Today we meet the Common Checkered-Skipper. If you live anywhere in the US or Mexico or southern Canada, you will have these little butterflies living near you. Skippers are butterflies even though they are so small and chubby. Common Checkered-Skippers lay eggs
What’s In My Backyard?-Common Checkered-Skipper Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Carder Bee For the introduction to this series, see here. This is a carder bee. These bees “card” wool off of fuzzy plants like lambs’ ears to make a nice soft nest. Humans comb sheep’s wool before making it into things. This is called carding. It cleans and aligns the wool fibers.
What’s In My Backyard?-Carder Bees Read More »
Meet the Neighbors: Buffalo Treehopper For the introduction to this series, see here. “Hi! I am a thorn. Don’t look at me closely.” This neighbor does his best to look like a thorn attached to the stem of a plant. That way, hungry birds will be less likely to find them. In profile, they have
Buffalo Treehopper Read More »
