Timm

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you some grasshopper porn…

This reddish-brown stag beetle was hanging out on our porch in the glow of our living room lamp.  Adult stag beetles emerge in June & July, eat little, and fly all night.  They are attracted to artificial light.  During the day they hide in rotting logs and moist soil.  They are a tough-looking bug.

There seems to be an explosion of baby praying mantis… mantises, mantii, what’s the plural?  These little guys are everywhere on the lawn furniture, the deck, crawling on my shirt, etc.

This praying mantis spent the morning staring at me through the screen.  Apparently she was wanting to come in the house. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord I don’t get eat…

Dozens of turkey vultures congregated in the trees along the country road near our house to feast on a roadkill deer.  

Every spring, hundreds of houseflies gather on our porch railing to bask in the sun and socialize.  At first I thought they were mating, but a close inspection showed there was no hanky-panky going on.  So maybe this deck rail is their meeting place, where the flies flirt to find a mate, and then they [...]

Here is what I think is an Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly on a pink thistle flower. Notice the bottom of his right wing is eaten off.  The bright colors on a butterfly’s tail warns off potential predators, and also attracts persistent predators determined to take a bite out of the butterfly’s body, but instead munch [...]

We interrupt your busy day to show you a pretty orange Fritillary butterfly on a pink thistle flower.

Check out this crazy insect.  It appears to be some type of fly, but I couldn’t find it in my insect book.  Please comment if you know what this is.

As I reported earlier, we have a toad friend who has moved onto our porch.  At night he sits in front of the sliding glass door and feasts upon the endless supply of bugs trying to get to the light inside.  This little toad certainly has it made.  He has the porch all to himself.  [...]