Butterflies and Insects
Our garden and woods are alive with pollinators.
Fritillary butterfly (I think an Aphrodite...I thought once it was a Great Spangled) on coneflower
Monarch on Meadow Blazing Star
Spicebush Swallowtail visiting bee balm in the wildflower garden
Soldier beetle on Jerusalem Artichoke
Red Admiral visiting a dandelion at a nearby state park
Giant Swallowtail visiting coneflower
Friendly neighborhood bumblebee on Allium
Black Thorn-footed Mason Wasp, Zethus spinines spininess
Soldier beetle on golden rod
Crevice Mason Wasp Parancistrocerus leionotus leionotus (I think...let me know if you have a better identification)
Syrphid fly visiting aster
Queen Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) coming in for a landing on early figwort
Wood-boring Mason Wasp (euodynerus foraminatus) checking out the figwort. A shutter speed of 1/800 isn't nearly fast enough to freeze those wings. Shot with a Nikon Z8 and Nikkor 400mm VR S from about 13 feet.
Bumblebee and figwort. With a shutter speed of 1/3200 those wings still aren't quite frozen.
Eastern swallowtail visiting northern blue flag iris
Great Black Wasp on Clustered Mountain Mint
Giant Swallowtail
Swallowtail visiting Anise Hyssop
Mexican Grass-carrying Wasp (Isodontia mexicana) visiting Clustered Mountain Mint
Male metallic green sweat bee visiting Ohio Spiderwort
Tawny-edged Skipper (I think...corrections are welcome)
A skipper (tawny-edged or mulberry-winged?) skipper visiting Southern Blue Flag Iris in our creek bed.
Syrphid flies visiting Ohio Spiderwort in our wildflower garden. This year, bunnies and deer seem to not eat the spiderwort.
A monarch caterpillar found this morning. The wildflower garden has some success!
A second monarch caterpillar. We're hoping for more!
And, milkweed stem weevils. I don't think they really qualify as pollinators. They're ok with me as long as they don't hurt the milkweed.
A robust looking Syrphid fly, subspecies Eristalis, I think. They specialize in mimicking honey bees. This one is visiting a lance-leaved coreopsis.
A bee fly (Bombylius spp.) visiting Bradbury Bee balm. These guys look like a ball of fluff with wings and a long proboscis.
A question mark butterfly. No kidding, that's its name.
Bee balm for the bumblebee.
Another Aphrodite fritillary.
Graceful Grasshopper (Melanoplus gracilis). Not exactly a pollinator, but I thought he was cool.
A Clouded Sulfur Butterfly
Bee Balm makes good honey
Blue vervain makes good honey, too.
A cuckoo wasp visiting our Clustered Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum).
A Great Black Wasp visiting clustered mountain mint. These are digger / hunter wasps.
A metallic green sweat bee (Augochlorella) that is larger and more iridescent than Augochlora. Found in the garden on clustered mountain mint.
A Syrphid fly (not a bee!) on mountain mint.
Bumblebee coming in for a landing
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail visiting Obedient Plant
A Monarch Butterfly on Blue Sage