Honeybees Crowding Around Hummingbird Feeder In Zinnia Garden

We have lots of Honeybees right now all over the garden.  Some are on the flowers, and some tend to have a preference for the Hummingbird feeder (we still have 1 female Hummingbird hanging around).  Obviously we have this Hummingbird feeder in our Zinnia garden, and it just so happens we got a picture of the Honeybees going nuts over the sugar water and some of them in flight.

He was covered in a light dew and the light was just starting to fall on our second Zinnia garden.

Common Green Darner Dragonfly In Morning Dew On Zinnia

We were cleaning our Butterfly enclosures this evening when this large Dragonfly flew right in there.  I don’t know if he was old, confused, tired, or what, but he just stayed right there so I went and picked him up.

Male Common Green Darner Dragonfly In Palm Of Hand

After he stayed in the palm of my hand for a little bit, he flew off, then did a nose dive into the grass so I went and picked him up again.

This time I placed him on one of the pink Zinnias and took another picture.

Not that these insects are drawn to Zinnias, but I’m hoping if he stays there until morning, I can get some new pictures when he has dew on his wings.

Male Common Green Darner Dragonfly On Pink Zinnia

Let’s talk about here in Texas.  Next week they are forecasting more 100 degree temperatures.  I’m really starting to see the effects of the drought in my own backyard.  I’m only watering twice a week and now that’s not enough.  I could probably water all day long and it wouldn’t be enough.  I have brown patches throughout my yard (it’s just grass so I’m not distraught over that).  The trees, not only in my yard, but across Houston, are turning brown, or are already dead.  I read a news report that suggested this drought in Texas may last another year.  When I do water, it brings out every living creature as I’m sure they are dying of thirst.

I’ve never had Honeybees swarm my Hummingbird feeders and bird baths to get water.

Honeybees Drinking Sugar Water From Hummingbird Feeder

What will this mean for the Monarch Butterfly migration.  On Journey South’s posting this week, Dr. Lincoln Brower thinks that the Monarchs will have a really hard time building up their fat reserves once they enter Texas on their way to Mexico.  I can certainly see this.  I can almost guarantee you that other than from the concerned Butterfly gardeners, there will be little Milkweed and/or nectar plants in the wild that have done well during this drought.

What about the Ruby Throated Hummingbird migration?  Once again I’d be willing to bet that the Hummingbirds will have a tough time as well for the same reasons I mentioned above.

As I sit here and analyze myself, I guess this weather saddens me, and makes me angry.  When I go out the in backyard and see all those brown leaves, I get frustrated because I know at this point I simply can’t water enough (plus I’m trying to do my part to conserve).  My backyard has always been my little private sanctuary, and seeing how the plant and animal life is struggling is tough.  It’s worse driving around Houston.  You see these big giant Oak trees dying.  You can’t replace those, they are decades old.  Pine trees, so many are dead.  Lakes and ponds are completely dry.  Migrating birds this winter will have it tough.  I can’t imagine any gardener or wildlife lover enjoying what’s happening right now.  I realize some things you can’t control and this is certainly one of those “things”, but it’s driving me nuts.

Alright, venting over for the moment.  I’m starting to see more Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.  Those that choose to hang around my yard will have plenty of sugar water to drink.  One of the recent males that is visiting we are calling “Mr. Soul Patch.” We gave him that name because of that little speck of white on the bottom part of his beak (or is it bill)?

Mr. Soul Patch Male Ruby Throat

I’ve also created links to many of the books and they will take you to Amazon’s site should you wish to order them or read the reviews.  Here’s a download to all the books in Excel format Butterfly, Birds, Insects, Photography, Pond, Reptiles and Gardening Books

Bird Books

1. National Geographic Field Guide to Birds: Texas
2. Birds of Texas
3. A Birder’s Guide to the Texas Coast
4. The Texas Ornithology Society Handbook of Texas Birds
5. Birds of Texas Field Guide
6. Birding Texas
7. Exploring the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail: Highlights of a Birding Mecca
8. Finding Birds on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail: Houston, Galveston, and the Upper Texas Coast
9. Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds
10. Peterson Field Guide: Eastern Birds’ Nests
11. A Field Guide to Western Birds’ Nests
12. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
13. The Stokes Purple Martin Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting and Housing Purple Martins
14. A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors
15. Hand-Feeding Backyard Birds
16. The Backyard Bird Feeder’s Bible: the A-To-Z Guide to Feeders, Seed Mixes, Projects, and Treats

Butterflies And Butterfly Caterpillars Books

1. Butterfly Gardening For The South
2. Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: a Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America (Field Guide)
3. The Life Cycles of Butterflies
4. The Butterfly Gardener’s Guide
5. Butterfly Photographer’s Handbook
6. Butterflies of North America
7. Gardening to Attract Birds and Butterflies
8. The Family Butterfly Book
9. Butterflies and Moths
10. National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Backyard Wildlife
11. A Pocket Guide to Butterflies and Moths
12. Butterflies of Southeast Texas and the Upper Texas Coast
13. Milkweed, Monarchs and More: a Field Guide to the Invertebrate Community in the Milkweed Patch
14. The Butterfly Book
15. The Amazing Monarch
16. Butterflies of Houston & Southeast Texas
17. Finding Butterflies in Texas

Insect Books

1. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States
2. Stokes Beginner’s Guide to Dragonflies
3. Texas Bug Book
4. Insects of Texas
5. Garden Insects of North America
6. National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America

Reptiles and Amphibian Books

1. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians
2. Texas Snakes: A Field Guide
3. The Frogs and Toads of North America
4. Venomous Snakes of Texas
5. Lone Star Field Guide To Texas Snakes

Gardening Books

1. Wildflowers of Texas
2. Vegetables: American Gardening Series
3. Southern Living Garden Problem Solver
4. Complete Guide to Roses
5. Year Round Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers From Metro Houston
6. The Complete Guide to Creative Landscapes
7. Howard Garrett’s Plants for Texas
8. Howard Garrett’s Texas Organic Gardening Book
9. Plants for Houston and the Gulf Coast
10. Texas Trees
11. The Organic Manual
12. The Truth About Garden Remedies
13. Gardening in the Coastal South
14. The Garden Lover’s Guide to Houston
15. Landscaping 1-2-3
16. Houston Garden Book
17. Gulf Coast Gardening With Randy Lemmon
18. Planning Your Garden
19. Bamboo for Gardens
20. Garden, Landscape, and Project Plans: 225 Do-It Yourself Designs
21. The Gardener’s Bug Book
22. Great Garden Sources for Texans
23. Plants for Places
24. Neil Sperry’s Complete Guide to Texas Gardening
25. Native Texas Plants

Pet Books (Including, Dogs, Cats, And Birds)

1. Dog First Aid
2. Dog Detectives
3. The Lost Pet Chronicles
4. Canine Body Language
5. Search and Rescue Dogs
6. Doin’ Texas With Your Pooch
7. Schutzhund: Theory and Training Methods
8. Give Your Dog a Bone
9. Grow Your Pups With Bones
10. The Barf Diet
11. Schutzhund Obedience
12. How to Speak Dog
13. Vaccine Guide for Dogs and Cats
14. Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook
15. Unleashed: Poems by Writers’ Dogs
16. K9 Explosive Detection
17. Dogwatching: Why Dogs Bark and Other Canine Mysteries Explained
18. Tracking From The Beginning
19. Scent, Training to Track, Search, and Rescue
20. Basic Narcotic Detection Dog Training
21. Training the Competitive Working Dog
22. The Man Who Talks to Dogs
23. Schutzhund Top Working Dogs
24. Top Working Dogs: A Training Manual: Tracking, Obedience, Protection
25. Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats
26. The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture
27. Herbal Remedies for Dogs and Cats
28. Herbs for Pets
29. Natural Dog Care
30. Parrot-Toys and Play Areas
31. Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot
32. The Click That Does the Trick
33. Teaching Your Bird to Talk
34. The Parrot Problem Solver
35. A New Owner’s Guide to African Grey Parrots
36. The Alex Studies
37. The African Grey
38. The Ultimate Parrot
39. African Grey Parrots
40. Cat Wrangling Made Easy

Photography Books

1. How to Photograph Absolutely Everything
2. Photoshop Cs5 for Nature Photographers
3. Adobe Lightroom 3 – the Missing FAQ – Real Answers to Real Questions Asked By Lightroom Users
4. 2010 Photographer’s Market
5. Magic Lantern DVD Guides: Canon EOS 40D Multimedia Workshop
6. Digital SLR Cameras & Photography for Dummies
7. Digital SLR Pro Secrets
8. Mastering Digital Photography
9. Photographing Nature: a Photo Workshop From Brooks Institute’s Top Nature Photography Instructor (Voices That Matter)
10. Lightroom 2: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process
11. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book
12. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book
13. Photoshop Cs5 Restoration and Retouching for Digital Photographers Only
14. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2
15. EF Lens Work III
16. Macro Photography Photo Workshop
17. Photo Portfolio Success
18. The Adobe Photoshop Cs4 Book for Digital Photographers
19. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers
20. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
21. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers
22. The Digital Photography Book
23. The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers
24. The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers
25. Layers: the Complete Guide to Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature (2Nd Edition)
26. Canon EOS 7D Digital Field Guide
27. Beginner’s Guide to Photographic Lighting
28. The Hot Shoe Diaries
29. The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Nature Photography
30. The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography
31. Understanding Exposure
32. Learning to See Creatively
33. 2009 Photographer’s Market
34. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers Only
35. Photoshop Lightroom 2 for Dummies
36. Adobe Premiere Pro for Dummies
37. Selling Your Photography
38. Winning Digital Photo Contests

Pond Koi and Water Garden Books

1. Ponds & Fountains
2. Goldfish
3. Ortho’s All About Creating Japanese Gardens
4. Japanese Gardens in a Weekend
5. Plants for Water Gardens
6. The Pond Doctor: Planning & Maintaining a Healthy Water Garden
7. Water Gardening in Containers
8. Creating Water Gardens
9. Indoor Water Garden Design
10. Water Gardening
11. The Super Simple Guide to Koi
12. Ortho’s All About Building Waterfalls, Pools, and Streams
13. Japanese Gardening in Small Spaces

Infected Or Parasitized Monarch Chrysalises

Whether these were infected or parasitized Chrysalises, I’m not sure, maybe a combination of both.  You can see the Chrysalises all have small holes in them, normally indicating they have been parasitized.

Here’s where I could use some guidance.  Although the Chrysalises were in our outdoor Butterfly Enclosure, and were theoretically protected from predators, there was a wasp in the enclosure nearly every day.

Mystery Wasp In Butterfly Enclosure

The strange part was we would release this wasp every time we found it in the enclosure, then the next day another wasp (or the same) would be back in the enclosure.

Can anyone identify this wasp and tell me if this wasp would parasitize the Chrysalises?

UPDATE: Valerie over at Evanson Art And Design was kind enough to tell me the wasp above is likely a Ichneumon Wasp which do indeed parasitize Butterfly Chrysalises.

I’m not even sure how to describe what this insect looks like.  It’s shaped like a cone.  In the second picture, I think there some kind of head (I’m looking the brown part of the insect).

Any guesses what kind of insect (I’m assuming it’s an insect) this is?

Unknown Insect Eating Sassafras Leaf 2

Unknown Insect Eating Sassafras Leaf

While I thought I was only taking a picture of the Carpenter Bee, if you look on the white flower you’ll see there’s a small ant.

Carpenter Bee Flying Towards Purple Flower

This next picture had a bigger surprise.  Look on the smaller white flower.  Can you see the small green Grasshopper?  I had no idea it was there until I was uploading this picture.

Carpenter Bee Flying Towards White Flower

Today, I released one of the Monarchs that eclosed a couple of days ago.  The Butterfly got a nice draft of wing, and gently floated to our Maple tree.  That’s when it became interesting.

I had no idea that a Maple tree would have any form of nectar, but as I was watching this Butterfly, I noticed that there were lots of Honeybees feeding off the Maple tree flowers.  As I continued to watch the Honeybees and Monarch Butterfly, I noticed that the Monarch was also feeding from the Maple tree flowers.

The next couple of days are supposed to have temperatures in the low 70′s, so hopefully the Butterfly can get some strength from the nectar then prepare for the really cold days we are supposed to have later in the week.

Monarch Butterfly Getting Nectar From Maple Tree Flower

Monarch Spreading Wings On Maple Tree

This appears to be a Mydas Fly, and they are not very common, or at least not from what I could tell from doing a little bit of research.  They are listed as beneficial insects on this page.  The authors of the page linked above suggest that this insect does prey upon other insects, but they aren’t exactly sure.

I tried searching to see if I could find out if they feed on Caterpillars, but couldn’t find any helpful information.

I thought this quote “While information on the feeding habits of the adult stage is sparse, the larvae are known to be effective soil-dwelling predators. They have well-developed mouthparts to prey on other soil-dwelling insect larvae, especially on coleopteran (beetle) larvae (including white grubworms and other larvae of beetles” was particularly interesting (again from the page cited above).

Seeing that I had so many back in mid-summer (I originally posted this in May), if there’s an Entomologist here in Houston that would be interested in collected a few samples or educating me about these insects, please feel free to contact me.  I’d love to find out more.

Anybody else out there in the world seen this insects in their garden or know more information about them?  Have you ever seen them prey on Butterfly Caterpillars?

Thanks again to Sheryl for sending me the information to get my started in indemnifying this insect!

Big Black Bug On Pepper Plant

I saw a total of 4 Monarchs and 1 Painted Lady today.  Three of the Monarchs were ones that we had already tagged.  I can’t imagine that these Monarchs would still make it to Mexico, but there’s always hope.  If nothing else, they’ve got plenty of Nectar plants right here, and if it gets too cold, we’ll probably bring them inside for the night.

Painted Lady On Salvia Leucantha

Painted Lady Getting Nectar On Salvia Leucantha

Male Monarch On Milkweed On Chilly Day

Notice the Spotted Cucumber Beetle next to the Monarch below?

Spotted Cucumber Beetle Feeding With Male Monarch

In the picture below, we had to re-tag this Monarch because the sticker was placed too high.  You can see the outline of where the old tag was placed.

Retagged Monarch On Bamboo

Male Monarch With Wings Spread

Of course, life is not easy for a Monarch Butterfly, and while this Butterfly was just trying to warm up a bit before flying, a Honeybee (right side of the picture) decided it wanted the Purple Coneflower.  The Monarch just opened and closed his wings a few times, and that was enough to encourage the Honeybee to try another plant.

Newly Hatched Male Monarch With Honeybee In Background

In other Monarch related news, we have 4 Monarch Chrysalises that should eclose tomorrow.

Weather-wise, the wing continues blowing from the South, and it’s not expected to turn North until Tuesday.  At the same time, we are expecting some rain on Tuesday, so I’m not sure what that means for the Monarchs.

The Ants that are attracted to this plant are not Fire Ants, and don’t appear to be very aggressive.  I need to investigate what type of Ants these are.  They are not a nuisance at all.

We also see some Wasps around these plants.  Not the big red Paper Wasps, which I know will attack Butterfly Caterpillars, I think some of these are Mud Daubers.

The type of Bees that are attracted to this plant (that we have seen) include the Bumblebee, Carpenter Bee and Mason Bee.  I realize that there are some risks associated with the Carpenter Bee and housing, but we’ve never had a problem with them.

Carpenter Bee On Loofah Flower

I didn’t expect many Butterflies to be attracted to this plant, but there are some Skippers that like this plant.  If the size of the proboscis is a requirement, that may be why the Skippers like this plant.  Look at the size of the proboscis on this Skipper.  It’s huge!  It might be hard to see based on the size of your monitor, but that proboscis

Skipper With Long Tongue On Loofah Flower

I tried to really do a close cropping of the picture so you can see just how long the proboscis compared to the entire body of the Skipper.

Closeup of Skipper Proboscis

I’ll finish up this post by saying I’m beginning to really like this plant.  Sure there’s the Loofah aspect, but this plant is also is just a naturally attractive plant.  Nice big leaves, that provide some shade, wonderfully pretty pollinating flowers, and a nice selection of pollinating insects that would help any garden.

Female Common Green Darner Dragonfly

In contrast, the Male does not have the distinctive bulls-eye on the forehead, and the thorax is bright green with a blue abdomen.

Male Common Green Darner Dragonfly In Flight