Green is the color of the day(s) at the Wehr Nature Center. The big flowers in the prairie and savanna are just starting to emerge and the small flowers now there are mostly below the green of the prairie dock and other plants. There are few big animals … a deer once in a while and the turkeys can still be heard but I’ve only seen one or two in the last several days. Most birds have done their nesting and have either wandered off somewhere or are just subdued. Bugs are still pretty sparce, particularly the larger ones. However, walking the trails is as always, a great way to spend time and there’s always something to see and photograph.
These are the tiny blossoms of the Sumac on the prairie.
A Roly-Polie, a favorite of kids in the woods, also called pill bugs, potato bugs, doodle bugs, slaters and butchy boys. Technically, they are Armadillidiidae which is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean.
Another variety of Robber Fly. Note the arrangement of pads and hooks on its feet.
A tiny Crab Spider on a Black-eyed Susan.
A young Red Bee Balm.
The early blossom of a Graph Honeysuckle. This is the only one (tree/bush) I’ve seen in the park.
A shy Banded Longhorn Beetle. One more foot … yet another hook and pad arrangement.
This is the Asian Lady Beetle. From (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonia_axyridis): It is native to eastern Asia, but has been artificially introduced to North America and Europe to control aphids and scale insects. It is now common, well known, and spreading in those regions, and has also established in Africa and widely across South America. This species is conspicuous in North America, where it may locally be known as the Halloween beetle, as it often invades homes during October to overwinter. This species is widely considered to be one of the world’s most invasive insects, partly due to their tendency to overwinter indoors and the unpleasant odor and stain left by their bodily fluids when frightened or crushed, as well as their tendency to bite humans. Reportedly, it has heavily fed on soybean aphids (which recently appeared in the US after coming from China), supposedly saving farmers vast sums of money in 2001.
A Northern Flatid Planthopper nymph … a Flatormenis Proxima. These are seen most summers.
As previously mentioned, the tall flowers of the prairie have yet to bloom … except for this one. A Compass Plant flower, the only one I could find on the prairie and savanna last week. This one was on the prairie. There are several now.
Of the Ichneumon Wasp family which includes thousands of species.
The prairie and savanna (top) of the Wehr Nature Center.
The green of Wisconsin going off into the haze. This is looking mostly south from the Wehr Nature Center. At the lower left is Mallard Lake
WondersOfNature 