I thought I would post about some insects I have shot in my garden yesterday. Above you can see a hoverfly at the radish flower. Over that last few days I have really started to notice a number hovering around.
I think this is my first bee in the chives shot this year.
What's this beetle and is it bad? I have tried to search but have yet to identify them. I think that I have ruled out the most common bad guys: Striped potato beetle, cucumber beetle, and blister beetle. If anyone knows a good guide for beetles, please comment.
Here's what else I know or don't know about the beetles -skip this paragraph if you don't care about the beetles-. I think it could a type of "leaf beetle" (obviously that one, broad-bodied leaf beetle, is not it). It does resemble this "skeletonizing leaf beetle", but again not quite. (I don't like the sound of that name by-the-way). Finally, the closest I could get is a flea beetle on this page. My beetles seem to be bigger than flea and without the "jumping" legs. Oh well -- I was really looking see if they we good or bad in general. All the alternatives I could find are bad.
Some flying insect...
A damsel. I started noticing these last week I think. It seems right around pool season here they come out. I am reminded of a post by Amanda at "Cooking in someone else's kitchen" that mentioned the difference between damsels and dragonflies.
Oh, and a flower that was not quite out of bud on bloom day. Update: I think this is a Spurred Snapdragon ("Linaria maroccana"). You can just see the spur pointing back.
Spurred Snapdragon (Linaria maroccana)
