Sunday Safari - Bees

Once again I'm out to find some insects in the garden. It has been a hot weekend. This last week I have spotted some new bees visiting. This guy above and the next two pictures below is kind-of funny. I am lead to believe it is a male leaf cutting bee (genus Megachile)...I haven't see any cut leaves though.

Here's a better view of his back...


In this shot you can see the front leg (with the whitish hair puff) cleaning the antenna. I guess these ornamental front legs are characteristic of the males.


I got a bumblebee! I head it "bumbling" and had to run for the camera to catch evidence it was here.


I spotted this larger type of hover fly...it's much bigger than the normal ones like in the next shot.


One of our "normal" hover flies.


Look who found the brassicas.


Look who grew up from last week... okay I'm betting it's not the same individual.


Just a damsel.


Thanks for stopping by...now go see what's in your garden!

Safari Sunday (Too)

Sherry at Q's Corner and Cheryl at My Wildlife Sanctuary decided to do a safari for insects today. I just couldn't resist, so I am making a post about my garden insects. (Above) It seems that one kind of bee (mason bee?) likes the radish blooms and another (honey bee) the chives. Year after year the chives never fail to attract the honey bees. One thing I haven't spotted this year is butterflies in the garden. On to the rest of the captures (for some other shots, see my post Insects - Beetle from Tuesday).

Here's another shot at the radish blooms.


A damselfly resting on what I think is a catch-fly (Silene) Vaccaria pyramidata (Dairy Pink) flower. This one looks different from the one I saw Tuesday. I have spotted one dragonfly this year, but no photos yet.


Just a resting hoverfly.


Thanks for visiting and check out the other safaries.

Insects - Beetle

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)