On our walk along the trail this afternoon the first insect we encountered was this small moth, feeding on the flowers of a white teasel.
The teasel was also attractive to this Yellow Swallowtail butterfly, but he was too far away to photograph properly with a phone.
Further on we came across a large cricket, sitting quietly on a narrow branch over the path.
Our biggest surprise was to find several young trees where cicadas were easily visible.
We know that we are surrounded by cicadas as we hear them night and day from May to the end of October - but other than the occasional dead one on a path, we don't usually see them.
They are remarkably well camouflaged against the tree bark.
The presence of these strange dried up carapaces is a sign of cicada activity.
Cicadas start life as a small white egg laid on tree bark and turn into a white nymph which feeds on the tree then drops to the ground and burrows to eat the tree roots. It remains there between 2 and 17 years (depending on species - there are 390 different ones in the US - as well as climate). The mature and aging beetle then emerges from the ground and climbs up the tree where it sheds its outer casing to reveal the adult winged insect.
David took this photo which shows the detailed features of the adult cicada - which is around 3 inches long.
The cicada was not in the front of the queue when it came to looks. Not sure if I have seen white teasels . Teasels are great for attracting birds and butterflies as long as they are not in my garden growing in my lawn!
ReplyDeleteHope you won't be there when it's 17 years pass (forgot what year they last appear but it's a nightmare, they fly allover the place and land everywhere like on you, on your hair, shoulders, it's like a Hitchcock movie!
ReplyDelete