Beneficial Bugs

Spiders can be some of the best natural predators to have around...provided you know where they are and steer clear of their webs. This garden spider is using a patch of monkey grass to spin its home in a nice out of the way place low to the ground.

The zig zag pattern in the middle alerts us that this is an Argiope spider, not a European garden spider.  Similarly, Argiope spiders are usually strikingly yellow and black whereas the the Europeans are gray and tan. Don't worry, there won't be a test over any material covered here.

I was shocked when I did my morning plant inspection and noticed this:

My dragon's blood sedum was covered in bugs! Yikes! I hurriedly snapped some photos for identification and went inside to research.  My anxiety lessened as I quickly learned this probably wasn't a bad thing, and in fact, could be a good thing.  These strange guys are assassin bugs, and I have actually blogged about their kind before here and here! I learn something new all the time. Anyway, assassin bugs are good in the sense that they eat/kill/assassinate pests from plants, and since my succulents seem a little susceptible to caterpillars lately, I am leaving nature as is. I am sure it will all balance out.  Gotta love good ol' Mother Nature.

NOTE:

The lovely Priscilla from Blossom Hideaway informed me that my comment section was not accepting comments. I reverted back to a simple boring template for now just to appease the comment Gods and plan to have a permanent solution sometime in August when I get back from vacation. Or maybe September. 

Life goes on...for some

The circle of life can be a nasty one. Just ask this fly.

predator and prey on  Variegated Aenoium Arboreum

Things like this normally don't bother me, but after reviewing the pictures close up, I found this to be a little creepy.  Vampire-ish if you will.

Closeup of this mutant bug's sucker sticking right into the face of the fly. Perhaps through his eye...hard to tell

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Don't worry, no flies were harmed in the making of this blog. They were killed. Sucked bone dry. And good riddance.

What's in a name? Information.

Where I come from, this would be called a stink bug.

Here in Austin, however, I always hear them referred to as 'leaf footed bugs'.
Technically both are correct. 
Although it's not a true "stink bug", these leaf-footed fellows can emit a foul odor when handled. In other words, they can stink. Yuck. Why on earth wouldn't you keep that information in the name? Selling this thing as leaf-footed really doesn't give one the heebie-jeebies it should.

I watched this particular one crawl around on one of my newly planted succulent pots. It was an incredible irritation since I politely removed him 3 or 4 times today alone.

The trouble is I don't see them until my face is just a little too close.  Makes me jump every single time!  At least this time I had my camera. I found myself a little too nervous to put my camera directly in his face so close up...so...sides and backsides it is!  It'll be like a whole new world when[ever] I get a new camera.

creepy, crawly, buggy, flying menagerie

There is a plethora of life in the yard this time of year and I have been busy snapping away. It is rather hot outside so the (neat) bugs can only be seen in the morning or the evening. Given my night owl nature, I usually don't rise with the sun, so most of my photo shoots are evening occurrences.

My favorite (and most triumphant) photos belong to the dragonflies. I have an old out-of-date camera, so to catch these quick little buggers is quite the challenge! I did three different photo shoots in one day, each time capturing a different color of dragonfly! (after tons of sweat) I don't know anything technical about them. They're just neat. (Note: clicking on images enlarges them)

SMILE!

I have no idea what this next thing is. All I know is that it did not look like this with the naked eye. 

I plucked the tiniest snail from some foliage after a rain. He journeyed down my finger, then across, all the while leaving a slimy trail behind him.

Can't have baby bugs without eggs!

These are Aphid Lion eggs, or green lacewing larvae. I leave them because, as stated, they eat the lion's share of aphids. But they do bite humans! I have proof if needed. The adults grow up to be green lacewings. Beneficial pretty much all around, minus some accidental human nibbling. 

Well, I guess you can't have eggs without, uh.....love?

I caught these two nasty-doers on my car. I wanted to go get sandwiches for me and the Mr. but these two wanted me to wait. 

Notice the total disregard for being caught. Their expressions never even changed.

At least every once in a while, something pretty stops by.

I don't know the name of most critters off-hand. I'm calling all these last pics 'butterflies' completely out of ignorance. I am most certain the last one is a moth, but the research won't do itself. [Not that the two people who actually read this come here to learn :)]