Queen Anne’s Lace

USWildflowers Daily Plant 12/01/2012

Photo from 6/6/2009.  Location: The Pocket, Walker County, GA

Queen Anne’s Lace, an introduced and possibly invasive species. For more information go to the Daucus carota detail page.

Thanks to Allen Boynton for identifying the butterfly as a Great Spangled Fritillary.

Queen Anne’s Lace, Wild Carrot – Daucus carota

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Question Mark Butterfly #WingsOnWednesday

Wednesday has been creeping up on me lately, thus the almost Thursday WingsOnWednesday post.  This lovely butterfly was one of many (several different species) hanging aroung the Blue Hole at Pigeon Mountain on Memorial Day. 

Thanks to Twitter friend @pwtphotography for the identification as a Question Mark butterfly – Polygonia interrogationis.  @echoschemes and @LeeHillerLondon also pointed me in the right direction identifying it as a member of the Polygonia genus.  I hadn’t gotten any closer to thinking (correctly, at least!) it was a member of the Nymphalidae family.

Question Mark - Polygonia interrogationis

Following photo added to help show the mark that is what made me decide it is a Question Mark – Polygonia interrogationis – instead of the very similar Eastern Comma – Polygonia comma.

The arrow points to the question mark.

Butterfly #WingsOnWednesday

I spent about half of last Saturday (05/21/2011) checking out the wildflowers in the Blue Hole area of Pigeon Mountain, and then a quick run down to the creek below the Civil War Wayside in the Estelle area.  This butterfly was enjoying some late morning nectar.  Unfortunately I don’t know either the butterfly species or the wildflower species; most likely one of the Rubus species.  Any help with either would be greatly appreciated.

Wild Azalea and #Butterfly #WingsOnWednesday

My wife and I took a ride up Estelle Mine Road on Pigeon Mountain on this past Saturday.  We wanted to go back to a spot to see a very vibrant batch of Wild Comfrey (Cynoglossum virginianum) that we had spotted the week before with only a single blossom open.  Turned out to be a great drive.  Not only was the Wild Comfrey fully blooming, but we saw many other wildflowers, including our first ever encounter with Yellow Honeysuckle (Lonicera flava) and the bicolored form of Bird’s Foot Violet (Viola pedata.) 

My wife captured a photo of this butterfly in flight at a Wild Azalea plant.  I think it was actually leaving the plant at the time, but I like it because it looks like it’s dive-bombing the azalea.

Butterfly at Wild Azalea

Another Ironweed #Butterfly

Another of the butterflies cavorting among the Giant Ironweed plants in north Georgia exactly a month ago.

Coming in for a landing!

Click on the photos for a larger image.

Safe!

Butterfly on Ironweed

Our bird bath has been frozen over two mornings in a row now.  No butterflies today.  A month ago this butterfly was among dozens dancing among the ironweed in the warm sunshine in northern Georgia.

Butterfly on Ironweed

Eastern Tailed Blue Azure on Aster

Cindy, Sam, and I went down to Zahnd’s Natural Area for a little while yesterday.  Lovely fall day; a few wildflowers are still persisting, with the predominant ones being the Asters – this is likely a Symphyotrichum species.  This Eastern Tailed Blue Azure butterfly (I think that’s the correct ID) sat still for me for a few seconds.  (Click on the photo for a larger image.)

Eastern Tailed Blue Azure on Aster

Bugs on Bidens – Insects Enjoying Tickseed Sunflower

I’ve renewed my Chattanooga Nature Center membership for the first time in a long time this year – long overdue, I’d say – and have been over there a few times over the past couple of weeks.  The CNC membership includes access to Reflection Riding, where there are areas in which they have allowed free roam of several fields by wild plants.  In those fields many late summer wildflowers are blooming now, and probably the biggest show right now is the massive growth of Bidens aristosa – Tickseed Sunflower.

While this display is beautiful, it’s not just the human visitors who are enjoying the flowers.  The number of flying insect buzzing, flitting, and darting around the blossoms is staggering.  Below photos of a few of them.  I don’t know my insects, so if someone has identification information, I’d really appreciate a comment or email.

Enjoy; the bugs sure did.  Click on a photo for a larger image.

Based on a post by Jim McCormac over at the Ohio Birds and Biodiversity blog, I believe the insect in photo #1 is a Blue-winged Wasp – Scolia dubia.

Blue-winged Wasp - Scolia dubia; Tickseed Sunflower

For the rest of the photos, read the rest of the story…

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