Now that the flowers are gone

A tribe of rhododendron leafhoppers provide sparks of colour:

I love the yellow comb legs.

Beautiful pests, beautiful pest control specialists

A couple of days ago, I noticed a few leafhoppers on one of the rhododendrons. I went out to look for them this afternoon, and there's been a population explosion; they're on all the rhodos now, hopping away merrily.

Rhododendron leafhopper, Graphocephala fennahi, a little under 1 cm. long.

These insects feed exclusively on the sap of rhododendrons. They may carry rhodo fungus disease, and may cause the shrub to drop its leaves, as well. But they're so pretty! I can't force myself to kill them, as a pest.

No matter; the eight-legged exterminators are on the job:

Happy cross spider, with leafhopper wrap.

The spiders are on every rhododendron, and on the evergreens around them. I checked about a dozen  webs this afternoon; the spiders are fat, and about half of them had a leafhopper in hand at the moment.

More buggy goings-on.

I was experimenting with setups for insect photography tonight, so I went out and "shanghaied" a couple of subjects.

Here's another of those rhododendron leafhoppers, like the "fire bug" from last week, but upside-down, under glass and in bright light. Now I can see that the bristles that seemed to be part of the body are on the back legs.

And I caught a very active harvestman, or "daddy long-legs", as we always called them.

The eyes are odd: they are close together, and stick up above the body, like periscopes. In this next photo, his mouth appendages are easily seen.

When I first dumped him into the plastic container where I photographed him, he was quite agitated. He did not calm down until he had straitened out each of his legs, using those mouth parts. Here he is working on the end of one:

When I was done, I took both my "volunteers" back outside and set them free.

And, in other news, I keep checking on my American house spider. She is guarding her eggs conscientiously.

Tomorrow: back to Serendip.

Rainbow Colours

Backyard Bugging:


First, in the daylight.

My hostas are blooming. They don't make much of a show; only one flower opens at a time, on each of a few stalks, while yesterday's droop and tomorrow's are still in bud. I grow them mainly for the leaves. Still, that one small flower is worth photographing.


Zooming in, I discovered that it is playing hostess to a party of ants.

I wonder: they don't seem to be going anywhere near the pollen. Do they have any role to play in the fertilization process? Or are they just opportunistic feeders?

On the wall, I discover another visitor; a tiny yellow fly, about the size of a fruit fly. From the rear, his abdomen looks like a miniature lemon.

And at night:

I was out checking on the American house spiders, and discovered this beastie on my patio doors. The photos were taken with a desk lamp (so the camera could find something to focus on) and the flash, looking from outside in.

First, just the plain bug. I'm not sure what it is yet; a green and red bug, with wings, about 1/4 inch long. Strong, defined markings, big black eyes, outlining on the head. Some kind of "toothed" edge to the body or wings at the bottom, barely visible in this photo, more evident in the next, if you click on it to get the full size.

Here he is, with his reflection in 2 double-glassed panels. Too bright in the flesh, progressively paler with each reflection. (And it looks like I need to be washing those windows again!)


And sometimes there's an advantage to the "El Cheapo" brand of digital camera; look what it did with a bit of conflicting light in the distance! Again, click on this to get the full effect.

I still don't know what this is, but for now, I'm calling it my "fire bug".

*Update: It is a rhododendron leafhopper, Graphocephala fennahi, the only graphocephala in the west. Thanks to Lynne, of Hasty Brook.