Day 334: Pin Cherry and Guest

 Backyard Nature, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Nov 302014
 

I find leaves endlessly captivating this time of year along Piney Woods Church Road.  And endlessly available, too.  So their images keep turning up here on this blog. It hasn’t rained in quite a few days, so water droplets are out of the question.  And insects and other invertebrates have largely gone into hiding these past several weeks.  I was surprised to find a lone orb spider a couple of centimeters across on its web this afternoon, but it scurried away before I could capture a good photograph.  Still, as a bit of diversion from all the leaves, I add it to my post as well, converted to black and white with a dark blue filter.

 

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Day 330: Mysterious Cocoon

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  1 Response »
Nov 262014
 

I paused on my walk down Piney Woods Church Road late this afternoon to notice a silken cocoon that was attached to the side of a greenbrier stem.  I photographed it in the waning light, trusting that identification would be relatively easy back home.  After thumbing through various field guides and looking at many photographs online, I finally found a tentative match:  the six-spot Burnet moth, Zygaena filipendulae.  Alas, this moth is found in Britain and continental Europe, not in North America.  Its closest Georgia relative is the Grapeleaf Skeletonizer (Harrisina americana), a common crop pest and certainly a possibility.  However, this caterpillar evidently spins a cocoon among the fallen leaves at the base of its host plants, rather than along a stem.  I could not locate any photographs of its cocoon, so I still think it is a possibility.  I suppose I will have to wait until spring and see what emerges.

 

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Deer Head

 Natural History  No Responses »
Nov 212014
 

Along the side of Piney Woods Church Road earlier today, near the intersection with Hutcheson Ferry, I came upon this deer head.  Enough antler was left to identify the species, and several teeth remained, as well.   Not much skin, and a notable absence of a body.  I might speculate as to how it arrived there to greet a passing traveler, but I honestly do not know.

 

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Day 261: Roadside Zoo

 Agriculture and Husbandry, Backyard Nature, Insects, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Sep 182014
 

On my morning Piney Woods Church walk today, I wandered to the edge of a patch of weeds in search of a flower, and ended up discovering a roadside zoo.  I walked from one end of the road to the other, the intersection with Hutcheson Ferry Road.  Looking down the road, I saw a brilliant red trumpet-shaped flower vining up a sweetgum sampling in the road bank.  I waked down the road to examine it; then, turning to look back, I noticed the same flower scattered throughout the patch of weeds.  I strolled into the grass-lined gully beside Piney Woods Church Road, to get a couple of close-ups of the lovely blooms.  They turned out to belong to the Small Red Morning Glory (Ipomoea coccinea), a native of tropical America that has become naturalized to moist soil and waste places throughout the Southeast.

 

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I had just finished a series of photographs when I felt something on my leg.  I glanced down, and saw a black beetle, about an inch in length.  I am proud to say that I did not react right away to flick it away, but instead started taking pictures.  It seemed quite inquisitive and almost “cute”, in a beetle-ish sort of way.  After half a dozen pictures, I gently flicked the top of my sock to send him (or her) onto the grass.  There, I took another few photographs.  This quite charming beetle turned out to be none other than the Margined Blister Beetle (Epicauta funebris).  Evidently I was wise not to perturb it; as Bill Bixby used to remark on the 1980s TV show, “The Incredible Hulk”, “Don’t make me angry.  You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”  In this case, the blister beetle evidently secretes a caustic chemical that, not surprisingly, can cause skin irritation and blisters. The substance is even more toxic to horses.  A handful of crushed beetles, mixed in with a meal of alfalfa hay, can be fatal.  Still, I find this beetle quite endearing.

 

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Glancing through the weeds along the roadbank, I noticed a thin katydid perched on a stem.  It was most likely the Slender Meadow Katydid (Conocephalus fasciatus).  

 

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A nearby stem held an even more impressive specimen — a large Differential Grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis).  How stunning!

 

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Nearby was yet another singing insect of late summer:  a Fork-Tailed Bush Katydid (Scudderia furcata).

 

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As I left this site of so many new discoveries, I glanced back and took a photograph.  This roadside zoo might not have a neon sign, gift shop, or parking lot, but it is well worth the visit!

 

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Day 255: The Arrowshaped Micrathena Spins

 Backyard Nature, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Sep 122014
 

Awaiting rain on another hot and dry late afternoon (rain that avoided us completely, falling heavily on Atlanta’s downtown instead), I wandered down Piney Woods Church Road in search of new discoveries.  Today, I encountered an unfamiliar yellow and black spider, about a centimeter across, with two spiny projections on the end of her abdomen.  I intently watched her spinning a web for several minutes.  Later, consulting my Spiders of the Carolinas text, I discovered that she was an Arrowshaped Micrathena (Micrathena sagittata), a striking orbweaver that is relatively uncommon in North and South Carolina (though I am not certain about Georgia).

 

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Assassin Clown

 Backyard Nature, Insects, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project  No Responses »
Sep 072014
 

Today I encountered one of the most gaudy, clown-like of all the unusual insects I have seen along Piney Woods Church Road.  When first I saw it among the branches of a roadside weed, it had its proboscis down, and looked like it was feeding on the juices of the plant.  I assumed it was a harmless, brightly-colored herbivore of some kind.  When I zoomed in on the digital image, though, I discovered that it was actually feeding on some sort of insect larva, possibly a tiny caterpillar.  After inadvertently interrupting its breakfast, the insect began wandering the plant, and I embarked on a micro-safari, photographing it as it did so. After a few minutes of this, I continued on my way.  Returning to the same weed twenty minutes later, I found it again an a different branch, and photographed it yet again.

I suspected that a bug so non-conventionally attired would be easy to find in an online search.  Indeed, all it took was “bug black and white striped legs” to retrieve dozens of other images of it.  The insect is almost certainly an Orange Assassin Bug nymph, Pselliopus barberi.   In keeping with the account of this bug in the National Wildlife Federation’s Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America, it was occupying an open habitat near a woodland edge.  “They are active from late spring through fall, when they hunt for insects during the day on shrubs and herbaceous undergrowth.”  In the middle photo, the Orange Assassin Bug appears to be stalking a small aphid near the bottom of the image, having had its breakfast (top photo) so rudely interrupted by a nosy photographer.

 

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All Ears (Mostly)

 Backyard Nature, Golden Hour, Natural History, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Sep 052014
 

This evening I set out for Piney Woods Church Road a scant hour before sunset.  The air was a bit cooler, though still rather warm and muggy.  About halfway down the road, beside what was once a mule barn, I noticed a lean and wary Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus).  It stood motionless in the grass, probably hoping to escape unnoticed.  It was completely alert, ears raised — though not quite “all ears”, as it apparently lost a couple of pieces of one of them in some past mishap.  I was able to approach to within eight feet or so of this rabbit before it turned tail and hopped a short distance away.  We parted company, and I continued on my walk.

 

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Argiope Aurantia, Front and Back

 Backyard Nature, Natural History, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Sep 042014
 

I know, yet another photograph of the Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia)….  I was on Facebook yesterday, and saw an entire discussion thread loaded with everyone’s photos of this enormous spider.  I can understand why, of course — this spider is easily among the most dramatic and photogenic of our orb-weavers.  Practically no other spider in the Southeast approaches it in size, and its vivid yellow coloration is quite conspicuous against the greens and browns of a forest edge.  Then there is its huge web, with its carefully-stitched “zipper” that helps to prevent wayward birds from crashing into it.

For a slightly different take on Argiope aurantia, I am including photographs of a moderately-sized female I saw along Piney Woods Church Road today, taken both from both the front and the back.  Her underside is not quite as visually stunning, but still imposing enough.  And this particular one was only an inch and a half across.

 

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Day 247: Creeping Lespedeza

 Backyard Nature, Native Plants, Natural History, Piney Woods Church Road 365 Project, Sense of Place  No Responses »
Sep 042014
 

This time of year, there are precious few flowers coming into bloom along Piney Woods Church Road.  I was elated to encounter diminutive pea-like blossoms in a small gully beside a neighbor’s driveway during my walk earlier this afternoon.  I am fairly confident that the quarter-inch blooms belong to Creeping Lespedeza, also known as Smooth Creeping Bush Clover (Lespedeza repens).  Like all members of the Pea Family (Fabaceae), this perennial, common to open woods and roadsides throughout the Eastern United States, enhances soil quality by fixing nitrogen.  Plus, it adds lovely tiny splashes of pinkish-purple to the roadside that I can enjoy on my daily walks during the hot and humid days of early September in Georgia.

 

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