Pics from late summer

[j.w]

Ok I see, then you let them hatch and turn them loose in your garden to multiply and do their job! Sounds pretty cool and interesting B)
My daughter was a teachers helper once and they had stick bugs in the classroom that I guess they raised and they liked to eat blackberry bushes leaves. Guess they live in the tropical climates and not here.

 

[callingcolleen1]

That sounds very cool, I could order them and hatch them inside my greenhouse and let them loose from there! I will have too look into this. Thanks for the cool tip!!

 

[MitchM]

Bad news - I just googled the mantis egg case, and it says "no longer available" :sad:

http://reviews.costc...ews/reviews.htm


Here is a different supplier, in Ontario: http://www.naturalinsectcontrol.com/product.php?id=000000302

I guess I'll get them from there for 2013.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Maybe cause it's winter?

 

[CountryEscape]

OMG, I cannot imagine buying praying mantis egg cases, but why not! You can buy other bugs on-line. They are very cool, yes, Colleen, hatch them out in your greenhouse, you will have a huge head start on them for next year! Get them earlier than others in your area, as soon as they are available. Good luck!
Stick bugs are around this area, too, JW, just haven't spotted one in many years. They like to live in the woods, obviously, and I don't have that. I had not noticed praying mantises for many years, just this past year noticed a bunch of them. I spotted an egg case when I was tearing down the wooden play set, but I'm pretty sure it was last year's and had already hatched out the babies. I saw tiny babies, less than 1/2" long this past spring, all the way up to very large adults, about 4" long. They are amazing, very friendly, let you get within inches of them for the photograph. Their eyes are so cool up close in super macro mode!
Colleen, I've NEVER seen such a huge june bug, nor one that can swim either. JW, around here, in the heat of the summer, any street light or whatever has thousands of bugs, that's normal. What's cool is when there is a Luna Moth in the mix of bugs! Look on poles and on the ground. They are lime green, very large, and gorgeous!

 

[sissy]

I saw 2 praying mantis this year on my front porch and this is the first ones I have ever seen .We have been invaded by lady bugs the last couple of weeks ,it happens here every spring and fall .

 

[icsd71]

Lunars are awesome to see and so are Cecropia Moth moths most georgeous of them all!

 

[j.w]

We don't see those beautiful moths here. Must be a moth found only on the eastern part of the U.S?

 

[callingcolleen1]

CE, I don't see them very often, those big June Bugs, but man can they get big!! I used to be terrifed of them! They do swim, they are all black, hard shell, and six legs if I remember correct, and big pinchers too!!

 

[addy1]

Lunars are awesome to see and so are Cecropia Moth moths most georgeous of them all!

that is beautiful!

 

[sissy]

I see lots of the pink ,green and yellow whatevers moths butterflies I have no clue but they are pretty .I do get a few of these funny looking things around the pond ,sorry fuzzy pic as I was trying to get a pic before he or she left.

 

[addy1]

Neat sissy, I have not seen them up here.

 

[sissy]

someone said that is a luna moth but I have seen them more often lately ,at least once a month or so .I guess they like the pond and wonder if they come there to drink .

 

[CountryEscape]

That is definitely a Luna Moth, Sissy! They are very large, and lime green like that, with tips on the end of their wings. Very pretty to watch at a light post at night, but they tire easily, and then go down to the ground to rest.
Praying Mantis may eat the lady bug beetles, so maybe they will make a come back and eat those suckers up! I'm not talking about the lady bugs, which I don't even think we have any longer, I'm talking about the Asian beetles, that look like lady bugs, but little bigger and they stink and get inside your house in the fall. I don't have any of them around here, I've noticed. Must have something to do with the farmed fields, and all the insecticides they use. Maybe they have all died out in this block of land. LOL
I remember trying to talk my Mom into letting me put a Praying Mantis behind the heavy curtains in our family room, so it could eat the flies! She didn't go for it, but I remember reading that they were good for killing flies on windows. And, from the video I took, I had one that would sit on the hummingbird feeder, waiting to catch a bird! Yep, he actually was stalking the hummers. How funny is that?!

 

[sissy]

We had stink bugs in the spring and in the fall this year but last year they were really bad .The lady bugs come in the spring and fall but this past spring we had none but they sure made up for it the last couple of weeks .You even have to tie your hair up and put it under a hat or they get tangled in your hair .The one I had on my front porch got a giant cricket so a hummingbird is not much bigger .Has anyone seen hummingbird lover on here from VA she has not been seen .Going to have to pm her .