Top Photo: Crownbeard. Crownbeard is a local herbaceous composite, meaning it grows in the area, has no woody stems or branches and has both disk and ray flowers. I refer to it as the unkempt, or messy sunflower. The flowers seem never to be complete. The ray flowers are uneven in shape, and in most cases are missing many petals Yellow crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis) is common in the piedmont and can be found along roadsides, edges, and water courses. IRead more
Posts tagged: #Pine Sphinx
Three Caterpillars
I’ve had more than a few encounters with caterpillars the past week or two. Here, I’ve photos of three of them. First, the delicate cycnia (Cycnia tenera). It’s common enough and may be seen from June to October in our area. If you have dogbane growing in your immediate area, give a look, you may have either the caterpillars munching on the plant or adults mating or laying eggs on the underside of the leaves. The adults may be seenRead more
Late September Insects
Despite a general decrease in dragonfly activity, several dragonflies are still being seen in small numbers including Common Green Darner, Black Saddlebags and Wandering Glider. All three of these dragonfly species are known to move with the seasons. With the winds out of the north, mostly northeast for a good part of the period, I’m inclined to think that the individuals that are being seen are indeed migrants. Not on the move but still fairly common are Blue Dashers. SoRead more