This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Your 2022 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. Like last year, I’ve gone with a favorite photo from each month of 2021, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in.
This Black Witch Moth spent the day resting under the eaves of the house. The wingspan is a good six inches and it was in perfect condition, not like some of the battered individuals I’ve seen before.
I found this hawk moth caterpillar crossing a walkway, and ushered it to safety. I’m not sure exactly which moth it is the caterpillar of, possibly Swinhoe’s Striated Hawk Moth (Hippotion rosetta) or Pale Striated Hawk Moth (Hippotion boerhaviae), both of which have been recorded in Hawaii and are very difficult to tell apart.
Ceresium unicolor is a longhorn beetle that, apparently doesn’t have a common name. An introduced species, it’s not consider to be a problem in Hawaii. I found this one walking along the railing of my lanai.
When it’s a bird! This Red Button Ginger certainly looked like a bird, and it was taking a bunch of ants along for the ride.
I couldn’t resist returning to the Agave Attenuata currently blooming in the yard. On this occasion, I was watching a gecko buried in the flower when one of the bees that have been collecting from the flowers came into the frame.
The gecko looked decidedly unimpressed by the bee’s proximity, and relieved when it disappeared.
Posted for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (See more responses here).
One of the Agave Attenuatas in my yard is currently blooming, the first one here to do that since I’ve lived here. Because of this, when I walk around the garden, I’ve been paying particular attention to this plant. Bees have been busy in the vicinity, but geckos have been equally drawn to the goodies on offer.
Here, a Gold Dust Day Gecko licks one of the unopened flowers. Not sure if it was after moisture, something sweet, or some of the numerous aphids that have can be seen on the plant.
Posted for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (See more responses here).
Yesterday, I posted about Aphis nerii aphids descending on a Hawaiian Crown Flower (Calotropis gigantea). After they were gone the plant continued to do well for a day or two. Then holes started to appear in the leaves and arcs along the edges.
Closer examination revealed a couple of tiny Monarch Butterfly caterpillars munching their way around the leaves. The Crown Flower is a favorite host for these caterpillars, so this wasn’t a surprise. We were also keen to provide an area for the Monarchs to thrive in. So we let the caterpillars be and monitored the situation.
What happened, not surprisingly, is that the caterpillars grew quickly. As they did so, the leaves of the plant diminished accordingly. I was gone for my weekend, and when I returned, the caterpillars had more than doubled in size. The plant though looked like someone had gone at it with a machete. We wondered if the caterpillars would devour the whole thing before they pupated.
When I returned to work after another weekend, the caterpillars were gone. As the Crown Flower was food for the caterpillars, so it appeared, the caterpillars were food for the numerous birds in the area.
The plant will likely recover from its ravishing and, once it’s bigger, it might be better able to accommodate the attentions of these caterpillars and in turn provide more cover for them from the birds. Or not! I will monitor the situation.
Posted for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (see more responses here).
