I saw this hoverfly on a mamane flower near the top of Pu’u Wa’awa’a, which is one of my favorite places to hike. At first I thought it was a wasp or bee, which is what I’m supposed to think. Mimicking these insects may afford the hoverfly some protection from predators.
Allograpta obliqua is considered a beneficial insect since its larvae feed on aphids.
Many thanks to Daniel at whatsthatbug.com for help with the identification.
I’d rather be at the beach, though I’m not one for stretching out on the sand and slowly broiling. I much prefer a beach like Kealia, north of Ho’okena, where the mix of sand and lava attracts tide pool dwellers and the birds that feed on them.
It was here, also, that I first saw butterflies, such as the large orange sulphur (Phoebis agarithe) below, drinking from the sand. I subsequently learned that butterflies can’t drink from open water, but get moisture from dew on plants, wet sand, earth and mud. In addition, drinking from these sources allows butterflies to obtain needed salts and minerals.
I learn something new every day. Now, if only I could remember these things.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘I’d rather be…’
When it comes to bugs, there are many contenders for otherworldly status. One such is the praying mantis. This one was slowly working its way along a hedge looking for prey, but it kept a wary eye out for the weird looking, big-headed alien creature pointing that glass-fronted box in its direction.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘Out of This World.’
Recently, when I moved my truck to mow the lawn, I noticed this scene at a neighbor’s house. I was impressed by the number of bees and the huge, hanging combs filled with sweet honey. When I got out of the truck, I thought I’d get a few photos.
The bee wrangler called out to me that there were a lot of angry bees about. I said I wasn’t going to come closer and asked if it was OK to take photos. He said that was fine, but the bees might come and find me where I was. Since I was a good 70 or 80 feet away, I wasn’t too worried. I snapped a few photos, then heard a buzzing noise, and felt something on my arm. Sure enough it was a bee.
I imagined this bee sending back a message along the lines of, ‘Hey, here’s another one of those creatures, but this one doesn’t have protective clothing. Let’s get him.’ I pictured the rest of the colony heading my way in a matter of moments, so I blew the bee off my arm and hotfooted it back home. Before I went inside I made sure I hadn’t accidentally ended up with the queen bee lodged somewhere in my clothing. No need to have my day turn into a starring role in a horror movie.
After the lawn was mowed, the bee wranglers were still on the scene so I left the truck where it was. A couple of hours later I thought it would be safe to retrieve it. As I reached the house, the bee wranglers were just leaving. We chatted a bit about what they’d been doing. They’d cleaned out the bees’ home in the wall and put a new hive next to it. Presumably they’d found the queen and installed her in her new digs. The idea is to have the bees relocate to the new hive and, when they’re settled in, move it to a new location, probably on one of the farms around here.
They warned me, however, that there were still some disgruntled bees flying around. As if on cue, I heard buzzing. Something landed on my head and started burrowing into my hair. The bee wrangler had just handed my his card and I used that to try and extract the bee. The buzzing intensified, but I couldn’t dislodge it. Finally, it popped loose and I took off for my truck. I jumped inside, making sure the door shut properly and the windows were closed, and drove home.
I avoided walking past that house for a while until, two days later, the hive was gone and it was safe to venture out again.
For more information about Ho’ola Beekeepers, go to savehealthrive.com.
A passion vine butterfly drinks sweet nectar from a tasselflower. I think it’s a Florida tasselflower (Emilia fosbergii), which is also known as Flora’s paintbrush.
The painted lady butterfly is one of the most common butterflies in the world, but it’s only recently that I’ve spotted a few of them in Hawaii. This isn’t because they’re a recent introduction. They’ve been around here since the late 1800s. I guess I just haven’t been visiting the right areas.
I noticed this katydid on the outside of a window and hurried to take a photo. There are a couple of things I like about this photo.
One is that it reminds me that it’s good to look at things from a different perspective now and then. The other is that it reminds me I really, really need to wash the windows.
Another post based on the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which is ‘Silence.’
I glimpsed this moth flitting by and snapped a couple of photos, one of which is the second shot. I realized this wasn’t something I’d seen before and wanted to get more photos to make identifying it easier, but it had gone to ground and I’d lost track of it. So I waited, scanning the ground without spotting anything. A light breeze ruffled the grass, but otherwise all was silence.
Eventually, having seen no sign of its presence, I gave up, got up and moved on. Within seconds the moth flew by again. This time I followed its flight and saw where it put down. Even then, as I padded towards it, I thought I’d lost it again. But when I zoomed in on the apparently empty spot, the moth appeared, as seen above. No chance I’m spotting this had I not seen it flying.
It’s a white-lined sphinx moth, first recorded in Hawaii in 1877 and now present on all the islands. It’s probably fairly common but it’s the first time I’ve seen one.
Graham's Island 