A katydid, probably heading toward one of the basil plants. I think this one might be one of the bush katydids, but there are an awful lot of them.
Category Archives: Animals
Abstracts: The pitter-patter of tiny feet
The telltale foot pads of a gecko making its way up the outside of a window blind.
Secusio extensa – fireweed biocontrol moth
While out on a walk, I came across a patch of yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and thought the patterns made by the flowers would make a good photo. So I chose an individual plant to focus on and by good fortune found this moth hanging off the side.
The moth is Secusio extensa (I’ve also seen it referred to as Galtara extensa) and it hails from Madagascar. While this begins to smack of another invasive species, in fact this moth was deliberately introduced to the Hawaii in 2012. The reason for that is that the moth’s larvae feed on fireweed (Senecio madagascariensis) and fireweed is a truly bad invasive species here. Besides spreading in a prolific manner, it’s poisonous to livestock.
What I particularly liked about this individual was that it appeared to be enraptured by the yarrow plant, bobbing its head up and down continuously. I also loved its comb-like antennae, which are more properly known as pectinate antennae.
Stylin’ donkey
This donkey maintains that mohawks are still cool.
Paper wasp on a plumeria
A paper wasp clambers over a budding plumeria.
Green anole on a ti leaf
This green anole is keeping a watchful eye out from the shade of a ti plant.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
Young stick insect
In my ongoing quest to thwart leaf miners from devouring the basil plants, I’ve surrounded them with netting made from window screen material. One morning, I saw this little fellow perched on the netting. It’s easily the smallest stick insect I’ve seen. That’s a pretty fine mesh it’s clinging to.
Cow shower
One warm afternoon I came across this scene. This pasture is one of several irrigated by water from the Kohala Ditch. The irrigation nozzles throw a fine spray over a considerable distance, but when the flow is turned off, the water in the pipes continues to drain down the hill before exiting in a gentle arc through the lower nozzles.
I’ve seen cows use the spray from these nozzles as water fountains. This one has figured out that such a flow makes for a nice, cooling shower on a warm afternoon. She stood there for several minutes, letting the water splash against her, before ambling off into the field.
For more information about the Kohala Ditch, go to fluminkohala.com/the-kohala-ditch.
