Category Archives: Insects

A Speeding Green Bullet!

Posted on September 20, 2018 by

Autumn has long been my favorite season of the year — colorful tree foliage, cooler air for comfortable hikes, clear cerulean skies, cozy sweaters…I could go on. But this is also a season tinged with sadness for the end of … Continue reading →

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And Now We Wait

Posted on September 18, 2018 by

My friend Annie planted fennel in her garden this year with hopes of attracting Eastern Black Swallowtails to lay their eggs there. Fennel is one of their many host plants (things that their caterpillars can eat when they hatch), along … Continue reading →

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Standing in a Cloud of Monarchs

Posted on September 12, 2018 by

On the weekend of September 8 and 9, we got lucky here on the Ohio shore of Lake Erie. I’d thought it was going to be a good weekend to hunker down indoors with coffee and a good book, and … Continue reading →

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Just Call Me “Moth Mama”

Posted on September 6, 2018 by

In my previous post, I wrote about some yellow-striped armyworm caterpillars (Spodoptera ornithogalli) I’d brought home to raise. Many caterpillars have beautiful markings, and this one was no exception. I didn’t notice this pretty geometric design on the dorsal side until … Continue reading →

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Wordless Wednesday

Posted on September 5, 2018 by
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Lepidoptera Life Lessons

Posted on August 23, 2018 by

I’ve written here about raising monarch butterfly caterpillars in the past couple of years. It’s even more exciting now that I have my very own milkweed plants and can watch the butterflies laying eggs in my yard and then bring … Continue reading →

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Wordless Wednesday

Posted on August 8, 2018 by
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Special Garden Visitors

Posted on August 2, 2018 by

At the risk of getting ahead of myself before I catch you up to real time in the new native garden series, I want to share some observations from my garden today. As I’ve mentioned before, one of the primary … Continue reading →

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Going Native in Toledo — Series Intro

Posted on July 23, 2018 by

In the spring of 2017 I moved to Toledo, Ohio. I bought a house with a lovely yard where I would finally be able to experiment with native plant gardening. I’m beginning a series of posts to document what I’m … Continue reading →

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What’s In a Name?

Posted on July 19, 2018 by

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” ~ Juliet to Romeo, Wm. Shakespeare As if dragonflies weren’t already fascinating enough just by virtue of their body structures and behaviors, I’ve … Continue reading →

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