Garden Visitors

[tropicbreeze]

The unsung heros. Snails are usually given a bad wrap but luckily we have the good ones here. These are Melon Snails, this particular species Xanthomelon durvillii. Only around in the wet season but very common. They're large and have a very hard shell, so hard you'd have to put them on concrete and hit them with  hammer to break the shell. They only eat dead vegetation. Some contractors left some excess concrete at my place and dozens of snails come to it during the wet season to get the lime. They're only out at night and are very sensitive to light. Difficult to get a decent photo before they withdraw into their shells.

 

Evening get together. Often up to 25 individuals getting their fix of lime.

 

Bristle Snail, Parglogenia pelodes. These only eat fungus and are often found on the underside of rotting logs. They're not so uptight about light. This one kept eating after I turned over the log in daylight, although it was a very overcast day.

 

[Hillizard]

This female Anna's Hummingbird has staked out my blooming Bauhinia variegata var. 'candida' and claimed it for this season and is defending it fiercely from any other hummers stopping by for a sip of nectar without permission!

[Silas_Sancona]

Bees, a Butterfly,  ...and Turtle -ette


Not sure on the sp. but  one of our smaller, native solitary sps that likes to aggregate in the evenings..  Unfortunately, i missed a much larger aggregation covering a couple twigs on the Lemon the day prior.






Vanessa  sp..




Turtle -ette ..and mom ..or dad..

[Silas_Sancona]

Male Brown Headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater..  Would think i'd have seen these around fairly regularly since moving here but, have only been present in the neighborhood this spring. One of the more unique members within the family Icteridae of the Americas.



Peach / Rosy - Faced Lovebirds still enjoying the never ending Sunflower bounty..














Same w/ the Goldfinches











Young Anna's wondering if ..or when.. i'll fill one of the feeders..




One of the Black Spotted Lady Beetle sps ( Tribe Coccinellini  )





Megachile Genus Bees out and about busy building new homes with an imposter hanging in the background







Said imposter moving in to investigate after the bees took off to collect more nesting material / pollen. Possibly one of the many Cuckoo bees / Wasps here but not 100% certain..

[bubba]

Very shy newbie in nest. Did not like anyone looking his way. Good instincts. Hard to see:

[Hillizard]

A native feeding on a native: Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) visiting my Calliandra californica (Baja Fairy Duster). Very challenging to keep this bird in focus!

[Silas_Sancona]

The continuing Love Bird Sunflower Feast










































White Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, Not sure which subspecies.    Not a rarity here, but a bit less commonly seen compared to back in California.  Both of it's fairly common in CA counterparts,  White Throated and Golden Crowned Sparrow, occur here also but in far fewer numbers than White Crowned.















Brown Headed Cowbird ..A couple tries at closer up shots.

[Hillizard]

My California pipevine (Aristolochia californica) is esp. rampant this spring on one of my Tecoma bushes. It's the only host plant for the the larvae of the California pipevine swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor hirsuta), a subspecies endemic to NorCal. Attracting this insect was one of the reasons I planted the vine.

So... finally got a visit today from that butterfly species. I hope it laid a batch of eggs. The caterpillars should eventually be quite visible if it did.

More info: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/pipevine_swallowtail.htm

[Silas_Sancona]

Want the widest diversity of pollinating native Bees / Bad bug controlling Wasps possible in the garden?  Plant locally / regionally native Buckwheats / Eriogonium sp.

Have to work out who is who but  the two E. fasciculatum  i planted out front have been covered in clouds of several sps. of Bees / native Wasps over the last couple weeks, esp. the last couple days..  Flowers are extremely fragrant ..like a mild Jasmine..  as well.

[Silas_Sancona]

Late afternoon Bee aggregation



And the season for  ....Baby Aliens...

[Silas_Sancona]

Vermilion Flycatcher,  Pyrocephalus rubinus







Rough - Winged Swallow,  Stelgidopteryx serripennis



Albino - Eurasian Collared Dove,  Streptopelia decaocto




Boll's Potter Wasp,  Eumenes bollii

[Silas_Sancona]

Alien spawn here...



Alien spawn there..




Alien spawn everywhere..



..Pick your Hairstreak Genus ...Strymon,  Phaeostrymon,  Parrhasius,  ...Or maybe Satyrium..

[D. Morrowii]

Had this guy today - Zebra Swallowtail

and these guys a few days ago

 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

47 minutes ago, D. Morrowii said:

Had this guy today - Zebra Swallowtail

 

 

" Zebra " pictured is actually Heliconius charithonia  https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49766-Heliconius-charithonia Rather than Eurytides marcellus https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/83086-Eurytides-marcellus

[D. Morrowii]

Oooohh the internet can be a funky teacher for those of us who mostly just look at the pictures and have the attention span of a  squirrel 🙂 I was wondering why those dummies put “tail” in its name…and no tail? 
Thanks for the clarification.

[Silas_Sancona]

Genus Hermetia  ..and lace Bugs








Damselfly sp.




Possibly Cerceris convergens, one of the local Weevil Wasp species.

[bubba]

Some more of these guys. They are hilarious in a group. Completely oblivious to humans, move at their own pace and many times appear to be correcting each other:

[greysrigging]

Beautiful visitor  ( Golden Tree Snake ) sunning itself in my backyard this morning. Not sure how common they are, being very shy and they avoid humans where possible, so there may well be more around than I actually see. They predate on Green Tree Frogs. Mildly venomous, but not considered dangerous to humans.

[Silas_Sancona]

Pruinose Squash Bee, Peponapis pruinosa







Oblique Longhorn Bee, Svastra obliqua





NoID moth.



Great- tailed Grackle.

[bubba]

[greysrigging]

Blue moon butterfly, also known as a common egg fly (species: Hypolimnas bolina) in my back yard the other day
 

[Silas_Sancona]

One ..of many.. Aliens guarding San Pedro Du Lac X ..and everything else.. this year..




My favorite Wasp surveying a new home,  ..or hunting.  Chlorion aerarium




Danaua gilippus, likely male out already, feeding on Conoclinium dissectum    ..Usually mid - August before i start seeing them.

[Silas_Sancona]

3 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Blue moon butterfly, also known as a common egg fly (species: Hypolimnas bolina) in my back yard the other day
 

It's look - alike sister,  Hyplolimnas misippus  has recently been expanding out of where it apparently turned up in South America awhile back..

Can be found along the E. coast of FL, all of the Caribbean and Central America, and has bee observed as far north as South Carolina, possibly Alabama and Texas, and in the Yucatan in Mexico.

Looking at it's range in Asia and Africa / where it has turned up on that side of the world,  it will probably expand as far north as it's preferred host plant, Portulaca oleracea  can grow/ overwintering adults aren't killed by the cold,  inc. the Desert S.W. / CA. and all of Mexico.

[greysrigging]

2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

It's look - alike sister,  Hyplolimnas misippus  has recently been expanding out of where it apparently turned up in South America awhile back..

Can be found along the E. coast of FL, all of the Caribbean and Central America, and has bee observed as far north as South Carolina, possibly Alabama and Texas, and in the Yucatan in Mexico.

Looking at it's range in Asia and Africa / where it has turned up on that side of the world,  it will probably expand as far north as it's preferred host plant, Portulaca oleracea  can grow/ overwintering adults aren't killed by the cold,  inc. the Desert S.W. / CA. and all of Mexico.

Male Varied\Common Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), females looks quite different.

[Silas_Sancona]

9 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Male Varied\Common Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), females looks quite different.

Having seen specimens in a collection, it surprised me how variable these two sps can be.. If you saw the " variables ", vs the " standard " Black w/ white and blue spotted  form ( Males obviously )  you'd think you were looking at a few different species of Butterfly..

Agree that patterning on the females between the two look different, though similar enough to confuse someone not already brushed up on the differences. Reasonably distinct compared to butterflies w/ similar coloration in the Americas though.

Interesting that while the Danid Eggfly has already made it to the Americas, The species you highlighted appears to be hop scotching east across the islands in the Pacific.

Seeing how both Monarchs and Painted Lady ( in Europe / Africa ) can migrate long distances,  if the Great Eggfly is a strong enough of a flier, and able to survive the trips between islands / other land masses,  could see it showing up in Hawaii, ..and or/ landing somewhere on the coast of N. South America in the future.. 

Easy enough to hitch hike on ships passing between islands / coast of Cen. / S. America as well.


Good article regarding the migration pattern of the Painted Lady.. https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/painted-lady-migration-secrets-revealed
 

[D. Morrowii]

This guy enjoying the wide platform of a young B. fenestralis frond 

[BeyondTheGarden]

I am not well versed in the identification of frogs and toads, but this appears to be a pair of Southern Toads, and a daisychain of eggs behind them.  In my little bog garden that I built to grow Peltandra virginica. 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, BeyondTheGarden said:

I am not well versed in the identification of frogs and toads, but this appears to be a pair of Southern Toads, and a daisychain of eggs behind them.  In my little bog garden that I built to grow Peltandra virginica. 

  Compared to other North American Toad sps in that area, raised / easily seen Cranial crests -starting at the Nasal openings, ending just at the top of the Parotoid Glands / behind the eyes-  looks 100% for Anaxyrus terrestris, imo.

[Silas_Sancona]

Alien on guard



Steely Blue Cricket Hunter



Genus Poecilanthrax  ..Several sps within this Genus of Banded Bee Flies here..

[bubba]

Grumpy:

[Silas_Sancona]

"Sir,  Is that 104 snakes in your pants "...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/10/travel/snake-smuggler-trousers-scli-intl/index.html

And a not so prehistoric Dinosaur taking a stroll on a local freeway..

https://www.12news.com/article/life/animals/monitor-lizard-spotted-on-scottsdale-freeway-arizona/75-c6a5dccf-3d0b-4fdb-bad0-c901e9e67288

Some very Reptilian news on your Wednesday.. 😁

[Foxpalms]

[Silas_Sancona]

Mid summer = baby season ..Unfortunately, hiding in a " Yard Sneak " ( Old pair of shoes i keep around for working in the yards ) isn't the place for baby Med. Geckoes to hang out..

[Hillizard]

Not sure if it was the heat or that this colony is splitting up, but I've seen swarms like this emerge from under the concrete pavers more than once this summer. 

[Hillizard]

A Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) in my garden this week. It perched overnight on my prickly desert ironwood seedling. 

[Hillizard]

Male valley carpenter bee (probably Xylocopa sonorina ); the females are a solid black. The males are only interested in mating and meals. They are stingless too.

[Jonathan]

Female Margined-winged Stick Insect, Ctenomorpha marginipennis, Cradoc Tasmania.

[Jonathan]

Juvenile Tiger Snake, Notechis scutatus, Cradoc Tasmania.

[EJPalm05]

Monarch Chrysalis Forming in my garden:

3 Days ago:

Today:

[Hillizard]

Honeybee 'competition' to see which one can make it back to the hive first with pollen from a white moonflower (Datura wrightii )!