Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Distractions I Like




Working on our house yesterday, and there was no time for a photography field trip. But, during our work, we kept uncovering interesting critters and I had to run for my camera. Applying wood preservative to our siding resulted in our disturbing the homes of quite a variety of bugs that were living under the deck. My favorite was this 5-inch millipede. I brought it to our dining room table for a better background then released it a safe distance from our work area.
On our front porch, I spotted a tiny spider at the edge of its web. It had its legs tightly wrapped around its belly, so I couldn't identify it. When I gently poked it, it dropped 8 feet to the deck and remained in a tight ball. After a few minutes of "playing possum" it quickly spread its legs and dashed off, but not until after i got a few photos. As far as I can tell, it's an Angulate Orbweaver, Araneus gemma.
Then, as my son was washing the siding, out came the largest cranefly we'd ever seen. Unfortunately, in our attempt to save it from the direct spray, we pulled off a leg or two. She seemed no worse for the wear and we saw her fly from spot to spot over the next several hours.
The last photo is of the trunk of our rubber plant where an interesting colony of fungi has established itself. The rubber plant has survived two falls off its pedestal and we're wondering if this cute little mushroom has a symbiotic relationship with the rubber plant. Another hard day of house and yard work ahead. Looking forward to more distractions.

No comments:

Post a Comment