As I was leaving the FRC campus Thursday afternoon, I walked by the xeric landscape in front of the library and encountered a lot of insect activity. I didn't have my camera with me, but I saw a half dozen different species of insects visiting the Rabbitbrush and Sagebrush planted there. Over the past month there have tended to be just one or two of these species visiting on any given day, but on this day I saw virtually all the species I had seen during the month of August. In this posting, I've drawn photos of the major visitors from my archive of photos taken during the summer. The skippers (above) were finally abundant after having been visiting only one or two at a time for weeks.
The Thread-waisted Wasps were impressive as usual and there was another one crawling on my front porch when I got home.
I didn't manage to photograph any insects on the Sagebrush this time, but I saw many rapid landings and take-offs of several kinds of bees and wasps. I didn't see any Aphids which had been abundant near the beginning of August. They didn't appear to be damaging the Sagebrush at all.
The Camomile is still blooming strongly and looks as fresh as it did a month ago.
Finally, the Carpenter Bees, which are nearly as big as the biggest bees known, were still doing their acrobatics on the flowers, although I haven't been seeing them around the decks and railings by the Eagle's Perch lately. Many insects are having "one last fling" before cold weather sets in. I guess I should bring my camera every day.
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