Love is in the Air!
Tomorrow is Valentine’s day and I just thought I would share the love of my garden with you all. Hmmmmm, maybe that is love IN my garden. I did a similar article over at Beautiful Wildlife Garden a while back, but there can never be too much L♥VE! I present to you, some more of my mating friends and what entices them to visit my place.
Green Anoles (Anolis carolinensis): These comical reptiles eat insects so they are attracted to plants, such as Bidens alba, that attract insects. I’ve written in the past about their affinity for the Syrphid Fly.
Speaking of Syrphid Flies: They are bee mimics who perform pollination duties. Larvae are predators of aphids, thrips and caterpillars. This couple is likely Toxomerus spp.
Delta Flower Scarab (Trigonopeltastes delta): Here they are shown on Rattlesnakemaster, but I’ve also found them on Barbara’s Buttons. Larvae are found in decaying wood.
Yellow-marked Buprestid Beetles (Acmaeodera spp.): This couple seems to love the Black-eyed Susans. Larvae are wood borers, maybe not the best thing, but heck, the holes will give haven to solitary bees and I’m sure the birds would add them to the menu…they look “lemony”.
Banded Pennant Dragonflies (Celithemis fasciata) stop by the pond since I leave dead branches as landing stations.
Cassius Blue Butterfly (Leptotes cassius): They stop at my place because I provide a native larval host plants, Doctorbush (Plumbago zeylanica aka P. scandens). This butterfly has been declared a Federally-designated Threatened species due to similarity of appearance to the endangered Miami Blue Butterfly.
The Palamedes Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio palamedes) relies exclusively on Redbay (Persea borbonia) as a larval host, which has been afflicted with laurel wilt disease brought on by a fungus carried by an invasive insect. This beetle’s presence threatens not only the tree, but this beautiful species as well.
These two have a peeping tom hanging out in the lower right hand corner.
Grasshoppers: Ok, we can’t always love what’s in love around our place, but grasshopper nymphs are a major component of baby bird food, so sometimes in the interest of our wildlife friends, it is necessary for us to look the other way. These guys are shown on dogfennel, which is unlikely to show any lasting damage.
Here’s another view of the Gulf Frits that started this article.
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) uses Passionvine as a larval host. At my place, I provide native Passiflora incarnata and this prolific butterfly flutters around in droves. They even stayed all winter this year and I have had caterpillars throughout the season.
So, this is my troop of lovers. Who do you love, or who is in your love nest?
© 2013, Loret T. Setters. All rights reserved. This article is the property of Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
About Loret T. Setters
What an alluring valentine’s essay Loret! Your photos are great! You are so right about our turning an eye the other way in regards to grasshoppers. They are very important bird food. I have seen so many in the beaks of our bluebirds each spring and summer. Love the voyeur in your grasshopper photo . . .I have one like that with a mating pair of Pearl Crescent. I wonder what that is all about . . . would they be really to pounce if the male or female of the mating pair dropped off . . . curious. This is such a delightful post! Happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow!
Carol Duke recently posted..Recalling Landscape Tapestries of Summer Twenty-Twelve
Thanks Carol, and to you. I did have a good laugh when I saw my third wheel in that grasshopper photo. “voyeur” is a great term!!!
Loret recently posted..Freshwater seafood?
I love your garden! And your dedication to sharing it; thanks Loret!
sue dingwell recently posted..The Colors of Winter
Thanks Sue! mission of ‘Love”.
Loret recently posted..Freshwater seafood?
So that’s why it’s called Passionvine! Cute pics! Around here there’s not much lovin’ going on out there yet, we are buried under snow, but I’ve noticed the chickadees out and about scouting for nesting sites, so it won’t be long!
Ellen Sousa recently posted..Norcross Sanctuary – Hidden Jewel of Monson, MA
HAHAAHAAAAA! Good one Ellen on the “passionvine”. That made my day!
Loret recently posted..Freshwater seafood?
Your photos are amazing and thanks for the informative descriptions. Love is beautiful and hopeful and you’ve caprured it well.
Thanks Bill! I always appreciate the words of encouragement I get here. Please stop back again!
Loret recently posted..Freshwater seafood?
hello what plant are the frits on? i have lots of it but have no clue as to what it is? i am guessing its a FL native? i livein Port Charlotte 33952 and we have all of these kids year round. except i have never seen the green anoles. the browns have driven them out. so sad.
Hi Joan!
the top pair is on some native sedges and the bottom pair I believe are on Ludwigia, one of the native primrosewillows. It gets a yellow flower and there are 20+ native Florida species and several non-natives. One, Peruvian (Ludwigia peruviana) is even a class I invasive on the FLEPPC list.
As for the anoles, you are right, it is sad that the green ones are being pushed out by the cuban invaders. You can help the greens maintain a population by having some plants that provide height in the garden. They will head up to higher ground whereas the brown cubans stick close to the ground. I have a pretty healthy population of greens and I attribute that to letting the wax myrtles reach for the skies.
Glad to hear that your garden is supporting a good population of critters. Thanks for stopping by!
Loret recently posted..Freshwater seafood?
This is the best Loret.. Hats off..or should I say pants off
I love the grasshoppers & the anoles look so sweet!
Oh, my friend, you always know just the right thing to make me laugh uncontrollably! Thanks for your kind review!
Loret recently posted..Freshwater seafood?
Loret, I LOVE it! What a delightful array of amorous native plant garden guests. Thanks for sharing and so timely with Valentine’s Day a’coming. Here in Southern NJ we’re a long way off from spring, but with the warming trend I continue to keep an eye and ear out. This being the case, nice to hear of “love in the air” (I mean in the garden) to the south.
Thanks Pat. We are keeping everyone warm until your garden is ready, then we will send em north.
Loret recently posted..Freshwater seafood?
Loret you get the most amazing shots….spring fever will soon bring love and the critters
Donna@Gardens Eye View recently posted..Simply the Best Herbs-February