Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Insects

We've had rain for the last two mornings and things are looking so much better. I was outside looking around and heard something land in the small birch tree. It was a cicada and at that very moment I heard another one in my neighbors tree. They sure are ugly creatures and quite loud.


The Japanese beetles were everywhere this morning, on things they normally don't bother. They usually aren't too bad on my Japanese maples but there were quite a few that went into my zip-lock bag with soapy hot water. My new Karen azalea was just covered with beetles. Hopefully they will be gone soon. I saw three praying mantis on the Japanese maple and wondered if they eat the beetles.
I never knew, until I looked at the picture closely, that the beetles have odd and interesting antennae.

5 comments:

Shirley said...

Hi again, Robin

Fantastic to see your insect photos - I know they are pests but don't they look great!

Kylee Baumle said...

Great photos, Robin! The grapevine beetle has those funky antennae, too.

I think the Japanese Beetle is really very pretty, but I don't like their dietary habits!

Paula said...

When we lived in KS I would hear them quite often. Must not be hot enough in the NW! Thanks for the lesson in photography you posted earlier. I've been playing around with photo software. You're the second one I've met who uses Photo Element. Thanks for visiting my blog. Keep posting!
Paula

Nan said...

I fill a container with dishwashing detergent (Ecover) and water, and snap those beetles right in. Because they fly, I put the bowl right near them. I am ruthless because they are. They can destroy rosa rugosas flowers very quickly. They haven't been too bad this year, but I've just seen some recently. Yuck!

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Thank you all for the kind comments.
Nan, I do that too. Sometimes I use a large used zip-lock bag with some water and soap in it, it's a little easier to hold when I trying to remove them from the trees. Mine weren't too bad until a few days ago, now they are everywhere.