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Bottle Opener Bug
“In All Things of Nature There is Something of the Marvelous” – Aristotle I have always loved that quote as it states in simple terms why I find everything around me so fascinating. I marvel at spectacles such as the Snow Geese at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge or the Bison in Yellowstone, but I Read more
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Tiny Hummers and Bumblebirds
During my career at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences I once was forwarded a call from someone that was curious about something they had seen in their yard. She wanted to know what species of tiny hummingbirds were visiting her flowers. After a brief discussion, we came to the conclusion she was seeing one Read more
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Dressed for Success
And what’s a butterfly? At best, He’s but a caterpillar, drest. John Grey And there is one species of caterpillar that dresses better than any other – the Camouflaged Looper, Synchlora aerata. This is the unusual larva of the Wavy-lined Emerald Moth (okay, the quote isn’t quite right in this case…). Every time I am Read more
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Bullet Frass
It may seem like an odd title for a post on one of our more common backyard butterflies, but I promise I’ll explain it in a moment. You may have seen this distinctively marked species as it darts about your yard from flower to flower. It is the Silver-spotted Skipper, one of, if not the, Read more
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A Shy Beauty
I spotted this beautiful flower last week while mowing a path down the power line. You have to look for it out there because, being only a foot or so in height, it appears to be peeking at you from the tall grasses. But it is actually quite common. Carolina Wild Petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis, is Read more
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Spines in Your Face
Yesterday while walking along a path in the woods, I encountered a spider web at about head height along the trail. I suppose it is one of the “hazards” of summer woods-walking around here. But I always enjoy seeing who the maker is and what they have had for dinner. This one was the tightly Read more
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You’re So Sensitive
While mowing a path through the meadow this week I noticed a bright pinkish-purple flower in the grasses. I remember seeing the unusual flowers of Eastern Sensitive Briar a few years ago in the Sandhills habitat at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. And now I am thrilled to discover it here, growing Read more
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Green-eyed Monsters
Okay, monster is a bit too strong a term for this beauty, until you have been bitten by one, that is. Luckily, most horseflies are merely bothersome to me relative to the many other types of flying biting things that attack us here in the southeast – mosquitoes and deer flies being much more aggravating Read more
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A Plant that Hops
During a brief respite from one of the downpours this past week I went out to the garden to see what was out and about. I noticed some movement on a flower stem and a close look revealed this well-camouflaged insect, a planthopper. Planthoppers appear to be less common than the generally smaller leafhoppers in Read more
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Hovercraft in the Garden
They look like tiny bees or wasps zipping around the garden flowers, but they are Flower Flies. They are also known as Hover Flies for their ability to hover and even fly backwards, a feat that few other insects can match. Their resemblance to insects that sting most likely affords them some protection as they Read more
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Roads End Naturalist 