Above Photo: Pickerel Weed blooming on Big Lake

We saw some action at the milkweed patches on Hwy 529 on Saturday.

The big question is:  Are these Hemaris thysbe or  are they Hemaris diffinis?  Or a combination of both?

First set on Common Milkweed:  These look like diffinis to me… black line on thorax and black legs.

Second set on Joe Pye Weed:  This one seems to have paler legs, maybe a thysbe?

Third one, on Common Milkweed.  If you enlarge this one you’ll see very strange “growths” on the face of this ( diffinis?) Clearwing:

Back to the butterflies ….

American Lady on Milkweed…

Great Spangled Fritillary on Milkweed…

Coral Hairstreak on Goldenrod….

Unidentified Wasp(?) on Milkweed…

Unidentified (Wasp)…

Meadowsweet  is starting to bloom profusely  along the streams and ditches.  This wild spirea is also a good nectar source for pollinators.

It seems that folks with full screen computers or Ipads prefer large photos.   Folks who check out this blog with phones seem to prefer smaller ones, as above, as they are used to expanding them with the finger maneuver.    I think that I’ll go back to the larger images to make the viewing experience better.   I have also learned that captioning in WordPress can be problematical with complex workarounds.   No more captioning.