In the Laces: Wasps, Beetles, and a Snake Tale

Queen Anne's lace is a weed that pops up in the summer in the Okanagan from June onwards. It's delicate white flowers are quite striking and resemble little umbrellas. The flat-topped shallow flower clusters called umbels (word of the day) makes it easy for pollinators with short tongues, especially wasps, to drink nectar. I have … Continue reading In the Laces: Wasps, Beetles, and a Snake Tale

Bugs in the Milkweeds

It is always nice to see the swallowtail butterflies feeding and frolicking around milkweeds at bloom. I decided to take a closer look at the milkweeds this year because I had come across a patch with a lot of bees and other bugs. Milkweeds are called milkweeds because of the milky sap they produce. They … Continue reading Bugs in the Milkweeds

The Leafrollers and the Wasp Enemies

I saw a lot of leafrollers on ornamental plants including wild roses, snow berries, chokecherries, Saskatoons, dogwood, Oregon grapes etc. this spring. As their name implies, leafrollers are caterpillars that roll up leaves. The leaves provide a home, food, and some protection from predators and parasitoids. The caterpillars are greenish to yellowish, have dark heads … Continue reading The Leafrollers and the Wasp Enemies

It’s Time to Smell the Roses

We had some much needed rains this spring and the wild rose flowers were spectacular and smelled divine. I made it a point to stop to smell the roses during my walks while taking stock of the bugs on the roses 😊. There were a lot of honey bees, mining bees, bumble bees etc. also … Continue reading It’s Time to Smell the Roses

A Winter’s Delight (Rose Gall Wasps)

I collected wild rose galls last spring and successfully reared some wasps from them. I had forgotten all about the galls and wasps until I came across a banditry of chickadees pecking at galls on a cold winter's day. "Banditry of chickadees" 🙂 - love it, had to look that up. I collected a few … Continue reading A Winter’s Delight (Rose Gall Wasps)

A Visit to the Cacti

The spring crickets and cicadas are still singing but the spring has been very hot and tree fruit bloom time went by very fast. A kind gentleman showed me a patch of brittle prickly pear cactus last spring and it was quite the treat to see the flowers. I saw said gentleman on an afternoon … Continue reading A Visit to the Cacti

At the Goldenrods

I meant to finish this post last fall but did not get to it. I had a lot of fun summer days at the goldenrods - there were bees and flies buzzing around, lots of wasps, butterflies, and I even saw a lone grasshopper at the goldenrods. The bees and some of the wasps and … Continue reading At the Goldenrods