This week, I would like to share a few photos taken while taken while walking through an old golf course that has since been reclaimed by a nature preserve to become a natural meadow habitat. With fairways that have become fields of native grasses and wildflowers and bunkers that have become inland ponds filled with native amphibians and waterfowl, I can say without hesitation that I prefer this landscape over the monotony of a manicured golf course any day of the week.
With summer finally upon us, I wanted to take this opportunity to capture a few photos of the many stunning wildflowers that inhabit my region of the world, and along the way, I was lucky enough to find a few pollinators hard at work as well. While I typically focus most on the plants and fungi around me, I appreciated the change of subject for this walk. That being said, I am still partial to my floral and fungal counterparts; organisms are much easier to photograph when they are not trying to crawl or fly away!
Some of my favorite finds from this walk include the Red Milkweed Beetles (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus), a bright red species that spends virtually its entire juvenile and adult lives in or in Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) plants, and a Harvestman (Order Opiliones) covered in small red mites from the Genus Leptus.
I hope that you enjoy these photos as much as I did taking them!
PLANTS
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa):
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata):
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca):
Lance-leaved Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata):
Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium):
Common Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca):
Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa):
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense):
Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus):
Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule):
Southern Blue Flag (Iris virginica):
Northern Starflower (Lysimachia borealis):
Fringed Polygala (Polygaloides paucifolia):
Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata):
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta):
Hoary Alyssum (Berteroa incana):
Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense):
Broad-leaved Sweet Pea (Lathyrus latifolius):
Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria):
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens):
Blue-eyed Grasses (Genus Sisyrinchium):
Wild Garlic (Allium vineale):
Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus):
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata):
Striped Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata):
Prickly Gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati):
Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis):
True Sedges (Genus Carex):
INSECTS
Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera):
Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus):
Margined Leatherwing Beetle (Chauliognathus marginatus):
Margined Calligrapher (Toxomerus marginatus):
Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia):
Hobomok Skipper (Lon hobomok):
Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma):
Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata):
Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata):
Lygus Bugs (Genus Lygus):
Crescents (Genus Phyciodes):
Bumble Bees (Genus Bombus):
Clubtails (Family Gomphidae):
ARACHNIDS
Orchard Orbweaver (Leucauge venusta):
Harvestman (Order Opiliones) with Leptus mites (Genus Leptus):
Thank you for walking with me.
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