Insects…

Today’s 5 Beautiful Things….insects! Most people don’t give insects a second thought, they think they’re just a nuisance…something to be squashed and disposed of as quickly as possible. However, if you can detach yourself from the emotion and examine them analytically, they are quite amazing creatures and I dare say we can come to really appreciate and learn from them.

We encountered this little brown caterpillar while walking our dogs; at first I thought was dog excrement left behind by an unscrupulous dog owner, until my husband pointed out that it was moving! It was slowly making its way across the sidewalk to the homeowner’s front lawn. I tried to identify it online but with no success; anyone know what it might be?

This beautiful chubby caterpillar doesn’t need any introduction and by the size of it will be creating its chrysalis very soon! My sister snapped this photo from a mass of milkweed nearby the river they had just kayaked. I love the half circle leaf that was recently munched!

I just happened to catch this metallic beauty resting on my garden Nome! This was no easy feat with how quickly they can dart from place to place. I must admit that flies are probably my least favorite and most annoying insect (next to mosquitoes); and I never knew how many species there are until I tried to identify this one…120,000 species of flies with 16,000 species here in North America. I’m guessing this one is a common blowfly.

I think spiders are amazing creatures!!! As long as they keep their space and do not crawl on me we can coexist peacefully! In fact, I have two spiders that I call my wild pets that live in my back garden; I call the large one Charlotte and the small one Wilbur…characters from my favorite summer read as a kid.

This spider looks so amazing!!! I’ve never seen one like it before; I had stopped to admire some daisies growing in a ditch by the side of road when my hubby pointed her out….I think she’s beautiful. From my research online I believe she is a Goldenrod Crab Spider.

Oh how I love bees!! This time of year my back garden, where I’ve endeavored to create a butterfly haven, is teeming with bees! They seem to especially like the Tall Joe Pye Weed; standing perfectly still I can easily have 15-20 bees flying all around, happily ignoring me, intent on gathering the nectar and pollen. I could watch them for hours; in some strange way they make me feel content.

If you’re still reading this post…thank you for sticking with it, especially if insects are not your favorite subject; perhaps you’ll leave with a smidge more amazement and wonder at the diversity of this beautiful world given to us by our master Creator! Have a blessed day!