July 3 tap images for gallery view

 

Hello there. I'm a daddy longlegs. Some people call me a harvestman. A lot of (uninformed) people think, because I have eight legs, that I'm a spider. But I'm not. We are distant relatives. I eat insects, etc, and sometimes clean up after bigger predators. I'm hanging out on a lovely evening primrose, Oenothera biennis. That yellow is unmistakable.

 

 

Prairie cordgrass, Spartina pectinata, over here. Like most of my native grassland colleagues, I'm a bunch grass. But, while I have a long way to go, I will be 3.5 metres (12 feet) in diameter when I'm full grown (in about 15 years). People used to use me to make thatched roofs. In the fall I turn gold which is when most people notice me.

 

 

Hi, yellow coneflower, Ratibida columnifera, again. My petals don't work as landing decks so I'm pollinated mostly by bees and hoverflies. But caterpillars of one butterfly and a couple of moth species eat my leaves.

 

 

Hey! I'm a leafcutter bee. In the fall, we will take little pieces of leaves (which we cut) and place them in various cavities to make comfy cells where we overwinter.
In the meantime, I'm very much enjoying the nectar from this swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata.

 

 

Hey there. Good to see you. They call me southern water plantain, Alisma subcordatum. I have pointy elongated oval basal leaves (you know, down by the ground) sort of like common plantain. But, I send up an elaborate many branched stalk where I display my tiny white flowers. Wetland birds love my seed.

 

July 4 tap images for gallery view

 

What can I say? I'm autumn onion, Allium stellatum, and as soon as I lift my flower heads up I'll open them and serve lunch to bees and hoverflies who stop by. Might be a couple of weeks, though.

 

 

Hey, meadow blazingstar, Liatris ligulistylis, again. I'm almost ready to open my flowers. First, though, my buds will turn dark crimson.

 

 

Yowza! Silverweed, Potentilla anserina, again. As you can see I'm popular with hoverflies.
Did you know that my roots are edible? Yes, they are. In fact, Wildernots taught DomesticutsIn my story, the grassland, I refer to indigenes as Wildernots and settlers (mostly European) as Domesticuts. about this. Many of the newcomers would have died otherwise in their first year here.

 

 

Morning. I'm shortawn foxtail, Alopecurus aequalis Sobol.. I'm related to the other one, you know, foxtail barley. But I don't have those long hairs growing on the end of my seeds. Oh yeah, you can use my seeds to add a bit of flavour to flour.

 

July 5 tap images for gallery view

 

We are the alpha and the omega.
Gaillardia, Gaillardia aristata, again. I can't help myself. ☺

 

July 6 tap images for gallery view

 

Hey. I thought you'd never find me. I'm a Virgin Tiger Moth, Grammia virgo. My camo's so good the photog had trouble locating me in the view screen.

 

 

Howdy. Nice of you to stop by. I'm a twelve spotted skimmer dragonfly, Libellula pulchella. That's because I have twelve black spots on my transparent wings. I'm really enjoying this mudflat.

 

 

We're a bunch of grasses. You already met foxtail barley and sloughgrass. In the background (in front of the cattails) I'm tall mannagrass, Glyceria grandis. Notice my airy seed panicles. American bitterns like to nest where I'm growing.

 

 

It's great to be mudflats again. In previous years the tenders of this site kept the water too high in the spring. (Just like what Manitoba Hydro has done with Lake Winnipeg. You know, they're keeping the water so high that Netley-Libau Marsh has almost been wiped out. Charlie McPherson can tell you about this.)
Fortunately last winter there wasn't enough snow here so the pond wasn't overfull in the spring.

 

July 8tap images for gallery view

 

Hey. Blue lettuce, Lactuca pulchella, again. I tend to grow in loose patches. I prefer full sun but will also grow in full shade.
Oh, those aren't tiny aliens standing in the middle of my flower. Those are my stigmas.

 

 

I'm wild licorice, Glycyrrhiza lepidota, again. My seed heads are funky, too. Some people find my hitch hiker seeds annoying. I can't imagine why.

 

 

Well, hello. I'm a wood nymph butterfly, Cercyonis pegala. While my name suggests that I prefer forests (you know "wooded" areas), I also like it out here on the plains. A bunch of us have been hanging around for a while. I finally let the photog get up close.

 

 

Whoa. I'm a red blue checkered beetle, Trichodes nuttalli. I don't usually get nectar from harebells. But I was checking this one out and slipped and fell inside. Give me a moment and I'll be on my way.