Thanks for sharing. I love them.

Awesome pictures, Andrea! Wow that little be is loaded down with pollen isn't he? The moth looks like an owl face in that first shot.

Mine aren't as cool as yours, but here are a couple of the pollinators in my garden. There's been a lot of dragonflies too, but I haven't been able to capture one on film yet. The only other bug we have a lot of is grasshoppers, and I'm too busy squishing them to take their picture!

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Bonnie

That praying mantis pic is cool!!

Gorgeous photos, both of you! Thanks for posting. I've got to get the camera out when I get home.

Andrea that bee looks drunk! Like he would get up and fly away but he had a little too much pollen:) Those were fun, thanks.

Kate

Great photos Andrea and Bonnie. Andrea, any idea what the moth is?

We had a Monarch show-up yesterday but she wasn't in the mood for picture taking since she was so busy laying eggs on the Asclepias. I did get one shot though.

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Thanks for the complements everyone. I've had my camera for a year and just now realized it had a macro feature so I'm having lots of fun with it.

Tiffy love the monarch. I did some searching for the moth it is called Automeris IO. I didn't find a common name for it.

Love your pictures Bonnie except for the last one. One of those little so and so's got me last week. I swelled up and couldn't walk for a day then limped around for 2. I've been stung by bees before but nothing hurt as bad as that hornet.

Andrea

Yeah, my DH was eliminating paper wasp nests yesterday. They build them in our fence and the eaves of our house. It makes it hard to garden, when they are constantly dive bombing me. Both of my boys have been stung, probably because they were aggravating the bees, but so far I have remained unscathed. Well, not counting mosquito bites!

My younger son is a great grasshopper assasin though : )

Bonnie

timberohio, the common name of your lovely moth is simply Io. It's pronounced like it's spelled, lol! :-)

Here's a link to an image of the Io caterpillar, which are known for stinging if you handle them.

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Wow that Io cat is beautiful! (The moth is nice too. :) )

Andrea, the moth is beautiful. Thanks for taking the time to share. In our busy world, it is wonderful when folks take the time to share these special pics with other gardeners. What model camera do you have? Just amazed at the clarity of your closeups. Mary

Gorgeous pictures! I love the praying mantis. I see them far less frequently than I'd like in my garden. I wish there was something out there that ate Japanese Beetles. If so they'd have a feast among my ferns and zinnias right now :(. I did see a ladybug today -- not one of the asian ones but a real live bright red cutie.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Here are a couple of my guests:

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Sorry, the date is off on the first picture...

Here are two of the 'Good Guys' The Pennsylvania Leatherwing. These two are making more. My flowers are loaded with them right now.

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Bee heaven. The bees love the Nepeta. It is time to dead head it, but I hate to take it from the bees now.

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Rhizo thanks for the link to the Caterpillar. I don't handle any of the caterpillars that have those spiky things.

Mary I have an easy camera. It is a 10 mega pixel Kodak Easy Share V1003. Point and shoot. Except for the micro there is one little button on the back that I have to push. But very easy to use.

Love the toad Alina he looks very content.

Very nice thread and great photos!

Cameron

Great pics, and I love to watch the little critters that visit the gardens! I spend hours contorting myself into strange positions to get pictures of the pollinators and other visitors. At first, the bees or butterflies seem skittish when I first appear, but after a few minutes, they seem to get used to this big human creature with a camera. They let me get very close sometimes.

Here are a couple of the assorted bees that come to pollinate -
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Yesterday was very exciting, a female Monarch was alternating between nectaring and laying eggs on the Asclepias tuberosa and incarnata. Here she is nectaring -

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And here she is laying an egg -
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Can you spot the butterfly in this picture?

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Oh, here she is!

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I love these little guys. I think they're called crab spiders. They really favor anything with a fluffy bloom, rose or otherwise.

Kate

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Amazing pics, everyone. I especially love Timber's mantis and Terrene's hidden butterfly. Incredible camouflage - it took me several moments to find her. If she hadn't been in front of the hosta, forget it.

Here are some of mine. I love bumblebees. We have one named Steve that follows DH and me around the yard. Sometimes I pet them when they are feeding.

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Baby bunnies:
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Baby birds:
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Butterflies
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Garden friends are a big part of what makes this all worthwhile.

Oh yeah, one more. Hissing cockroach at Rutger's Ag-Field Day:
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Yucky cockroach! Gives me the heebie geebies! I love the toad pic...full sun, maturity 70-80 days? I thought they were shade lovers? Thought the tag with the toad was funny!

Karen

Thanks Karen,
I have no idea how the toad got into the tiny pot with pepper seedling. Although he looked completely happy in that pot, we did bring him to shady area!
Ladychroe, fantastic pictures! Baby bunnies and birds are so cute! Hope that bunnies will not destroy your garden sometime...