July 6th, 2012. We made our almost-weekly stop at Scull Shoals Experimental
Forest. Usually, we can drive to the end of the road to a turn-around and drive
back out. But on the 6th…
we found the road blocked by a
fallen tree trunk. It was a snag and much of the wood was rotten. But the trunk
was probably about 18 inches in diameter and too large to move. So we satisfied
ourselves by climbing over it and walking a little way up the road. We could
check a couple of plants we have been following and were treated to a variety
of wildflowers and insects.
We’d just had rain after a long drought and ants
had to clear their tunnels of sand that had washed into them. There weren’t any
ants in sight; just the evidence of their housekeeping.
This Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
is about three feet high now and had five suckers this year. It’s long since
finished blooming for the year and one of its suckers is developing seeds.
*****
Passionflowers
vines (Passiflora incarnata) are blooming. Insects are feeding and
inadvertantly fertilizing the blooms.
*****
Angularfruit
milkvines (Matelea gonocarpos) vines are blooming. It’ll be interesting to see
if any develop seedpods this year.
A
Hoary Edge (Achalarus lyciades) skipper was flitting from
bloom to bloom, feeding on the last of the Heal All (Prunella vulgaris) plants
still blooming. This butterfly wasn’t posing for photos and wouldn’t let me get
a good shot of the top of its wings; I’ve posted some photos of this butterfly
previously.
Six-spotted
Tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata). Several of these beautiful beetles
were scurrying around the road and they weren’t posing for photos either. I had
to make do with a zoom shot which I’ve enlarged here.
A
robber fly. I don’t know what species this is. It, also, was nervous about
being approached but allowed me to get this photo.
One
of several Eastern Tailed-blue (Cupido comyntas) along the road was folding its
wings as soon as it landed. And last, but not least, a…
Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta) had a
favorite perch just where we parked the pickup.
All-in-all, it was a fruitful stop even if we
couldn’t get to the end of the road. Hopefully next time we visit, the snag
will have been cleared from the road. It’s a long walk to the Green Comet
Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora) flowers we’re following.
Click on an image to view a larger image
Identification
resources:
Southeastern
Flora:
Bug Guide:
- Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta)
Related
post:
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