The gardens is full of butterflies and bees. They love the Lavender (this is a good reason to keep it).
I have seen Swallowtail butterflies, a black and white butterfly that comes rarely to the garden that I never manage to photograph and there was a mucher larger humming bird hawk moth, again it was too quick for me. Even the bees tempt me because they seem slow only to fly off as the press the shutter; I have numerous images of only sprigs of lavender when I hoped I was taking bees or butterflies drink necter.
This honey bee is feeding on Thyme, a variety that smells of camphor.
A small bumble bee on lavender
I usually cut the flowers off the santolina before they open as I don’t like their colour, but having left them this year, I find they are visited by numerous different insects, so perhaps I should always leave the flowers for them.
A waspish-looking hoverfly
The iridescent green of the fly reflects the acid yellow of the Santolina
Not just flies and bees like the Santolina.
A spider sets its web where it knows there will be many passing visitors which it can ensnare.
The spider is coloured like a wasp or bee.
You can see blue markings on the underside of the wing.
This moth? is on a tomato leaf, I hope it’s not going to cause problems
And these are from last month that didn’t find their way into a post.
Verbena bonariensis is another popular flower for bees and butterflies
But not all the visitors are harmless. Rosa Molineux has been ravaged by one kind of insect that I’ve not noticed in the garden in other years.
Any ideas as to what they are?
They eat the petals almost completely!
So if you know what they are, what can I do about them (organically).
I can’t leave you with this horrible image, so here’s a swallowtail from last month.
Lovely images Christina, I can almost feel the heat! We have had such awful weather that bees and butterflies have been in short supply. Hope you soon find an organic cure for your rose nibbler, dreadful to find them being eaten like that.
Beautiful pictures!
Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_beetle. They are a big pest in the States but I am not sure if they exist in Europe. I have the fatter chafers that like the roses.
Thanks for that, I’m going to check it out now; we have, what I call, pollen beetles and they do some damage but nothing like these! Christina
GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF THE GARDEN VISITORS, cHRISTINA- EXCEPT THE LAST LOT-EATING ROSES IS NOT ALLOWED!
Christina, great photos of the different butterflies! I could advise you to use the infusion of tomatoes leaves. I finely cut the tomatoes leaves, pour water in the bucket, and spray the plants after 2 days.
Hi Nadezda, thank you for the advice, I’ll try it and let everyone know how it works. Christina
Christina how wonderful to see all these critters so happy in your garden…an even lovelier sight during Pollinator Week!
With the laveder in flower there are a lot of pollinators in the garden. Christina
Great shots Christina – the swallowtail is a beaut and something I haven’t been able to photo. Seriously don’t want that rose-muncher in the garden though. Horrid. D
You must have been very patient to get those shots Christina, they’re fantastic There is nothing quite like the sound of bees in the garden or being able to watch butterflies perform their giddy dance through the summer air, quite magnificent.
Beautiful photo’s Christina! Your bugs eating your roses look like Japanese Beetles…I have them by the hundreds sometimes. You can pick them off your flowers and drop them in soapy water (they don’t bite) or I just ran across this post today :http://www.finegardening.com/item/23481/make-your-own-natural-spray-for-japanese-beetles. Love the butterfly’s!
Thank you for the information but looking closely at the images shown on various sites I’m not sure they are Japanese beetles. I’ll do some more research. My husband says they have always been on the Quercia ilex but this is the first year they’ve attacked the roses. Christina
Hi Christina, these are all wonderful images! I love close-ups of insects. They give us a peek into another realm. Perhaps my favorite photo is the second one with the bumblebee. It struck me that it looks like he is wearing a diaper!
By the way, on your last post, I love the slideshow. I think it must be a lot of work to put that together for the internet. I’m so glad you did.
I had the same thought Debbie. It doesn’t take too long to make the slideshow with Flickr. Christina
Gorgeous photos. I get an immense sense of satisfaction when I see the garden buzzing with insects but that rose chomper looks horrendous.
Anche se ti sarai informata sicuramente ti posso dire quasi con certezza che l’insetto che mangia le rose si chiama labidostomis taxicornis fam. chrysomelidae ordine dei coleoptera; avevo fatto una ricerca perché diversi esemplari avevano quasi completamente defogliato un leccio.
Ciao Anna Maria ho una sughera sotto attacco da parte di molti labidostomis taxicornis, hai qualche suggerimento su come posso intervenire? Grazie per l’aiuto. Luca