Garden Insects...

Katydid on lily

Whitetail Dragonfly (supposed to be common, but I have never seen one of these before.)

Quite sure this fellow is a Robber Fly- it is huge! A fierce predator of wasps, bees, grasshoppers, beetles, leafhoppers...

Cobwebs after rain on Molinia grass. ©H.McSwan 2013

Swallowtail butterfly on 'Kaveri' Lily

Hawk moth caterpillar on the plum tree

 For lots more info and pics on dragonflies, go to Water Lilies

Sphinx moth- quite large, about 2" in length. Plant nocturnal flowers for moths. Click below to find plants for moths & other nocturnal insects.

Go here to get information on nocturnal flowers from The KootenayBats.com website.  For a printable version of nocturnal plants, go here.

Click on the pics to enlarge.


Spiders are not classed as insects, but here they are anyway.

A cat faced spider! There are a number of these spiders around our place regularly. Their bodies are large- my partner says as big as a ping-pong ball, but that is an exaggeration. They are a bit smaller than that. They are called 'cat faced' because on their large abdomen are 2 points that look like cat's ears. Think 'Hello Kitty' with an edge. These spiders are large enough to eat wasps as their prey.

The underside of an amazingly striped spider.

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Oak Leaf Moth (Phyllodesma), found this moth on the screen door in April (!) (photo left). I thought it was dead, but after being on the warmth of my hand and sitting in the sun, it came alive again and flew away (photo right)

Jewel Bug

And another Spangled Fritillary - different colouring... ©H.McSwan 2014

Box Elder bug: these can appear in droves in the late summer like something out a Stephen King novel, but they are generally okay: they don't do damage per se, but they can be a real nuisance if they get IN the house....

This is a bumblebee on the flowers of Geranium phaeum (Mourning Widow). The flowers are small and look delicate, but attract a large number of bumblebees. It is a very sturdy plant, long lived and very pretty if you like more subtle flowers, reminiscent of a woodland plant.

This cricket was large- about 3" --- not sure why the camera picked it up as a metallic colour. Likely a 'Mormon Cricket' Anabrus spp.

Fritillary Butterfly on echinacea 'Ruby Star': Echinacea are one of the best flowers for attracting butterflies....

The cocoon of the Isabella moth, she is the orange and black 'fuzzy bear' that we often see in autumn. Their cocoons are often in wood piles, so keep an eye out when moving firewood! The cocoon is about 1.5" in size.