seen these?

Look for creatures hiding in your garden

As readers of this column know, I never use pesticides in my gardens. To do so would interfere with life cycles of creatures that live in them. This article and accompanying pictures are a sampling of some that I have seen in my gardens. I encourage my readers to discover who lives in theirs.

The large spider is a female “garden spider,” Argiope aurantia, a spider found throughout the continental United States and Canada. The picture was taken mid-August, after she’d spent all summer feeding on insects and growing to this largest size. Males of the species are about a third the size. (Spiders shed their skins several times as they grow; this is called molting. Many times, people show me “dead” spiders that are really just shed skins.) She uses venom to immobilize flies and other insects. Most spiders have two claws on each foot. She has three, which enable her to make complex “zigzaggy” webs. It is believed this pattern is recognized by birds, who then don’t destroy the webs. She usually eats the web each night, then makes a new one. When potential mates pluck on the web to get her attention, she deposits egg sacs on the web. In cold areas, the young hatch in the spring. The males die after mating and the females die during the first hard frost.

The frog is an Eastern Gray tree frog. I was watering pots behind the house when I saw a “leaf” stuck on the side of the house. I directed the water to wash it down and something live landed on the back porch—greenish, wartlike, with pads on its toes. A tree frog. I didn’t recognize the species so I sent a picture to the editor of the Conservation magazine and to the director of the Master Naturalist program in New York State. They identified it as Dryophytes versicolor, a frog that can camouflage from gray to green or brown. Our house is blue so green was as close as it could get! The legs have a dark band pattern, and the front legs are yellowish underneath. As you can see from the picture, the skin is rather lumpy. The smaller male can call, but females are silent. Now dear reader, this is so exciting to me: these tree frogs can reproduce by laying eggs in a hollow area of a tree that has collected water. This may have happened in one of our trees!

Many years ago, I ran a nature program for children. One day, the high school student counselors got very excited because they had captured a hummingbird; it was actually a hummingbird moth, which is what you see in the next picture—a male (characterized by its “feathery” back end—perched on monarda (beebalm). The hummingbird moth gets its name from the way it behaves when taking nectar from a plant—just like a hummingbird. This moth is active in the daytime. You can recognize it from its light-colored legs and beautiful olive green and burgundy body. The caterpillar of this moth fed on honeysuckle and hawthorn leaves. When the adult moth emerges from its cocoon, it has a furry body and scales on its wings. When the scales fall off, the wings are rather transparent. It has a white “horn” on its posterior. It extends its mouth parts to partake of plant nectar and then rolls it up.

The mean looking insect is an assassin bug that feeds on flies, bees, and caterpillars. It injects its prey after first stabbing it, then sucks the contents of the insect or other prey’s body. I am wary of these creatures as they can puncture our skin! Different species range in size from a half-inch to one-and-ahalf inches. They don’t fly well so they wait for creatures to come near them. Some coat their bodies with dead matter to attract prey. Not one of my favorites…

I would enjoy hearing about creatures you have seen in your gardens! Stay tuned for next month’s garden column, which will feature more insects you may spot. caharlos@verizon.net FY

Carol Ann Harlos is an awardwinning retired math and science teacher, Master Gardener, beekeeper, writer, and speaker. She tends extensive gardens, including herbs, and loves learning from others and sharing her knowledge.