Did you figure out what my mysterious creature was last week?
If you looked over some of the old "Glimpse of the Garden"
posts,
you may recall seeing one about the Tortoise Beetle.
You guessed it! My mystery creature is a tortoise beetle larva.
Not only is this a fascinating beetle, but it turns out that its larva may be even more unique! The larva's protective shield I described in last week's post is made of old exoskeleton molts and its own feces. Yup. Its own feces. Watch this video to see how it builds its shield- this is definitely one for the gross but incredibly amazing file!
In other garden news, it's nice to have some veggies to harvest, even if it hasn't turned out to be a very fruitful gardening year. The plants are beautiful, but it's been a cool summer in these parts, our growing days are dwindling with very little produce to show for my efforts!
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| Yum! Nothing more yummy than fresh basil and tomatoes! More lemon cucumbers, bell peppers are coming, finally a zucchini that matured instead of rotting on the vine, and a "mini pumpkin" gourd. |
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| This week's blooms: Black-eyed Susans, Nasturtium, Alyssum, Zucchini blossom, Radish flowers, Dwarf Dahlias and Black-eyed Susan Vine. Lots of oranges and yellows! |
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