Giant House Spider

At least I think that's what this is. I posted it to iNaturalist, hopefully someone will identify it. It could also be a Domestic House Spider (aka Barn Funnel Weaver). Although the body wasn't that large, the legs spanned a good two inches (5 cm), one of the bigger spiders I've seen around here. It showed up just as we were finishing our evening. I photographed it and then escorted it to the door.

Apparently, this is the time of year when the males wander in search of females. The females only leave their nest to feed.

Wild Carrots

Wild carrot is another invasive species that is very common around here. I thought of it as Queen Ann's Lace but I'm not sure where I picked up that name. It's also known as bishop's lace, or birds nest. I never paid much attention to it, but after taking some photos of insects on it, I looked it up, and I was interested to see that the carrots we eat are domesticated subspecies. When I think of carrots I think of the leafy greens. Most of these wild ones don't have many leaves, but the few they have are a little similar. I don't recall seeing domestic carrots flowering in vegetable gardens, but maybe we pull them out before they get a chance?

Most of the flowers are white, but some have a light pink or purple color in the early stages. Some of the flowers around the edges are larger.

Zooming in on the underside, you can see the seeds developing at the base of the flowers.

Curiously, some of them have a single tiny red flower in the center. Apparently the purpose has been debated since Charles Darwin. It may serve to attract pollinators. This time of the year, these are one of the most abundant flowers and they're frequently visited by bees, wasps, and flies.

At first I thought the curled up versions were in the process of opening. But it's the opposite, they're going to seed. The flat flower heads gradually curl up and then fall off and become tumbleweeds to spread the spiky seeds. So far I haven't noticed any on the ground. Maybe that happens later in the fall.

Insects & Spiders

I avoided it up till now, but Covid finally got me. I had a few days of feeling awful, and a few more with no energy, but after that I recovered fairly quickly. Although I'm still testing positive, despite no symptoms for days. On a couple of the recovery days I went out for walks with my camera along the railway tracks. It's not exactly the wilderness, but it's overgrown and there are a variety of plants and insects.

Before I even made it out of the yard I spotted this spider beside the garage. I thought it was something different, but it turned out to be the usual Cross Orbweaver. It just looked different because I was looking at the underside. In any case it was quite cooperative with being photographed. Even shining light on it.

Another one in our yard. At the time I thought this was just a house fly, but I think it's one of the Tiger Flies

Continuing the fly theme, this shiny one is a Common European Greenbottle. (Is there anything that's not invasive around here?)

Some of the flies look a lot like the honey bees. I'm not sure if that's deliberate mimicry so predators will leave them alone? I think this is a Common Drone Fly. The following one is a honey bee.

This cute little one is a Yellow-haired Sun Fly

There is one spot where there are lot of Asian Lady Beetles.

And earlier there were (not surprisingly) lots of lady beetle nymphs. These aren't the nymphs themselves, they're shed skins.

Most of the wasps were European Paper Wasps. We have native paper wasps, but the European ones are more adaptable and are taking over. I also saw a white faced hornet but didn't get a good photo.

My "best" find were these Stilt Bugs. (true "bugs" i.e. Hemiptera) I was photographing a flower and went to brush away a little stick, when I realized it was alive. The were about the size of mosquitoes. Despite their tiny size, I managed some decent photos. I thought they were new to me, but I see on iNaturalist that I've spotted them once before. I like the bright red eyes and the long antennae.

See all 20 photos in this batch

Hibiscus

I'm a fan of Hibiscus flowers. They're another tropical plant like Bougainvillea. Innovation Place had some quite large ones in giant pots that were taken inside in the winter. My sister (thanks Clare) gave me a plant when we moved to Victoria. Despite a running battle with a chronic infestation (spider mites?) it manages to survive and flowers fairly often.

The flowers open in the morning, and go quite rapidly (for a plant) from bud to large flower. There's a time lapse on the Wikipedia page. Here's one in the process of opening.

I was interested to see they are related to mallows. Which wouldn't mean anything to me, except that I just (tentatively) identified several flowers along the railway tracks as kinds of mallows.

Here's one more fully open.

The flowers only last one day. After that they neatly roll themselves up and drop off.

Small Things

An assortment of seeds and other small miracles and wonders*

OM-1, 60mm macro lens, Lume Cube mini, hand held, focus bracketed and stacked.

* "These are the days of miracle and wonder" is from the Paul Simon song The Boy in the Bubble