Thursday, August 7, 2008

Queen for a Day




















The previous collection of photos was taken over the course of several days.
Queen Anne's Lace fills the fields in late summer.
Her flower heads are home to many insects that both feed off her bracts and blossoms
or wait in their cover for prey.

(Did you find them all?)




Key:
photo 2: tiny unidentified fly
photo 6&7: Black Swallowtail caterpillar
photo 8: Aughochlorini sweat bee
photo 9&10: jumping spider #1
photo 11: ambush bug waiting to strike
photo 12: unidentified fly
photo 13: ambush bug capturing honeybee
photo 14&15: jumping spider #2
photo 16: orb weaver web


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53 comments:

Pat - Arkansas said...

Queen for a Day, indeed! This is a most wonderful study of the plant and its sometimes inhabitants. I was amazed to see the ambush bug 'ambushing' the bee! Great photos, as usual. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures. You have some great angles and perspectives on these flowers. I also loved the Hummingbird journal. How luck you are to be able to watch them grow!

Dagny
www.onnotextiles.com

Anonymous said...

Great post, even separate from skywatch. I really like that top one, though - very dramatic and interesting.

bobbie said...

Queen Anne is lovely as always. Many little critters seem to think so too.

dlyn said...

I love Queen Anne's Lace - one of the few weeds I allow near the yard. And these are gorgeous shots- happy SWF!

Texas Travelers said...

Great photos of QAL. And bonus insects. The jumper #2 is a fierce, hairy fellow.
Great job.

Our "Sky Watch" is Here.
Come visit,
Troy and Martha

LiseH said...

So many lovely pictures!
Great for sky watch!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Nina: A queenly post for sure that is interlaced with insects.

Julie said...

I don't think we have Queen Anne's Lace in Australia. We do have lots of other flowering weeds though. I had to smile at the one with the thumping great caterpillar.

Juliana RW said...

gorgeous....ALL of them, sky and flowers

My SWF : The gateway to Heaven Thanks

rachel said...

I love this! The flowers, as well as each of the photos are just beautiful!! (: Happy SWF

Lara said...

beautiful pictures, indeed fit to a queen :)

Michele said...

Fantastic... stunning photos... I am always intrigued by your photography.
Mountain Retreat

Petunia said...

Lovely!
Love them all!

Petunia's SWF

Torsdag 1952 said...

wonderful disign, great shot

Anonymous said...

beautiful pictures. Such a cool flower.

Kelly said...

So many beautiful photos! Great SWF pictures!

Carletta said...

Such a lovely weed!
It is intricate in its beauty.
You captured it very well!

Kahshe Cottager said...

Queen Anne's Lace is one of my favourite wildflowers. It grows so readily on the roadside and I would like it in my garden too. I like the way you placed the sky behind it to show off its intricate pattern.

Have a wonderful weekend of beautiful skies!

My Sky Watch Photos are posted Here and Here

imac said...

great sky shots.

Cátia said...

wow!nice photos! wonderful

Ellyn said...

I love Queen Anns Lace. I really liked the view of your sky through it. lovely.

Raven said...

Wow... what a wonderful series. I especially love #s 1, 2, 7, 11 & 13. Great post.

Pernille said...

Beautiful flowers and beautiful shots! Love them all:)

Louise said...

You take my break away. I'm having a really thing about Queen Anne's Lace this summer. I don't have a trace of any near me, but this post is the best I've seen on it. Really well done series!

Kathie Brown said...

Nina, such an interesting view of the sky, as always! You have done well! Queen Anne's Lace is one of my summer favorites. We don't get it here in AZ. I took some shots when I was back east.

pineyflatwoodsgirl said...

Thanks for a lovely birthday present, Nina!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Very delicate beautiful images.

Mary said...

Nina, I don't have Queen Anne's Lace. Would love it. Your photos are fabulous. Orb Weaver's webs are fascinating but give me nightmares after one wrapped around me last summer.

You might want to read about you on my blog tonight.

Mary

Kerri Farley said...

Fabulous post! Your shots are amazing! Happy SWF!

Suzanne said...

Wow is all I can say. They are all stunning photos and your have captured so much detail.

Lana Gramlich said...

Very lovely! Great macros with the individual flowers & the insects & things. Just beautiful.

esnorway said...

nice pics i like them all. great swf have a nice weekend

Angie said...

Superb shots!

Rune Eide said...

Probably not since I was too impressed with all the flowers and the ones I found!

Yrsa said...

What a wonderful series! I got so intersted in the flowers that I had to scroll back and wonder where the sky was... but there it was and very blue!

duopastorale said...

Delicate shots.

Tom said...

Fantastic Sky Watch posting.. all the pictures are excellent as always are here... I did not do so well with the spotting.. ;o)

Forgive this 'Copy & Paste' section of my comment.. this is to let you know that we at Sky Watch appreciate your posting and thank you for helping to make Sky Watch so good. Any problems feel free to contact me about them.

Anonymous said...

Wow i love all the shots the flower and the sky. Happy SWF and weekend too...tc

Larry D said...

Fantastic!

AphotoAday said...

Love the composition of that first shot...
Interesting series... Well done...
Best regards, Don.

dguzman said...

Nice work, Nina. I love it when the plants get the little seed basket (next to last photo). We are overrun with QAL in our yard, and I just let it grow!

Berit T said...

Very very beautiful!!

zakscloset said...

wow! they all look amazing!!

RuthieJ said...

I always stop and check out the blossoms on my Queen Anne's Lace. It's always neat to see what insects are hanging out there.

Vylat said...

You've made Queen Anns Lace very special with your beautiful photos. Will never think of it as just a weed again. Did you know that parts of this plant are edible?

Mary said...

oh what a terrific set of photos. I love the title! Happy skywatch friday. :)

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Plant buddy--I think the root, right? It's related to the carrot--though I don't know all the details.

coolgirlsar said...

Fantastic photos and the blue of the sky in that first one is beautiful. Happy Sky Watch Friday.

Anonymous said...

Stunning insects and floral shots!

SandyCarlson said...

Outstanding, my friend. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. Thanks.

Pearl Maple said...

Stunningly beautiful photos for Sky Watch Friday, you are very talented at capturing tiny details.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

The Queen is so gracious to all her subjects.