Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

July 20, 2014

The Butterflies' Garden

In addition to the butterflies and caterpillars, Butterflies of Cape Cod is filled with beautiful plants and flowers











OK this freaky looking thing is a mud dauber wasp, or at least 2-3 of them stuck together.  I saw it in the parking lot  when I left and at first glance, I thought it was a dying butterfly that had escaped and had ragged wings.  I was really freaked out when I bent down to have a closer look.  I sent the picture to an entomologist/research scientist and asked what kind of mutant wasp this was.  He wrote back right away to say it was at least 2 mud dauber wasps, but he could not tell what they were doing because very little is known about them.  He said that it's possible that this was a mating thing, since they hatch in summer, or perhaps their nest had recently been hit with pesticide, causing them to lethargically stick together.  Either way I hope I never see this again.  I've dubbed it Waspzilla.

17 comments:

  1. Poor little daubers. They are so useful in controlling spiders. Yay! And they are not aggressive like wasps. Yay, Yay!

    Your photos always portray the beauty of the world. I enjoy them! This is what we have to focus on when horrible people do horrible things to others. There is calamity lurking around every corner caused by humankind and/or nature. My belief is that that kind of stuff will end here on earth when I die, and my life in heaven, will provide only goodness, no evil, no sorrow--the best of earth's beauty including people and animals.

    Have a great day!

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    1. That dauber, or daubers, was/were really weird looking though...I thought it was a mutant but it appears to be at least 3 of them.

      There is beauty in the world, yes...at least in most places. It's a shame that there is so much hate and war.

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  2. I hardly ever see a butterfly any more. So sad.

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    1. I don't see them as much as I used to, that's for sure. Lots of moths though.

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  3. Anonymous7:59 AM

    Ugh, we have those stupid wasps around here. Nasty little buggers.

    I love the fruit on the plate as a complement to the flowers. Beautiful. I need to bookmark this page for when the cold weather sneaks back in to our area.

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    1. This summer is just flying by. I am in no hurry for winter again either, and you know last year had to be bad if I am actually holding tight to the warm weather because I have never been a fan of summer!!!!

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    2. Elsie, the fruit on the plate is for the butterflies to enjoy

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  4. Lovely pictures of flowers. Particularly liked the chrysanthemums at the top. Poor daubers, I wonder what happened to them.

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    1. Thank you! Those are mums in the first pic? I had no idea. Next time I go to the garden I'll keep my eyes peeled for more daubers.

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  5. Hi JoJo,

    Beautiful, vibrant colours in those flowers. So nice to see because with me moving, I just haven't bothered with adding new flowers to the garden this year. We see lots of Monarch butterflies over here.

    I notice how your post ends with a sting in the tail :) Hope you had a lovely weekend.

    Gary

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    1. I'm glad that other people have green thumbs when it comes to gardening. All I can grow are weeds and mold.

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  6. Anonymous12:44 PM

    Waspzilla is a good word! Flowers are beautiful. I don't know if it's because we had a wet spring and now a hot summer (i.e. a week of good weather!) but the flowers here seem to think it's nearly autumn and they've done their thing for this year......

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    1. I hope that's not a sign of an early winter for you guys!

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  7. I'm spending a week on the Cape this August and will have to check out the butterfly garden. I didn't even know there was one down there!

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    1. It's in Bournedale off the Scenic Highway where it runs past the big parking area on the Canal just west of the Sagamore Bridge. There's a big sign at the traffic lights there, right side. Totally worth the visit and hey you'll get to see my jewelry in the gift shop.

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  8. This post reminds me of that old Sesame Street game: One of these things is not like the others...a series of spectacular flowers punctuated with a freaky wasp. I like it! And I'm impressed by the way the pinks and purples in the middle of that fifth flower, jump out at me.

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    1. Thanks! I think that flower is a morning glory. Not sure, but they are so pretty aren't they?

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