Monday, July 20, 2015

And then there were two

At 8:30 a.m., I was walking up the sidewalk to my office at FRC without my camera when I saw my first Ambush Bug of the season.  It was on a daisy.  I worked for a couple of hours when I remembered I left the camera in my car.  I knew these critters tend to stay in one place for days at a time, so there was hope.  Around 10:30, I walked down the hill to get my camera, and returned to the patch of daisies.  Now there were two Ambush Bugs.  Each occupied its own daisy.  I wondered where they had come from, and whether the first found the flower by visual, olfactory, or some other sense that perhaps we humans don;t have.  Then I wondered if the second one found its flower the same way, or did it sense the first bug and follow it to this place.
This is one of my favorite bugs, but I usually find it first on Tansy.  The Tansy are blooming all over the place, but so far this summer I haven't found found many bugs on them.
I'm going to check this place again tomorrow.  It would surprise me if I found them on the same flower!
Here's a broader view of the scene.  I'm hearing thunder and a bit of rain at 7:45 p.m.  Conditions could be quite different in the morning.  We'll see.

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