Monica Knits

I've never seen a bee-like insect with a green head and thorax. The colors contrast wonderfully with this Gaillardia in my garden. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger image.

Though most of the Gaillardia blooms are spent, there are still enough that you can still see bees gathering pollen.

The stunning metallic copper sheen of these Japanese beetles belies their ravenous, destructive habits. These invasive, foreign pests are indiscrimant leaf and fruit eaters and the native insectivores don't seem interested in them.

This amazing butterfly has visited the dragons'blood sedum blooms three days in a row. When it folds its wings together, the outside surfaces (underside of the wings) are silver grey which reflect the color of the pink flowers. In short, the butterfly disappears in plain sight, though the "blue" eye like coloring on the grey wing surfaces is sometimes visible. When it opens its wings the top side is an orange / black color that is strikingly beautiful as well, but in sharp contrast to the sedum colors. In this photo you see both colors, the top side of the further wing, and the underside of the nearer wing. The partially raised nearer wing shows the pink reflection of the sedum on its grey surface.