Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-Moth in Kansas

Here some fatherly advise from Dr. Seuss in his first book, And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street: 

"Marco, keep your eyelids up
And see what you can see."

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-Moth in Scotland

Could it be? I think I saw a Bee Hawk-Moth on a Buttonbush in the middle of the day in Kansas?

One expects to see them in Scotland and Britain, but not in Butler County, Kansas. I spotted this furry flying creature lighting for a brief moment on a Buttonbush flower at Lake El Dorado.

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-Moth about to land on the Buttonbush 

Bee or not a bee, that is the question? 

It is actually a moth with a name that fits, the Bee Hawk-Moth, a look-a-like that takes advantage of the bee's stinging reputation. How is that for adaption? 

What is this British Bee/Moth doing in Kansas? For that I don't have an answer. Do you?

Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-Moth in Kansas

Snow-on-the-Mountain and the Honey Bee

It is August in Kansas and there is Snow-on-the Mountain. The mass of white flowers appearing singly and in bunches alongside the roads and in the fields makes the name fitting.

Snow-on-the-Mountain, single stalk in Butler County, Kansas

Honey Bee with pollen basket on Snow-in-the-Mountain

This mass of white flowers was found alongside a dirt road in southern Butler County near the Cowley County line. What made it particularly interesting was the honey bee I found gathering nectar.

honey bee on Snow-on-the-Mountain

The bee colony consists of a single Queen bee, the drone, a male whose only job is to fertilize the eggs of the Queen bee, and the worker bees. Workers are completely developed female bees whose ovaries are undeveloped. As the name suggests, they work to gather pollen and nectar and convert the nectar to honey.

Honey Bee head shot

Within the honey comb, the worker is called a house bee. It does comb construction, brood rearing, while tending the queen and drones. Workers bees who leave the hive are called field bees. A field bee's life is brief, lasting only several weeks during the summer.

Bees have a barbed stinger which can only be used once. It rips out of the abdomen, killing the bee.

The busy bee has been gathering pollen and the pollen basket (corbicula,) noticeable on the hind legs, is full and ready for the bee to return to the hive.


Kansas Honey Bee Facts

Curly-top Gumweed

It is August in Kansas and up pops the Curly-top Gumweed, a bright yellow flower with multiple heads on a single stalk.


The common name, Curly-top Gumweed, comes from the curling flower bracts that top the heads and the sap. The plants are found singly and in clumps in fields and along paths. They are drought resistant with roots that grow to six feet in depth.

Flowering bud of Curly-top Gumweed

The tribes of the Great Plains used this plant to treat coughs, colds, and stomachaches. Then for good measure, it cures snow-blindness, and acts a soothing balm for saddle sores. KansasWildflowers.org

Curl-top Gumweed

Monarch Butterfly

What is this butterfly?

An old and tattered coat adorns this still beautiful butterfly, even in old age. What is this butterfly who came to rest in Botanica, the Wichita Gardens? I have called he or she a Monarch, but I can't be sure.

A child’s view of an old butterfly

In an autumn garden:

A child sees a butterfly

Its wings old and tattered

Whose color once bright

Now faded as the blossoms

But still pretty to a child

Who sees the world in pinks and golds

She says,

Do not fear

Stay awhile on my hand

And feel my gentle breath

Do not fly away

Rest  

For I think,

Of all creatures great and small,

God planned for you

To live this moment

In my garden flowers

With no hint of what’s to come

Pearl Crescent Butterfly in Kansas

Pearl Crescent butterfly, Kansas

The Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) is found in the east and central United States, including Kansas, and in Mexico and parts of southern Canada. This one was spotted in July of 2014 at Chisholm Creek Park in Wichita, Kansas. This is a medium sized butterfly. The wingspan is from 21 to 34 mm, about an inch.

Pearl Crescent butterfly

Swallowtail Butterfly

Black Swallowtail at Botanica Butterfly Garden

The Black Swallowtail ranges throughout much of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere of the Americas. Here is a lovely film by Kim Smith. vocals by Liv, organ music by Kathleen Adams.








In the garden you may see the caterpillar feeding on leaves of the parsley family including Queen Anne's Lace, fennel, carrot, celery and dill. Females lay eggs on host plants. The egg stage lasts four to nine days, the larval stage 10-30 days, and the pupal stage 18 days. Winter is spent in the chrysalis stage and adults emerge in the spring to feed on the nectar from a variety of flowers in open fields including red clover, milkweed, and thistles.

Black Swallowtail

The best time to view in the United States and Canada, one to two flights from April-October. These images were taken in July at Botanica in Wichita, Kansas.

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Lead Plant

The lead plant (also spelled leadplant and lead-plant, also false indigo because of its resemblance to the indigo plant) appears throughout the central portion of the United States and Canada. This native Kansas perennial grows to three feet in height. The weight of the leaves and flowers cause the plant to droop. With age, it becomes woody, where not disrupted by fires or browsing from animals. The young stems and leaves are light green and covered with white hairs. New plants can be propagated from the stems.

Lead Plant, Butler County near El Dorado Lake

The small purple flowers are arranged along spikes, about 2-6" long, giving the appearance of a feather duster. The color ranges from light to deep purple. Each flower has a tubular petal.The reddish to orange stamens and yellow anthers are showy.

Lead Plant flower

Lead Plant flower

The young stems have a similar appearance to that of the unrelated fern except that the leaves alternate along a central stem. The are light green and covered with white hairs.

Lead Plant leaves

Lead Plant leaves

Native Americans used the leadplant leaves to make a tea with which they would treat pinworms, eczema, rheumatism, neuralgia, and cuts. Some tribes smoked the dried leaves and buffalo fat, believing that it could attract buffalo to the person that had it on their clothing. These tribes called the flower "buffallo bellows" as the flowering occurred at the time of year when the buffalo was in rut.


See USDA, Leadplant.