Bees

I carried a pitcher outside to brew sun tea and found a "gift."  A dead cicada killer was lying on the patio.  It was nice to have a leisurely look at a wasp that's always on the move in life.  I also saw a ladybird beetle on the milkweed that the monarchs preferred for their eggs.  On closer examination, I could see aphids that the beetle may have been after.  The beetle had many spots so it was probably the imported Asian species that's sold as a "natural" pest control. 

At lunchtime, a black swallowtail dined on butterfly milkweed flowers.  Carolina wrens made the feeder rounds.  The Argiope by the patio switched sides on its web.  A female amberwing hunted from a base in the rue.  For some strange reason, with loads of leaves available, the monarch caterpillar ate a hole in a milkweed seedpod. 

I found a dead frog in the skimmer and a live one sitting on the ladder. I chased that one all over the pool but finally evicted it after it climbed up my suit.  I wouldn't bother but I believe that the pool water poisons them.  I also found a bluetail skink swimming and fished it out.  It was not grateful. Bright sun, low humidity, but a breeze from the North made swimming slightly chilly.  The water was still warm but I felt the breeze as I waited outside till I finished dripping. 

The green bee was back and there may have been two of them,  There were at least two great black wasps and several great golden digger wasps.  No butterflies came to either the mountain mint or the spearmint but I saw an azure fluttering around the trees.  When I looked for the new Argiope, the web was empty but I thought something dropped from it.  But then I found a full grown Argiope drowned on the top pool step. 

I also pursued photos of the dark honeybees.  Later, when I did a little research, I learned that there are two subspecies that look dark gray Apis Mellifera Carnica and Apis Mellifera Caucasica and two more that are much darker than the ones I've seen. And a bigger surprise - the "regular" honeybees on the mountain mint seem to be the Africanized hybrid Apis Mellifera Scutellata.  I suppose that explains why the dark ones give way to the lighter colored bees.  But another source suggests they might all be from the same hive, only with different fathers.

 A full grown skink came very close as I watched the bees.  One of a handful of titmice had no tail. The dock was full of mallards, mostly drakes in eclipse.