Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Sexy Spring

Spring is full of sex or the after effects ... these little spiderlings in my blueberry bushes are hatching now after a winter in the egg case. Last fall the mother spider put her eggs right in the middle of what are now spider prey magnets. Moths, bees, butterflies, ... they are all visiting the blueberries now just as these spiders alarm clock goes off. A few molts and these guys will be a threat to them.

Does this blossom make me look fat?

These bumble bees are literally colliding in mid-air in their competition for blossom favors. Flower sex usually involves some third party, although sometimes a gentle breeze will do the trick. The bees don't seem to mind being used by the blueberry bush.

Some are still waiting for romance and will even resort to letting it all hang out to entice the wandering compound eye.
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11 comments:

Alan said...

I love to see those bumblebees flying. They work hard for their pay.

That bottom blue flower a spiderwort?

.....Alan.

robin andrea said...

Lovely spring pics, FC. Those blue flowers are spectacular. My eyes need to adjust for the brightness, having grown accustomed to winter-gray everywhere. Thanks for the colors.

threecollie said...

All your photos are wonderful, but that bumblebee shot is nothing short of amazing! How on earth did you do that?
...and I loved the caption too.

LauraHinNJ said...

I see the bugs have been busy while you were away. The spiderlings are cute, but I would squish those aphids in a second!

Would love the know what the blue flower is also.

Welcome back!

Deb said...

Those blue flowers are absolutely striking. I think they might be spiderwort, or a relative, Asiatic dayflower.

R.Powers said...

Alan,
Worth their weight in gold ...pollen of course.
Yes! It's spiderwort.

Woodie,
Yes, perhaps a Beeflex would help.

Robin,
Glad the color helped :)

ThreeCollie,
You didn't see the 20 blurry shots I deleted :)

Laurahinnj,
Photo first, squish second :)
The flower is spiderwort, a lawn weed. Very pretty tho.

Deb,
Spiderwort ... good job! Does it grow up there?

Deb said...

Yeah, I remember it from a railroad right of way near the development where The Hermit and I had our first house. It was such an exotic looking wildflower for such a wasteland-looking place. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it anywhere near Sand Creek.

SophieMae said...

Great pics... as always! We get lots of green lynx babies like that. The bee pic made me think of our carpenter bees. Every time I walk out the front door, one gets in my face trying to bluster me out of its territory. Good job they don't sting!

Dr. Know said...

Beautiful pictures. Remind me of the shots I took last weekend of the partially-native backyard garden in bloom - only to subsequently determine that my cheap camera is woefully inadequate for macro photography.
C'est la vie.

R.Powers said...

Deb,
It's taking over my tiny "lawn" part of PF.

Sophie,
Those carpenters make the neatest circular holes.

Dr. Know,
Welcome to Pure Florida. Your backyard is very pretty. Good job.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Those little blue flowers are awesome and as much as I hate spiders they are very interesting to see, in your picture.