Mostly Welcome Garden Visitors

Have you seen the Blue Mud Dauber Wasp before? This is my first time. This is an impressive bug. Very large wasp, this one was probably more than an inch. They eat black widows! Not that I have seen any around here. I believe there are two of these hanging around my Limelight hydrangeas. They are very pretty, shiny, fuzzy and blue! From what I have read they are not aggressive. They are pretty quick flyers though, getting a snap shot of them is difficult!

 This Lacewing was hanging around my milkweed. I have Milkweed Aphids (tiny yellow plant suckers 😡) so I hope this aphid eater sticks around and takes care of them!

Last year was the first time I had ever seen these Snowberry Clearwing Moth's (not a bee). I had one last year. This year I have two and they spend all their time in my garden! One day my daughter saw one just sitting on a tomato leaf which was odd because they seem to never stop fast flying....like a humming bird, which is why they call it hummingbird moth, it hovers while it eats. Later I caught the two mating and showed my daughter. She blurted, "They had a date and the girl was late!" Cute and funny. They are a really cool creature! I love them!

I'm not sure if this is a welcome visitor or not. Not on this day, as he had a bee in his grasp. If he is going to eat bad bugs I'm all for him but if he is eating my bees....not so much. This is a Robber Fly.

 Early in the season this guy was living in my butterfly bush. I kept finding white cabbage moth wings with no body. So I moved him for fear he would get a beautiful swallowtail. I put him in the bean bed and he has been doing a beautiful job taking care of the bean bugs and bean beetles and he has grown every time I come across him. He has gotten so big and his back wings have started to turn brown. He truly is huge! And my beans look better since they are not being devoured by bean beetles! I need to find another one to put into the squash bed. I believe the icicle radishes are helping to deter the squash vine borer but the squash bugs are impossible! It would give me great pleasure to see a Mantis devouring ALL the squash bugs!

 I have had a range of Swallowtails. The Tiger Swallowtail, Black swallowtail, Zebra Swallowtail and some other black varieties that I have not seen close enough to know if they are Pipevine or Spicebush. Some of those black ones are hard to differentiate! But I love them in my garden, they are so majestic, graceful and beautiful! I have had several Tiger Swallowtails, sometimes at the same time!

 I have also enjoyed the presence of at least one Monarch that frequently but quickly visits my garden. It doesn't hang around like the Tiger and Zebra Swallowtail. They like to linger in the garden.

 This visitor is also welcome most the time, as long as she isn't digging in bare newly seeded beds. She keeps me company and keeps the bunnies away! She does however like to stalk the hummingbird feeder. Hope she never catches one!

 Oh the Bees! They are oh so welcome always! Pollinate, my friends! Pollinate!

Happy Gardening Adventures! What kind of welcome visitors do you have?