Brooklyn Bridge Park
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Webworm Parent
The Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva aurea) is distinctive. For one thing, it was working in daylight and most moths are nocturnal. Also, with its small wings tightly rolled, it doesn’t look like your typical moth; it’s one of the ermine moths. Its nominal host plant, Ailanthus (The Tree that Grows on Roofs), is originally from…
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Larva
Spotted on the t-shirt of one of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s gardeners. Clearly, a bug who knows its friends. Speaking of friends, I will be doing a Bugs and Blooms tour tonight at 6:30 at Pier 1 BBP.
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Lace Bugs
I noticed these tiny, delicate-looking bugs underneath the leaves of a couple of oaks in Brooklyn Bridge Park. They’re new to me, members of the Tingidae family, the lace bugs. Kudos to the Horticulturist for the ID. They feed on the leaves, producing the splotching seen here. Location and the look of them suggest they…
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Mallards
Two families of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were spotted at Brooklyn Bridge Park the other day. Here’s an attentive mommy and one of her half a dozen cautious-reckless youngsters.
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Milkweeds
While I was away, the milkweeds of Brooklyn all came out. Some of them in Brooklyn Bridge Park are nearly as tall as I am. But here is my favorite, Butterfly Weed, which usually stays pretty close to the ground: Asclepias tuberosa.
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New Robins
Out of the nest, still being fed by the parents. Fledged, but less a flier than a hopper and a climber at the moment. People often think birds need help at this stage — can’t fly, looks helpless, no sign of the parents — but they usually don’t. The parents are near, but keeping away…
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NYC WildFlower Week
Woodland Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), a.k.a. Celandine Poppy. Last day of NYCWFW, with three events.
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NYC Wildflower Week: Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea. Check out the “faunal associations,” the animals that pollinate, eat, breed on, etc., listed on this species account: bees, wasps, butterflies, true bugs…. Blooming now. NYCWFW.
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NYC Wildflower Week: Spiderwort
Tradescantia, whose common name is another of those not-quite lost to history ones: the sap on a cut stem becomes thready, like spider silk. There are two species which readily hybridize. We think this is T. ohiensis. Blooming now and into July. NYCWFW.
Backyard and Beyond 