Remnants of the Hornet Nest

The official end of the whitefaced hornet nest.

Technorati tags: whitefaced+hornet+nest

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Midwestern Wilderness: Yellow Jacket vs. Orb-Weaver Spider

Midwestern Wilderness: Yellow Jacket vs. Orb-Weaver Spider

I found this wonderful photographer, Moe, in Iowa, the other day: he takes great spider shots. What fascinated me about this series of photos is that the yellow jacket (which is a yellow baldfaced hornet) was eating the barn spider. My barn spider trapped the hornets and ate them.

You also must check out this post of Moe's: Midwestern Wilderness: Orb-Weaver Spider: The Marionette

Midwestern Wilderness is a blog of Moe and Brian from Iowa. There are photographs of dozens of birds, butterflies, mamamals, plants and too many things to name. It is excellently organized.

Moe and Brian have recently moved their blog to Iowa Voice. I found another fantastic spider photo and great info on many topics. Make sure that this blog is the next click you take.

Technorati tags: Midwestern+Wilderness Iowa+Voice orb-weaver spider hornets

Text Savvy: The Hitch

Text Savvy: "Write three different mathematical expressions that have the same value as 9. The hitch? . . . "

I'm making you click the link above if you want to know the hitch. I only have (3^3) ÷ 3. Just one lousy solution.

Well, I'm brain dead. I even went here to see if perhaps I could do it in another number base. When that didn't work, I went out with the cats to take some photos. The only good photo (of photos of dead Black-eyed susans, a sun-lit jet in flight, cats and trees) was of my hornet-eating spider. But my barn spider (that's what it is, by the way) photos are making too many people squeamish. The thing is bigger now. The hornet nest looks dead or dying.

It's Friday night. I feel my only ability at this moment is taking photos of spiders. When I browse through my iPhoto albums, all I see is pestilence: spiders and hornets, webs and nests.

It's too hot to go to Rutland until tomorrow. I learned from a call from Dottie that my voice mail is not working. Also, I learned there is a women's retreat tomorrow at Evelyn's house in Jeffersonville. I need the company of women now, not of men or children. But I can't go since I already have plans. I don't know what to do about tomorrow's Photo Hunt.

So don't scroll down because my gross barn spider is down below. These are the best of tonight's shots:

This jet is flying to Montreal over my own personal,

peaceful, quiet airspace and it is damn intrusive.

Not to mention carbon polluting.

All three of the Bad Boys now walk with me.

It's starting.

See the spider in the top right?

She's getting fat on hornets.

I guess too much of anything is bad.

Technorati tags: mathematics barn+spider puzzle
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Wordless Wednesday: Spider Eats Baldfaced Hornet

Image opens full size in new window when clicked.

Technorati tags: baldfaced+hornet, whitefaced+hornet, spider
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A Spider

I don't think this is a barn spider because of the pretty furry cat-like marking on its back (see today's photo of the day for another view of it). I have submitted an ID request to bugguide.net. Be sure to click on the photo so that you can see it full size. This one spider, which is pretty big, is making a web around the damaged hornet nest that I have been chronicling this summer. But the web is not enveloping the nest: it is around it, so that when the hornets fly in or out, they could get caught. Two have died so far. The nest is still active but does not seem as healthy as it did. The eggs that were visible when it first broke are now a darker color.

My day wasn't the best day. My trip to Rutland had to be canceled because of the weather (mostly). The heat here was bad: a high of 83°F (28°C) with a dew point so high that my bathroom mirror was fogged up all day and the linoleum floor was actually wet. Rutland, I heard, was over 90° (32°C).

The storms this afternoon were very bad. The first one blew in directly from the north, over the mountain, and woke me from my nap. I watched as the clouds descended and the sheets of rain advanced. The lightning was dangerous again: constant flickering in the sky. The thunder echoed eerily this time, sometimes it sounded like a roar. A different roar than the wind was making.

There was a lightning strike on my property again. When it happened, I heard a huge POP and of course I lost all power. But it was out for only about two hours. It came back in the middle of the second storm.

Buddy and Charlie were out there somewhere in the weather. Zorro had the sense to come in where it was safe.

Technorati tags: spider hornets thunder+storms heat
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Busy Hornets

Baldfaced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata)

The hornets are still re-building their nest. I managed to get one photograph of one in flight and one of a hornet entering the nest. As allergic as I am to the stings, I find the photography helping me overcome my fears. I expect to learn how to do better flight photos.

Technorati tags: Baldfaced+Hornet Dolichovespula+maculata hornet+nest

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Baldfaced Hornets

We have been watching this hornet nest grow and shrink and grow again all this summer. The hornets were re-building this morning so I put this together to illustrate the nest and the hornet. The barn has many old and new nests. An interesting fact: these hornets are black and white versions of yellow jackets. They are also called whitefaced hornets. For more information about baldfaced hornets go to bugguide.net.

Technorati tags: Baldfaced+Hornet Dolichovespula+maculata hornet+nest

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