You win a few, you loose a few

Remember those Mourning Cloak eggs I blogged about earlier this spring? Know what happened to them? Nothing. They never hatched. They just shriveled up. That was a bummer.


But just today, I saw another Mourning Cloak laying eggs in my Chinese Elm tree. This time, I'm going to just leave them in the tree and hope for the best.

Last month, I found a cute little baby angle-winged katydid. (Microcentrum sp.)

I had never seen one so tiny. I decided I would try to raise it, but after about a week, it escaped. (actually, I forgot to close his container, dang it!)


I do have lots of Mediterranean katydid nymphs. (Phaneroptera nana). Here are 4 of them on one leaf.


My family of bluebirds grew up and left the nest. I think this guy was the last one to leave.


For a few days after they fledged, they would fly around the immediate neighborhood, with the parents still feeding them, and they would come back to my Chinese Elm tree for the night. But I haven't seen them for about a week.

All the little praying mantids that I was seeing in my yard are gone, too. Maybe the birds ate them, maybe some of them ate each other, I don't know. But they're gone.