the Spider and it's prey...
Green Lynx Spider captures a visiting bee ...
Brooksville, Florida
The ironic thing about this image is that for about 30 years I systematically tried to eliminate this "weed" from my property... "Beggarticks (Bidens alba), also commonly referred to as Spanish needle, is perhaps one of Florida’s most controversial wildflowers". It was such a pain ... the seeds would hitchhike on my clothes... I couldn't get rid of them... I called them... "Al's Bane"!!! A single plant can produce 3,000–6,000 seeds that are dispersed by wind, water, and most often, by becoming attached to fur or clothing. It was a fight I couldn't win...! But, I learned that ... "bidens alba is a great source of nectar (food) for pollinators, it is a host plant to certain species of butterflies and moths. Host plants are specific plants that a female butterfly chooses to lay its eggs. The caterpillars will feed on it also." (Florida Native Plant Society) So I started letting them populate certain areas... This coincided with my new focus of rewilding my property as I watched areas around me becoming monocultures...(new housing with immaculate lawns and the chemicals to maintain them ...) My ecology is so much richer for it... and lots and lots of butterflies and so many insects and birds live here now! (and, of course, I have so many more nature sources to photograph ... without leaving the farm)
the Spider and it's prey...
Green Lynx Spider captures a visiting bee ...
Brooksville, Florida
The ironic thing about this image is that for about 30 years I systematically tried to eliminate this "weed" from my property... "Beggarticks (Bidens alba), also commonly referred to as Spanish needle, is perhaps one of Florida’s most controversial wildflowers". It was such a pain ... the seeds would hitchhike on my clothes... I couldn't get rid of them... I called them... "Al's Bane"!!! A single plant can produce 3,000–6,000 seeds that are dispersed by wind, water, and most often, by becoming attached to fur or clothing. It was a fight I couldn't win...! But, I learned that ... "bidens alba is a great source of nectar (food) for pollinators, it is a host plant to certain species of butterflies and moths. Host plants are specific plants that a female butterfly chooses to lay its eggs. The caterpillars will feed on it also." (Florida Native Plant Society) So I started letting them populate certain areas... This coincided with my new focus of rewilding my property as I watched areas around me becoming monocultures...(new housing with immaculate lawns and the chemicals to maintain them ...) My ecology is so much richer for it... and lots and lots of butterflies and so many insects and birds live here now! (and, of course, I have so many more nature sources to photograph ... without leaving the farm)