Author: Anita Westervelt
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Anita’s Blog — Siren Song of Summer
Last summer brought us the superb dog-day cicada, Neotibicen superbus and its nostalgic, resonating song. Another Texas songster is filling the night air this summer with decibel-alarming pitch: the giant cicada, Quesada gigas, the widest ranging cicada in the Western Hemisphere — and quite possibly, the loudest insect in Texas. The giant cicada’s northern most…
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Anita’s Blog — Nature’s Smokescreens
Camouflage isn’t always all it’s kicked up to be. Just when you think it’s safe, along comes a mockingbird and plucks a large green something out of the grass, flies off with it and lands not quite close enough to capture with a phone camera. This particular quarry was bright green — the color of…
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Odd things in the garden might be beneficial
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Story by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Tiny baubles suspended on strings might look odd hanging from leaves in your garden but check them out before you wipe them out, they may be lacewing eggs. Green lacewings are a beneficial insect with a unique way of laying eggs. The eggs are usually found on vegetation…
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Anita’s Blog — Startling Garden Finds
I couldn’t believe my luck! The most awesome find in my garden was pure magic. It was SO exciting, I probably wasted three seconds in open-mouthed stupor while my mind circled between disbelief and eye-mind cognizance before I began taking photos with my phone camera. Lebeau’s silk moth, Rothschildia labeau: Initially, I thought the large…
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Searching for caterpillars for summertime fun
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Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist While you’re perhaps still staying close to home — and looking for new activities as springtime turns to summer — be on the lookout for caterpillars, they may be anywhere. Surprisingly, the now-blooming yellow cascades of lluvia do oro (Cassis fistula) may be full of yellow-colored…
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Anita’s Blog — Great Caterpillar Finds
I was so overcome by the spectacular beauty of a trio of lluvia de oro flowering cascades one morning I nearly gathered them in my arms for a grateful hug — until I was unceremoniously halted by horizontal black stipes right before my nose! A caterpillar! One of the most beautiful trees in the world,…