We’re just back from a speaking engagement at the National Zoo in Washington so I thought I’d share some of the bugs and flowers I saw in the lovely yard of our hosts, who live just outside DC. They had several small ponds, one of which had a beautiful lotus blossom. The yard was full of busy bees; many with large accumulations of gathered pollen on their legs. I always called them pollen sacs but I found an article, “A Closer Look at Bees: Pollen and Body Parts” that describes them very well.
I was enamored with the different bugs, many that I never see in Florida. Our host was not so happy with most of them:
But their yard was full of beautiful flowers:
And some yummy berries (I can’t remember the name):
An orchard spider – my favorite spider:
And a lightning bug, a.k.a., firefly. Their light show after dark was amazing:
