My Latest Progression Obsession: Keeled Treehoppers

I figure if aliens ever invade, this is what they will look like (click on any of the pictures to enlarge):

Sooo...maybe they're already here. Cool. Well, not entirely cool--they did decimate the biggest, baddest volunteer tomato plant I've managed to accidentally grow yet, but if that's the extent of the damage they plan on doing, I suppose we can all live with that, right?

What, exactly, are these things? At first I though they were aphids because I noticed a bunch of little black things crawling around on my tomato. But then they kept getting bigger. And bigger. And spikier. And more tank-like. And I thought, Hmmm...what the hell kind of aphids ARE these?? So, I brought them in for a photo shoot (that's a peppercorn for scale).

and then proceeded to check my favorite on-line source for bug identification, What's That Bug?. And it turns out I have treehopper nymphs, or baby/adolescent treehoppers. Cool. Except, not really. I kept reading about how much damage they do, and I could find no information about natural predators. At this point though, my tomato plant was still thriving, and I was intrigued. So I let them live, and I became their personal paparazzi. Also, I kind of liked their personalities. When I went outside to put these guys back on my tomato plant, one of them walked right off, but the other one was sort of in play dead/paralysis mode. The one on the move walked over, tapped the other one on the back with one of its legs, and kept on moving. As soon as it got tapped on the back, the act-like-a-rock one was like, What? Oh, OK, I'm coming, and moseyed off. It was kind of endearing. Anyway...photo shoot!

Some of them were shy.

"Nope. I do NOT want my face splashed all across the pages of your blog!"

While others took advantage of some photobomb opportunities.

"Photobomb, yo!"

But all of them were spikey. No wonder they don't have any natural predators!

Ants farm treehoppers like they do aphids. They sort of round them up and protect them and gather the honeydew that the treehoppers secrete. Treehoppers are like cows, but for ants. In this picture you can see a good representation of the different sizes they come in and you can see a little droplet of honeydew being secreted (halfway down, on the left-hand side of the stem, there's a little droplet on the pointy end of...a butt). You can even see a few little farmer ants in the picture.

One day, I caught one of these guys molting, so I brought it inside and documented the process while I watched TV. This is probably highly inappropriate behaviour (as if taking pictures of their honey-dew secreting butts wasn't), but I was curious. I hope our new alien overlords can forgive me. The pictures below show a little tank turning into a bigger tank. The photos are of two different bugs because the first half of the pictures I took with the first bug didn't come out very well, so the next day I found me another bug at the same stage and began documenting again, but, I can assure you, the process was very similar. As the critters grow bigger, they have to molt because their exoskeletons don't grow with them, so they bust out of their old, colorful skins, and they come out looking like this:

"Hang on, I gotta put on my face."

Not terribly exciting at this stage, are they? 

A mere 90 minutes later, though, and they look like this:

"OK, I'm ready to go!"

And since you all know I am obsessed with how things progress, here's the progression:

Cool, huh? Next I'll show you what an adult looks like when it comes out of that spikey little shell--it looks like a green tornado-chasing vehicle, and its transformation is just as cool, maybe even cooler. Join me then, won't you?

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-May, 2013

Well, it's been a while since I've gotten myself together enough to A) remember that it's GBBD, B) go outside and take the requisite pictures, and C) put said pictures together in a post in a timely manner. So, yay for little victories! And yay for my daylilies, which greeted me today like this:

 Well, hello, Lovelies!

These are some of my most anticipated blooms every year. They are beautiful, and they smell amazing--sweet and subtle, like the lovely ladies they are.

Accompanying my daylilies is this ever-blooming hardy ice plant, Delosperma cooperi.

This little clump of sweet alyssum has volunteered itself to grow in this pot. I wonder if it realizes the fight it's going to have against this pot's other volunteer, the winding, vining passion flower (the big leaves that you see going over the edge of the pot). Then again, seeing as how it seems to have walked itself over from those pots you see in the background, maybe it will be able to hold its own.

Two other faithful bloomers are my blue plumbago and my false heather, Cuphea hyssopifolia.

This was one of my most faithful bloomers for a long time, but my golden shrimp plant, Pachystachys lutea, seems to have taken a break over the last few months. I'm glad to see it making a comeback. 10 points for sticking your landing, Pachystachys.

Speaking of comebacks, I thought this poor bougainvillea had kicked the bucket. It didn't have a single leaf anywhere for several weeks; it was completely bare, naked I tell you!  As you can see, it's decided that it still has some life left in it; it's decided to put on it's frock and come to the May party. 

Seeing as how it's May, you've probably got all kinds of good stuff going on in your garden too, and Carol at May Dreams Gardens would love to see what you've got (as would the rest of us), so head on over to her blog, share your blooms, and see what else is blooming on this beautiful May day! Even if you don't have any blooms to share, you can live vicariously in gardens around the world--come check it out!

Read-a-Thon 2013: Hour 19

I am several selections into The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011edited by Mary Roach and Tim Folger. So far, everything has been interesting; I've learned a little bit about black market organ transplants and walked away wondering if legalized payment-for-donation programs might not be the worst thing ever (although I don't think that's the direction the article was leaning); learned about something called "high meat" which...ew; read a short bit that I think was an excerpt from The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, a book I read and loved a few months back; found out that chimps seem to be a lot more fertile than humans; and was surprised when I cried during an article about neuroscience and brain surgery.

Over at Reflections of a Bookaholic, we have been issued a challenge: "...turn to page 32 of the book you are currently reading (or the nearest page with text on it) and find the most entertaining phrase to complete the following sentence:

"I would rather read than ________ any day!""

Well, I'm reading on an old Kindle, so I don't exactly have pages, per se, but between the "Look Inside!" option at Amazon.com, and some best guesses on my part, I've found what I think is probably pretty close to page 32, so:

I would rather read than SAVOR ROTTEN CARIBOU AND SEAL any day!

For sure! While I have never actually had rotten caribou or seal, I'm going to go ahead and say that it's not anything I'm in a big hurry to try.

Read-a-Thon 2013: Hour 14

I just finished Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch, and I loved it! Here, in Hour 14, Nea is asking us to share a quote from our reading.  I've already mentioned a couple of quotes that I liked, so let me see if I can find another...

OK, so Kit's life has fallen apart--he's lost his wife, become an alcoholic, lost his job, etc.-- and he's gone off to what he thinks is just a little country retreat in Ireland where they happen to make cheese. The current proprietors have decided that he's to be their new cheesemaker, but his current state has others questioning whether or not he's right for the job.

"And a man in his state is all right for cheesemaking?"
"In my experience there's not a state in the world," Fee said matter-of-factly, "that cannot be greatly improved by close proximity to cheese. Especially ours," he added.

Amen to that! Cheese makes everything better.

Speaking of that, I might go find some cheese to snack on before I pick my next read and delve into Hour 15.

2013 Read-a-Thon: Hour 11

Well, after a 9-hour...let's call it a nap, I'm back to the Thon. I feel like naps are allowed but sleeping just implies failure to plan. So, nap it is!

Kristen wants to know where we'll be reading, so here is a picture of my current location. Oh dear, can you can tell which side gets the most use? I think I need to rearrange my furniture to even out its wear and tear!

Read-a-Thon 2013: I'm Doin' It!

Well, it's been a while (three years in fact--holy cow!!) since I've participated in a Read-a-Thon, but I've been seeing the tweets coming in; I'm awake; I'm in the middle of a book that I'm loving; I've got nine e-books checked out from the library; about as many samples of potential purchases on my Kindle, awaiting further perusal; plenty of unread books sitting on my shelves; and I suspect my hubby's going to be busy with one of his hobbies this weekend (weather permitting), so, what the heck? I'm going to go ahead and participate in Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon. Now, I know full well that I'm not going to make it the full 24 hours (at start time I will have already been up for 12 hours...I'd prefer if you didn't do the math on that one), but I'm going to do what I can.

My starting read? Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch. I can't help but love a book that opens with: "'You can't hurry cheese. It happens in its own time and if that bothers you, you can just feck off.'" and follows up a bit later on with: "'If you can see the magic in cheese, you can see the magic in everything.'"

OK, so wish me luck, and happy reading to all the other participants!

Progression Obsession-Monstera deliciosa leaf

My obsession for watching things transform has been fairly well-documented here*, but I haven't done it in a while. When I was outside the other day, taking pictures for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, I saw a new Monstera leaf preparing to unfurl, so I figured that would be a good place to pick things up. So, for anyone who has ever wondered, how a plant like this starts out, here you go!

Helping me with scale today: Mocha

March 15-Helping me with scale: a big lizard (big for a lizard, small compared to Mocha).

March 16: No lizard today, but the super-tight bundle of foliage is starting to unfurl.

March 17

March 18

March 19-Helping me with scale today: a smaller lizard (which makes the scale thing kind of confusing, but I take what I can get)...(the lizard is to the right, in the sun).

March 20-a pale, tender new leaf, ready to face the world!

 March 21-Aw, look how small it is! Well, small compared to what it will become, anyway!**

(Helping me with scale: Me. Which is why I couldn't get far enough away to get the whole leaf in the picture).

This monster of a plant, Monstera deliciosa is also called the Swiss cheese plant. It does produce a flower and fruit, but it is a slow process. We planted these plants in November, 2008, and I discovered the first flowers in October, 2012. According to my research, the fruit should be edible sometime in the next 7-13 months.

*If, like me, you like to see how plants progress (or not, in the case of the coconut tree), check out some of my other posts.
Moonflower opening
Puakenikeni-flower to fruit
Amaryllis and a purple leafy plant
Variegated hau-color change throughout day
How to disassemble a coconut tree
Bleeding heart (Clerodendrom thomsonae) imitating a corkscrew

**Edited 7/9/13 to say that I'm not actually sure if this little leaf will become a big leaf, or if it will stay a little leaf. Big leaves might unfurl as big leaves, but I can't remember ever seeing one start out quite as big as the one in the bottom picture. Each plant has several different sizes of leaves on it; the smaller ones tend to be near the bottom, closer to the ground, and the bigger ones tend to be closer to the middle and top of the plant. I'll keep an eye out for giants unfurling in the future!