May 21: Dragonfly

I walked the dogs late this evening. The sun was still well above the horizon but below the trees, and the woods were beginning to cool after a hot day. When we came into the clearing by the cabin, there was a bar of sun falling across the road and on some of the weeds and flowers. It's the only way I could have seen the dragonfly, which was resting on a stem of Venus' looking glass. The dragonfly's wings were clear as cellophane, taut inside thin black frames. Its body was metallic blue, and when it lifted off the stem and hovered in the light for a second, its body changed from blue to black to purple-blue.

I love dragonflies. They prey on mosquitoes, and they look like delicate jewelry in the air. They're so ancient, among the first flying insects. Modern dragonflies are members of the order Odonata; their ancestors in Protodonata came before moths and bees and even beetles. They remind me of the exotic Carboniferous.

May 22: Spittlebugs

Hairy hawkweed, a cute flower that looks like yellow chicory, and goat's rue, a relative of the pea with huge yellow and pink blossoms, are blooming by the road now.

Today I also noticed spittlebug nymphs in several places. I assume that's what they are, though I never see the actual nymphs. They're surrounded by a glob of what looks like frothy saliva, and sometimes there's a drop of clear liquid hanging on to the bottom of the glob. I saw one under the seed pod of a stalk of beardtongue, one under a blackberry leaf, and one on a stem of young milkweed. Apparently these insect nymphs combine sap and some hormonal secretion with air they pump out of their bodies, and it forms the protective glob of bubbles. The adults are also called froghoppers, though I don't think I've ever heard anyone around here identify one that way. Different kinds of spittlebugs (Aphrophoridae) live all over the world. I'm almost certain I saw some in England or Scotland while I was there.

I found a good photo of the spittle on Flickr. I remember finding it different places when I was quite young. I'm sure any kid who plays outside notices some every once in awhile.