A little bee is very busy impollinating apple blossoms. Without our bees efforts there wouldn’t be many apples to harvest in autumn.
I took these photos in the beautiful orchard of a friend of mine, in Figline Valdarno, località Poggiolino.
The common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae (Compositae). Taraxacum officinale is considered a weedy species, especially in lawns and along roadsides, but it is sometimes used as a medical herb and in food preparation. It is a nearly cosmopolitan weed. Common dandelion is best known for its yellow flower heads that turn into round balls of silver tufted fruits that blow away on the wind. The seeds remain viable for many years and are spread by the wind up to several hundred meters away from their source. One single plant can produce up to 5000 seeds in one season.
The plant has several culinary uses. The greens and the as yet closed flowers are used raw in salads. Older leaves are usually sauteed and served as side dishes. The leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron, carrying more iron and calcium than spinach.
With the yellow flowers you can make dandelion wine and beer. The flowers can be used to make a flower jam. For centuries the roots have been roasted and used as a substitute for coffee.
Dandelion is part of the list of honey plants thanks to the abundance of the yellow flowers which are rich both in nectar and pollen much needed by bees. It is possible even to harvest dandelion honey, which is strong in aroma, golden yellow in color and rather solid. To produce one kilo of dandelion honey the bees have to visit more than 100.000 flowers!
The harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is also known as Multicoloured Asian Ladybird and as the Halloween Ladybird.
He/she is a native of eastern Asia, occurring from central Siberia, Kazakhstan and Tashkent eastwards through Russia to the Pacific coast, Korea and Japan and south to Mongolia, China, and Taiwan and up into the Himalayas.
This ladybird has a very variable appearance which can make it really difficult to identify.
The elytra (wing-case, commonly called “wings”) may be any color from pale yellow-orange to red and black. The number of spots is highly variable from 2 to 21. Instead of regular, round spots there may be a grid pattern the form of which may vary a lot.
The harlequin ladybird was introduced to North America in 1988, where it is now the most widespread ladybird species on the continent. Already much of Europe, Italy included, has been invaded. This species was introduced in the beginning as a biological control agent against aphid and scale infestations in greenhouses, crops and gardens but now the Harlequin ladybirds seriously affect native ladybird species and that is NOT a good thing.
I shot the photo of the buds of a Japanese cheeswood, also called Japanese carb orange (Pittosporum tibia) a few days ago here in Figline Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy. The cute ladybug feeding on the aphids infesting the shrub, seems to be one of the invaders and sports beautiful black elytra with 15 red spots.
Ladybugs are a favorite insect of children.
They are immortalized in the popular children’s nursery rhyme Ladybird, Ladybird:
Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
All except one, and that’s Little Anne
For she has crept under the warming pan.
Many cultures consider ladybugs lucky and have nursery rhymes or local names for the insects that reflect this. In many countries the sight of a ladybug is either a call to make a wish or a sign that a wish will soon be granted.
In Christian areas, ladybugs are often associated with the Virgin Mary and the name that the insect bears in the various languages of Europe corresponds to this: ladybug in English, Marienkäfer in German.
Ladybugs come in many different colors from yellow to red and have different numbers and forms of black spots on their wings. The scientific name of the ladybug in the photo is Adalia bipunctata and was seen in Tuscany this spring of 2011.
In case you are interested in the subject of ladybugs – and you live in the USA – you might want to check Lost Ladybug Project of the University of Cornell.
Good luck :-)
bee is beautiful 