This punked out fly distracted me from the mushrooms I was going to post today. This is the second time I’ve photographed and posted pics of one but this time I just had to make a positive ID. Once again BugGuide.net has come to my rescue. ‘Punk A$$ Fly’ isn’t a proper name no matter how accurate the description is. I would like to introduce you to:

Archytas apicifer

From Wallpaper-1920×1080

At over a half inch these are fairly large flies. Contrary to the punk/goth look the adults are more interested in flowers which they feed upon. It’s their young that are the stuff nightmares are made of. The larvae are parasitoids that develop on moths. So relax and get a good nights sleep, they won’t be sucking out your life juices except in dreams.

It’s a toss up between which post has the better images of the white faced fly. You can see the other photos on: Bad Hair Day.

I also strongly advise scrolling to the bottom and staring into the eyes of the Hypno-Frog until ready to do my bidding.

No? Then just take one more look at Spike and we’ll move along and see what Stewy is up to.

If Stewy could talk

What’s that stupid dog nosing around for now?

Not again. It’s one thing to go barking up the wrong tree but getting stuck up there is another.

Out of the Woods
Stewy is playing ‘catch up’ after Pookey and I left him behind.

I imagine most gardeners have seen this annual alien wildflower weed. I also imagine most gardeners lacking a proper name use a bit of “French’ when they refer to it. It is an extremely prolific seed producer that can send off thousands of tiny seeds on the wind in a single season. Since each one seems to germinate in my garden my ‘French’ also gets carried away on the breeze. So in an effort to clean up America’s air waves let me give you the proper name of this weed while I zip my lips.

Galinsoga cilata

When life gives you Galinsoga boil it. The plant is edible, so if it’s sitting in your garden saying bite me, do just that after boiling it in water for about 5 minutes. Supposedly it tastes like spinach but I can’t confirm it. What I can confirm is the plant’s hairy nature if you take a close look.

Quickweed is a member of the Daisy family. The flowers are tiny, about a quarter inch across and the 5 rays are divided into 3 lobes. They’re actually pretty if you can get past the weed bit.

The very tiny seeds are encapsulated with an attached pappus that allows them to be carried by the slightest breeze. It was a still day with little or no wind so it must have been my breath that kept blowing them off my finger.

…and now for something completely different

How about a face full of cat? Look out, Stewy is ready to leap.

From cats

Pookey started it all. She had to go out and she wouldn’t go without me. With looks like that, how can I resist. …and that’s not even close to her sad face. Here’s she’s just a bit upset because Stewy followed us.

But thanks to Stewy the bright yellow mushrooms in the lawn caught my attention. (They were just out of sight behind him)

Golden Waxy Cap – Hygrocybe flavescens

…is my best guess to the identity of this mushrom

synonym – Hygrophorus flavescens
The mushroom’s gills

Knowing it takes lab tests and DNA comparisions to properly identify Hygrocybe species makes me feel better. I get so discombobulated attempting to identify mushrooms I almost don’t want to photograph them. Yet I do and then spend way too much time trying to identify something like this one.

This orange waxy cap was growing only a few feet away from the yellow ones. It looked like two distinct colonies of fungi but from what I’ve read it wouldn’t surprise me if they were all the same. If not it’s still most likely to be another Hygrocybe species.

Yellow Lichen

Xanthomendoza I presume.
All I really know is that it’s yellow, foliose and shouldn’t be growing on my finger like that.

We circled the yard stopping often while I took photographs. Dog got bored and left but Stewy stuck with me the whole time no matter how boring it got being with me.

Orange Nod