Violets are Blue!

I always miss posting at Wildflower Wednesday! It is already Thursday and suddenly i remember that it is the last week of the month, i went to the site of Clay and Limestone and there still are only a few linkers. I hurriedly edited my flowers, then suddenly a harsh thunderstorm hit a transformer nearby, and all our computers are dead. At last after 15 min, current is back, and i am back to posting.

I cannot find a title for my flowers, then i remember an old song..."Roses are red my love, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet my love, and i'm as sweet as you". I don't know if that is correct, but i got my title there.

This plant is now invading most street sides in our area in the province. It has been there maybe just a few years ago, starting as maybe one then its invasiveness now conquered most open marginal lands. Maybe i am the only person who is happy with them, mostly because of its violet/bluish flowers. I have actually posted them 2 yrs ago, but every after the first rains they emerge beautifully, from the dormant seeds during our dry season. I guess this is not a native here, as there's none of it during our childhood years. Our barren streets now look landscaped.

 this is one side of the barangay street

 the plants are so lovely after the rains during at night, they open in the morning

 it is now invading the grasslands, but i love the way i cropped this scene

 it has a short growing period so flowering is quick and simultaneous

Don't you just love it?

small insects hide or maybe eat among the plants and flowers, look at that tiny green hopper

the last time i visited, i saw lots of this flowers with eaten petals, but leaving the throat

This is the culprit, i wonder what this will become, maybe a moth. I wonder 

why they leave the throat uneaten!

this planthopper is also very tiny, shorter than half a centimeter

This is the bend a few meters from our house, it might not be beautifully landscaped-looking at the moment, but wait a little and this area will be fully teeming with bluish-violet flowers, Ruellia tuberosa.

I searched a little and found that it also has a lot of medicinal and useful properties, some of which are anti-inflamatory, antilipidemia, lower glycemic index, antioxidant, and a lot more. In fact, may studies have been done on it, as compiled by a herbal-medicinal site. In Ayurvedic medicine mostly, all parts of the plants are studied and used. 

At the moment our side of the property already has some singly growing plants. I am sure in just a few years, our street sides will also be having this plants, and by then it is already a noxious weed. 

Wildflower Wednesday

Floral Friday Fotos

Outdoor Wednesday

Chasing Butterflies in Between Takes

We were out of town for Review and Evaluation of our funded research projects. It is scheduled for a 3-day stay in Tagaytay City, a few hours from our city office. This is a lovely tourist area specifically because of the colder temperatures, proximity to Manila, and the beautiful views of Taal Volcano and Taal Lake. In the last few years, the area expanded catering to the tourists and visitors; including hotels, lodging houses, restaurants, malls and rising condo units. At least our venue is at the back of the more congested areas.

In the morning before breakfast, i go out early to look for anything that might be nice with the camera. But my main purpose is actually to photograph butterflies. I entered a subdivision with more grasses and flowering grasses on the side street. There are butterflies, but as usual they are so flighty, and do not cooperate with me. Here are some of my camera loot.

The sky that morning is almost clear, that the sun is shining brightly,  and at 7 a.m. the heat is already a bit biting to our melanized skin. 

The banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa) flowers are in full bloom, somehow i expected insects and butterflies nectaring on them, but i didn't see any. I just realized it is not attractive for them. 

This striped albatross (STRIPED ALBATROSS♂  (Appias olferna peducaea) is wandering inside the thick grasses, it seldom leaves the thicket, but i was able to get a better shot.

 TINY GRASS BLUE
Zizula hylax pygmaea Snellen 1876, Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatini

WASP MOTH, Amata s.

The above butterflies are seen in the morning on the open areas. The next are moths which are seen at night around the terrace of the hotel. When most people are already resting, while a few are in the bar getting some drinks, i was trying to capture the moths and other insects with my camera. 

Atteva sp. Yponomeutoidea: Attevidae

The above moth i posted in the Philippine Lepidoptera site in FB and an authority identified it, with further information that it is not illustrated yet among the 8 species in the country, so its species is not yet known, or probably known but not yet illustrated.

Aloa cardinalis Butler 1875 (syn. Amsacta cardinalis)  Arctiidae; Arctiinae 

 TUSSOCK MOTH

TUSSOCK MOTH

 PLUME MOTH

Left: lacewing; Right: moth

Saturday Critters
Camera Critters
Nature Notes

Sunsets seen at the East

Our province home is facing the east. Our west and back side is a short mountain rage, so we just normally see the sunrise. But sometimes the sunsets are too bright and spectacular that it radiates colors to the east sky.

These are some of my sunsets seen at the east, where the sun rises.

Even the glasses of the garage seemed burning! 

Skywatch Friday

Through My Lens