The swarms were dreadful out on the Arsenal. For several days, my ears actually hurt when I went near the trees and I got tired of being pelted by them flying around. Coworkers who live on south Parkway reported swarms at their house.

But in Madison, I only saw a handful of them.

Anyway, they all seem to have died off over the past couple of weeks.

I have yet to see or hear any.

Damn love bugs are back though. Good thing those bastards don't bite!

I'm also in Huntsville area - heard a few cicadas; not nearly as many as last year. I think a lot of wildlife may be displaced by storms - and some by prolonged hot dry spell, perhaps. I am noticing way less in the way of fire ants (a welcome difference) - although more non-biting ants. Also have seen a much smaller wasp population to date, and maybe the butterflies are just getting started, but their population seems a bit on the thin side, too.

Love bugs...I haven't even thought of those little things since I left Beaufort, SC a few years ago! Along with the sand gnats, I can't say I miss 'em!

I agree totally with your observations, drippy, though we seem to have a lot of different butterflies. I began noticing that very early this spring. I haven't come across any fire ant mounds this year, though they may be hidden in the mulch. Tons of little sugar ants, which had started to become a real problem on the hummingbird feeders until I read that a little spray of WD-40 on the pole keeps them away. It works like a charm.

I've seen only a few wasps drinking out the the bird bath, and we usually have quite a number flitting around.

But the fireflies....out in swarms around here! I don't think I've ever seen so many.

I'm west of Bham and have only seen one so far. Haven't really spent much time outside in the last month either though. The cicada dive bombed us and my boyfriend said, "what the @#$#% was that thing?!?!?"
oh...its just a bug...

:)

I have been especially noticing how few wasps this year, save for mud daubers. All of my insects seem scarce this year, except fireflies and house ants. (And the cicadas on the Arsenal.) They are all there, just in limited numbers. And no one has come to eat the fennel I planted just for the caterpillars yet.

The long dry spell probably isn't helping. I've been looking for a mini plastic pool I can use as a birdbath to help the guys out from time to time.

I live east of Bham and hear a few now in the woods behind my backyard. I always remember it being mid to late summer when they came out in full force.Spoke to someone today who lives south of Bham and told me he was having problems with Japanese Beetles . Seen many large bats.They fly and scoop off my pool.They get very close and are fun to watch.

Japanese Beetles already???? Say it isn't so! I'll have to keep watch on our Allee Elm planted in the front yard, as that's the only thing that the JB's bother. We've seen lots of bats, too, swooping down to catch the lightning bugs!

We can sure hear the Cicadas here and I found a dead one on mu porch this morning. But they're not as prevalent as I expected. We're in Shorter, just east of Montgomery. I have noticed that there were more fireflies that usual this year and, as someone else commented, fewer wasps. Those I don't miss!

Where have y'all been all your lives , a New York sky scraper?
Southerners know the difference between "13 year locust"(Periodic cicadas) and "July Flies" (non periodic cicadas).The resent outbreak of the little red eyed buggers was the former. If God is Merciful to you in thirteen years you may be privileged to see them again.I'm guessing that with a common name like "July Fly" that you will be hearing the latter next month and continually till frost.

I heard a few this week but they sure did sound parched! ;)

Second year in a row for very scarce lovebugs..yippee!

Ha, Gruber, a NY skyscraper is pretty close for me. DH informed me of the 13-year thing - it's just that I've been in the south third summer now, and have heard them much more intensely last year and the year before than this year. I'm hearing a few in the last couple of days now, though, so the July ones may be coming.

Can I change the subject on my own thread? Just for a minute?

Robert and I were sitting out on the back patio last night (watching the bird-capades, as usual) when a perfect little Snowberry Clear-wing moth came to visit the lantana sitting on the table in front of us. It was literally 12 inches away from us and stayed busy on the lantana for about 15 minutes.

Robert had never seen one before, and he was utterly amazed. This isn't our picture, but am posting it so you can see how cute they are, if you have never seen one.

Neat, huh?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:364869}}

Not many insects in Mobile here, south of I-10. But I've been watching some butterflies showing up lately, and some sort of wasp and strange small bees pollenating the cumquats outside my window. The passion vines are growing with abandon over their small arbor, waiting for the Gulf fritillary to lay its eggs there. I'm told they have a sort of virus that turns the caterpillars to mush, but hoping to see them eat the vines anyway. And I've had a clutch of Carolina wrens raised in my pig container on the rail of the back deck, and another clutch of cardinals in the big camellia also outside my window where I sit. I have several bird baths, flat open feeders, and sprinklers going all day long, so I see a LOT of birds. I was surprised to see a woodpecker as a regular guest at the sunflower feeder, totally fearless of the large jays that tried to run him away. Not many hummers though. I've kept things alive as best I can this year, we've had a severe lack of rain, and I've lost a good bit of the grass, the veggies are sunburned. Every little creature is in need of water, even the two young rabbits who risk encountering my little girl dachshund to get some grass seed heads. Yes, I have stopped cutting the tall grass to help shade any roots which might survive the heat. Whether it is a wise thing to do or not, I at least can see where the danged briars are, and use the pick to dig them up. Would you believe some of those have massive root balls to fill a five gallon bucket?

I've moved everything out of the Teahouse (to be a new greenhouse this winter) and under the pecan trees. But I have as many leaves coming down as in the fall, the trees cannot support them. It is hard to keep things wet even in the shade, I think the tree roots are sucking it up. Moving the sprinklers around the garden, I get wet and then come inside where I am chilled, and wind up with a sore throat. My gardening efforts are restricted to before 9am and in the late evening shade when I feel a slight breeze stirring.

Rhizo, the moth you show may be part of the entourage around here. I think they were the strange critters swarming over my fatsia japonica when it bloomed last year. Any pollenator is welcome, even the destructive carpenter bees. Just keep all the wood painted.

Periodic cicadas come out most years -- just not here. This year's were from Brood XIX, which is the largest in the US and the only one with a range that includes Alabama. Brood XIX has a 13 year cycle, but most broods are on a 17 year cycle.

Speaking of Humming birds, my neighbor and me have both noticed ours have skipped town. We had frequent visitors up to about three weeks ago and suddenly left.Is it the dry weather. ? I had two or more draining my feeder about every four days and just out of nowhere stopped coming. Gone north?

Another bird I no longer see since moving from the inner city of Bham to the outer parts is Blue Jays. I use to see them all the time in my old neighborhood within the Bham city limits 15 years ago but only recall seeing just one
last year where I now live ( in the country ).Has there been a decline or they just city birds?

The moth in rhizo's picture is what we call a hummingbird moth. If you've ever seen one darting and hovering around flowers you know why. As for this year's crop of cicadas, we haven't had any around Gadsden, but there were millions of them in TN when we went to see our daughters in Nashville. They were everywhere - and noisy!

Let's call it ONE of the 'hummingbird moths'. There is another clear-wing species, Hemaris thysbe, that is the true Hummingbird Moth, being closer in color and size to the bird. (See attached photo.)

Our little guy, the Bumble bee Clear-Wing, is much smaller and yellow/black.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:364870}}

Oops, meant to add that these two are very closely related, being in the same genus (mine is Hemaris diffinis). They are amongst the many so called hawk moth group, or Sphinx moths. The caterpillars are different kinds of hornworms.

Hey, it is all nice and quiet in our neighborhood! We just got home Saturday after being on vacation for 10 days. The cicadas drove us nuts. I echo what Alabamanicole said about them being really bad at Redstone too. They really started swarming a few weeks back out there during the day, but remember there are a lot of old-growth trees around some of the Arsenal buildings. We also have many around our property, so we had lots of cicadas, and I think we have some tip damage on some of the trees. When we got home Saturday morning, the first thing we noticed was the quiet! Ahhhhhh......

I like that moth! Cool that you saw it.