I also thought SVB soon as I saw it.

We call them squash vine borer,but I sometimes wonder what they would call themselves? They've been around longer.

Here's a pic of the handsome Black Aryon - invasive slug of European origin. Aka Sir Carrotsbane.
They arrived here a few years ago, and the party is raging on...

bower wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 7:25 am Here's a pic of the handsome Black Aryon - invasive slug of European origin. Aka Sir Carrotsbane.
They arrived here a few years ago, and the party is raging on...

blackaryon-035.JPG

Interesting, how does a European slug end up on an Island thousands of kilometers from Europe across the North Atlantic? Why would anyone want to import a slug? Some accidental release occurred, maybe in an agricultural product?

Slugs, especially large slugs like that Black Aryon, are very rare here, but I don’t know why. Something must be a predator of these that keeps the numbers way down. When I lived in inner city Houston, the large invasive European Snails were everywhere, the culinary escargot type.

For sure it was not deliberate @karstopography . Could've been agricultural product, or for that matter simply a few eggs of the thing that got stuck in somebody's shoe??
We have a lot of things here of European origin, including ourselves, which have been arriving ever since we did 400 years ago.
I'm surprised that escargots would find it humid enough in Texas, but for slugs, which don't have the shell, a high humidity is probably a very basic necessity. So of course, they got it here and are well pleased! Most of the time.
We have lots of brown slugs here, maybe native ones? And I've spotted a few of the Leopard Slug as well, which actually prey on lesser slugs themselves, and are therefore welcome.
I'm pretty sure that robins eat some slugs... they like to keep them off the strawberries.

The SVB moth reminds me of a hummingbird moth - happened to see this one today.

Two of my three sunflower plants bloomed on the same day.

A visitor to my peppers.

Introducing Duckmato. He enjoys long walks on the beach, cannibalism, and he’s quite the lady’s man (lady’s duck?).

That's funny!!

Mark_Thompson wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 10:43 pm Introducing Duckmato. He enjoys long walks on the beach, cannibalism, and he’s quite the lady’s man (lady’s duck?).

Commander Quack would like a word... The Gotch

Cornelius_Gotchberg wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 8:17 am

Mark_Thompson wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2024 10:43 pm Introducing Duckmato. He enjoys long walks on the beach, cannibalism, and he’s quite the lady’s man (lady’s duck?).

Commander Quack would like a word...
thumbnail_IMG_2543.jpg

The Gotch

Two ducks that could have been the best of friends, if not separated by 9000 miles and fate…

Not sure why, but the pineapple Duckmato photo especially cracked me up.

Mark_Thompson wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 9:38 amTwo ducks that could have been the best of friends, if not separated by 9000 miles and fate…

9000 miles/14484kms? Shoot, that'd get you's to Haiku & back with enough left over for a coupla round trips to the Top Of The World, (Iron County https://www.google.com/search?q=madison ... s-wiz-serp)

Fate?*** Commander Quack, (shown below after a WESconsin spring rainfall), went missing on 03/31/2024: The lovely and long suffering Mrs. Gotch sought to assuage her loving husband's grief with the following birthday presents: ***A fate worse than death awaits the dastardly fiend who saw fit to be a thievin' POS!

The Gotch

@Cornelius_Gotchberg You have quite the lady there. My hat's off to the lovely and l ong suffering Mrs. Gotch!

@Cornelius_Gotchberg I got a feeling ol’ Duckmato might go missing soon. Doesn’t seem loke he’s going to set any records for duck old age.

MissS wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 6:28 pm @Cornelius_Gotchberg You have quite the lady there. My hat's off to the lovely and l ong suffering Mrs. Gotch!

This much I know; I thank my Lucky Stars everyday, and perform regular Random Acts of Gratitude...like planting her favorite Tomato (Ananas Noire) right outside the kitchen window.

The Gotch

Mark_Thompson wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 9:43 pm @Cornelius_Gotchberg I got a feeling ol’ Duckmato might go missing soon. Doesn’t seem loke he’s going to set any records for duck old age.

Establish a perimeter, and deploy reinforcements: The Gotch

Here's bumblebees pollinating moringa.
And here's a tree that decides to split itself in half. Today I learned that trees are big....

First one of the season. Perfect on 100 degree day

New bed to replace the rotten old bed. If this bed works out, I’ll replace all the wood ones as they rot.

Easier to assemble than the wood bed and several orders of magnitude less expensive. Wife likes the look.

@karstopography a
I started to replace my wooden raised beds in 2020. I did some every year. Got them all replaced last year. Best thing that I did for my Garden.