Garden Insects to Soothe a Stressed Out Soul

When life gets stressful, I go to the garden.  While finding a garden full of insects might further stress some, realizing the my garden is hospitable to all kinds of insects makes me feel better.

I photograph and catalog garden insects the same way that avid birders keep a life list.  Finding a new or unknown (to me) species always lifts my spirits. 

I use my iPhone, plus an insect loupe, to take close up photos of garden insects.  This is my poor (in finances and final product) attempt at nature photography.  But, it does the trick just fine for my purposes.

I place this magnifying loupe over the slot of my iPhone camera, to take close ups of insects in the garden.

Here are a few that I was able to find and photograph this evening.

Froghopper on the underside of a Rhododendron leaf.

Unidentified moth on Hydrangea 'limelight'.

Unidentified bug on Hydrangea 'limelight'.

Unidentified moth on Hydrangea 'limelight'.

Lygus elegans on Hydrangea 'limelight'.

Lygus elegans on Zinnia elegans.

Lygus damage on my zinnia petals ~ which I don't even mind ~ yet.

Also seen, but not not photographed: a bumblebee, a honey bee, ichneumonid wasp.

Not too shabby, for 7:30pm in the evening.