A pretty blue-black Phymatocera aterrima on the Solomon's seal in my garden today...
Many years ago we planted Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum multiflorum) in the civilised part of our shady garden, but within a few years it was in a mess. Every summer all the leaves would be eaten to shreds by the larvae of the Solomon’s seal sawfly (Phymatocera aterrima). To me they looked like the caterpillars of a butterfly.
An image of sawfly larvae on Solomon's seal, by Andrew Steele - click on the picture to go to his Photostream...
Now all those cultivated plants have disappeared but many have re-established themselves in the deep shade on a bank under trees – it is after all a native variety. I saw one such this morning and spotted beautiful blue-black flies on them, moving around quite quickly over and under the leaves. I guessed they must be the sawflies, although I had never recognised them in adult form before.
Funny how a species can become so entangled with a particular host…
My Solomon's seal is currently in flower...
Great pics…
Thank you for your comment – as usual I took a picture of something I wasn’t looking for. I was actually in that spot to take pictures of the Hawthorn flowers (Mayflowers), out very early this year…
Best wishes…
You hit the nail on the head..so many times I also go to the garden with one intention and end up doing another..just the other day I went to the woods on my property to get a pic of a new fawn and ended up finding a nest of rabbits. I’m not complaining,there’s always something exciting going on in the garden. It’s pretty amazing how the plants tend to adapt so much more than people.
I just love your site and the beautiful pic you take…
weed by choice..kjforce
I am not a gardener though fully appreciate all that happens in our garden. If I want to see my wife I have to spend time in the garden or I would never see her – she just loves the garden and long may it continue.