Green Stink Bug

Aka Soldier Bug or Shield Bug

It is found in orchards, gardens, woodlands and crop fields throughout North America, feeding with their needle-like mouthparts on the juices of a wide variety of plants from May until the arrival of frost. 

Adults develop a preference for developing seeds and thus become crop pests (tomato, bean, pea, cotton, corn, soybean, eggplant). When no seeds are present, they also feed on stems and foliage, thus damaging several fruit trees, such as the apple, cherry, orange and peach trees.  

Its color is typically bright green, with narrow yellow, orange, or reddish edges. It is a large, shield-shaped bug with an elongate, oval form and a length between 13-18 mm. 

It can be differentiated from the species Nezara by its black outermost three antenna segments. 

Both adults and nymphs have large stink glands on the underside of the thorax extending more than half-way to the edge of the metapleuron.  They discharge large amounts of this foul-smelling liquid when disturbed.

To view a larger image please click here.

Sexual activity and longevity of the 

southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula
Source:  Wiki

Frankfort Cemetery

Notable Kentuckians buried at the Frankfort Cemetery:

Daniel Boone, Richard Mentor Johnson, John J. Crittenden, Simon Bolivar Buckner, J. C. W. Beckham, Augustus O. Stanley, Lawrence Wetherby, Edwin P. Morrow, Robert P. Letcher, Solomon P. Sharp, Miss Elizabeth, Charles S. Morehead, Simeon S. Willis, Charles Scott, George Madison, John Adair, Luke P. Blackburn, James Turner Morehead, Thomas Todd, Christopher Greenup, Presley O'bannon, Theodore O'hara, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., John Brown, William T. Barry, George M. Bibb, John White, William Lindsay, Henry Clay, Jr., Paul Sawyier, Johnson N. Camden, Jr., South Trimble, Thomas F. Marshall, Samuel Mckee, Joel Tanner Hart, Thomas Y. Fitzpatrick, Thomas Scudder Page, Willard Rouse Jillson. 
Excerpt: Augustus O. Stanley Augustus Owsley Stanley (May 21, 1867 August 12, 1958) was a politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky . A Democrat , he served as the 38th Governor of Kentucky and also represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate . From 1903 to 1915, Stanley represented Kentucky's 2nd congressional district in the House of Representatives, where he gained a reputation as a progressive reformer. Beginning in 1904, he called for an antitrust investigation of the American Tobacco Company , claiming they were a monopoly that drove down prices for the tobacco farmers of his district. As a result of his investigation, the Supreme Court of the United States broke up the American Tobacco Company in 1911. Stanley also chaired a committee that conducted an antitrust investigation of U.S. Steel , which brought him national acclaim. Many of his ideas were incorporated into the Clayton Antitrust Act . During an unsuccessful senatorial bid in 1914, Stanley assumed an anti-prohibition stance.

History of the Frankfort cemetery

Burials in Frankfort Cemetery: Daniel Boone, 

Richard Mentor Johnson,

 John J. Crittenden, 

Simon Bolivar Buckner, 
J. C. W. Beckham
Source: Amazon

Daniel Boone - American Hero

In the cemetery stands a monument to Daniel and Rebecca Boone, erected by a grateful Commonwealth in 1860. Their remains had been brought back from Missouri and reburied September 13, 1845. A tribute to that outstanding frontiersman and his wife, who pioneered in carving out a wilderness empire ~ now Kentucky. 

Daniel Boone (October 22, 1734 – September 26, 1820) 

was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the settled part of Thirteen Colonies (This region legally belonged to both the Commonwealth of Virginia and to the American Indian Tribes.) Despite some resistance from American Indian tribes such as the Shawnee, in 1778 Boone blazed his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains - from North Carolina and Tennessee into Kentucky. There he founded the village of Boonesborough, Kentucky, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachians. Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 European people migrated to Kentucky/Virginia by following the route marked by Boone.

Boone was a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775 – 82), which in Kentucky was fought primarily between the European settlers and the British-aided Native Americans. Boone was captured by Shawnee Indians in 1778, who after a while adopted him into their tribe, but he later left the Indians and returned to Boonesborough in order to help defend the European settlements in Kentucky/Virginia.

Boone was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the Revolutionary War, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, which was one of the final battles of the American Revolution. (Lord Cornwallis and all of his army of British troops had surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, in mid-October 1781.)

Following the war, Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant, but he then went deeply into debt as a land speculator in Kentucky. Frustrated with all the legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone emigrated to eastern Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life (1800–20). When Boone and his family settled near Defiance, Missouri, that land west of the Mississippi River belonged to the French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, and not to the United States. That huge area of land was bought from the French by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

Boone remains an iconic figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, he was frequently the subject of heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—were influential in creating the archetypal Western hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, he is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen. The epic Daniel Boone mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.

Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer

Sterling Point Books: Daniel Boone: The Opening of the Wilderness

Source:  Wikipedia

Frankfort Kentucky - A Blast from the Past

 

The town of Frankfort probably received its name from an event that took place in 1780s when Indians attacked a group of pioneers from Bryan’s Station who were making salt at a ford in the Kentucky River. One of the pioneers, Stephen Frank, was killed and the crossing became known as "Frank’s Ford." 
Later this name was shortened to Frankfort.  In 1786 James Wilkinson purchased the 260-acre tract of land on the north side of the Kentucky River that is now downtown Frankfort. He was an early promoter to make Frankfort the country's capital.

In 1829 the Old Capitol, the third Capitol of Kentucky, was built in the Greek Revival style by Gideon Shryock. The building served Kentucky as its Capitol from 1830 until 1910. During the American Civil War fortifications overlooking downtown Frankfort were built on what is now called Fort Hill. The Confederate Army occupied Frankfort for a short time. 

On February 3, 1900 Governor-elect William Goebel was assassinated in Frankfort while walking to the capitol to be inaugurated. Former Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebel.

Confederate Monument

The Confederate Monument in Frankfort, in Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky, is a monument dedicated to the Confederate States of America that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The statue depicts a Confederate soldier standing ready. It is made of white marble, and stands atop a granite pedestal and limestone base. On the pedestal is part of the Bivouac of the Dead, written by Theodore O'Hara, who is also buried in Frankfort Cemetery. Frankfort would be the only Union state capital captured in the war. Confederate general Kirby Smith would capture the town on September 3, 1862, and would continue a Confederate force until the Battle of Perryville, which forced the Confederacy away from any future control of Kentucky during the American Civil War.  

Capt. Jones of Texas

Shot to Death

Nov. 7. 1864

This would cause the Union citizenry to build two forts to protect Frankfort. These forts prevented John Hunt Morgan from recapturing the city for the Confederacy in 1864.
On July 17, 1997, the Confederate Monument in Frankfort was one of 60 different monuments related to the Civil War in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission. The Colored Soldiers Monument in Frankfort is the only other one in Frankfort, located in Green Hill Cemetery to the east of Frankfort Cemetery.

Early Frankfort Kentucky 1786-1861 by Nettie Henry Glenn

Capital on the Kentucky: A Two Hundred Year History of Frankfort & Franklin County

Source:  Wikipedia
Photos by Mary C Smith

Are You Looking at Me?

I Toad You Not To...
A frog is a small tailless amphibian animal. They have smooth, moist skin, long hind legs, webbed feet, and bulging eyes. As amphibians, frogs live in water during the first part of their lives and in or near water as adults. Frogs are good swimmers and can make long jumps. Frogs spend more of their time in water than their close relative, toads.
Very much like a frog, toads are also small tailless amphibians, but they have dry, rough skin. When grown, toads live mostly on land.
Frogs and toads comprise the order Anura, or Salientia, one of the three main groups of amphibians. There are about 3,500 known species of frogs and 300 kinds of toads. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. Some types spend their entire life in or near water, but others live mainly on land and come to the water only to mate. A few other species never enter the water. Some frogs and toads are climbers that dwell in trees or burrowers that live underground.
Generally, toads have a broader, flatter body and darker, drier, bumpy skin than most frogs. Toads also have shorter, less powerful back legs. 
Toads have a pair of parotoid glands located on the top of their heads. These glands produce a poison that can make people ill or cause eye irritation. Some frogs have poison glands that oozes onto their skin. If an enemy grabs the frog, the poison repels the predator.
Frogs and toads are cold-blooded animals; their bodies are the same temperature as their surroundings. 
They avoid direct sunlight and heat and are more active at night or on rainy days. Bulging eyes give them fairly good eyesight with the ability to see in almost any direction. Most frogs also have a thin, partly clear inner eyelid called the nictitating membrane. This membrane can move upward, covering and protecting their eyes without completely blocking their vision. 
Most frogs hear sounds via the tympanum or eardrum disk, that is located behind each eye. Their sense of touch is also well developed, especially in those species living in water. Frogs call out to each other, mainly during the mating season. 
Toads and frogs have a long, sticky tongue that is hinged at the front of the mouth, allowing it to rapidly flip out and capture insect prey.

The Frogs and Toads of North America: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification,Behavior, and Calls

Source: http://42explore.com/frogs.htm

Daddy Long Legs

Opiliones
Daddy Long Legs (Harvestmen)

Harvestmen are arachnids belonging to the order Opiliones (formerly Phalangida). As of 2006, over 6,400 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the real number of extant species may exceed 10,000. 

The order Opiliones can be divided into four suborders: Cyphophthalmi, Eupnoi, Dyspnoi and Laniatores. 
Well-preserved fossils have been found in the 400-million year old Rhynie cherts of Scotland, which look surprisingly modern, indicating that the basic structure of the harvestmen has not changed much since then.

 Phylogenetic position is disputed: their closest relatives may be the mites (Acari) or the Novogenuata (the Scorpiones, Pseudoscorpiones and Solifugae).  
In some places, harvestmen are known by the name "daddy longlegs" or "granddaddy longlegs", but this name is also used for two other unrelated arthropods: the crane fly (Tipulidae) and the cellar spider (Pholcidae).
Although they belong to the class of arachnids, harvestmen are not spiders, which are of the order Araneae rather than the order Opiliones.

To view a larger image please click here.

Harvestmen: The Biology of Opiliones
Source: wikipedia

Black and Yellow Garden Spider

The spider species Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, Banana Spider or Corn Spider. It is common to the lower 48 of the United States, Hawaii, southern Canada, Mexico, and Central America. They have distinctive yellow and black markings on their abdomens and a mostly white cephalothorax. 
Males range from 5 to 9 mm (0.2-0.35"); females from 19 to 28 mm (0.75-1.1"). Like other members of Argiope they are considered harmless to humans.

Spectacular Spiders

Spiders of North America: Brown Recluse Spider, Cheiracanthium Inclusum, Argiope Aurantia, Hobo Spider, Mexican Redknee Tarantula


Source:  wikipedia