"Horace! You buffoon - you're doing it wrong!"

Really, what else is there to say?  The male was just having a heck of a time trying to figure out the "correct" way to mount his ladybug love.  These are an introduced species, the Asian multicolored Lady Beetle, or Harlequin Beetle.  Although considered invasive, they are excellent for controlling aphids and can be found in the dozens at this time of year on milkweed, which is prone to aphids.  

Met up with my naturalist group this morning at Blue Mountain Lakes, about 40 minutes from here.  Although we started under heavy cloud cover, soon enough sun peeked out and we were treated to lots of dragons, damsels and butterflies.  I posted six other shots from the morning on Flickr, starting here with a freshly emerged dragonfly - four dragons/damsels, a nosy fly and a ovipositing monarch.  

I got my first order from Blue Apron today!  I decided to give it a try as I have been running low on ideas for creative, healthy meals lately.  The cost is quite reasonable and they provide ALL ingredients needed for 3 complete meals.  Tonight, we'll be having Chicken Milanese with summer corn, cherry tomatoes and cucumber salad - doesn't that sound yummy?  I'll have a full report tomorrow...

Cheers,
Debbi