Photo of the Week – November 16, 2018

Earlier this week, I was looking through some of my 2018 photos and came across a few shots of prairie wild rose (Rosa arkansana) I’d forgotten about.  I took a few minutes to go looking for some older images as well, and chose some of my favorites for today’s post. 

Wild rose is one of the more attractive and prominent wildflowers in our prairies during June, more so because they often occur in large rhizomatous clones.  Many invertebrates find them attractive as well, especially the large, prominent, and pollen-packed anthers.  Later in the year, their hips (fruits) also become important food sources (and nice photo subjects) but today’s post is all about the flowers.

A tiny weevil feeds on pollen.
A long-horned beetle – also feeding on pollen.
Hover flies are very common visitors.
And, of course,opportunistic crab spiders often pick off unwary flower visitors, including this hover fly.
This entry was posted in Prairie Natural History, Prairie Photography, Prairie Plants, Uncategorized and tagged , by Chris Helzer. Bookmark the permalink.

About Chris Helzer

Chris Helzer is the Director of Science for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska. His main role is to evaluate and capture lessons from the Conservancy’s land management and restoration work and then share those lessons with other landowners – both private and public. In addition, Chris works to raise awareness about the importance of prairies and their conservation through his writing, photography, and presentations to various groups. Chris is also the author of "The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States", published by the University of Iowa Press. He lives in Aurora, Nebraska with his wife Kim and their children.

2 thoughts on “Photo of the Week – November 16, 2018

  1. This scent introduced the plant, long before I got there, back in the day of my hikes through the ‘hills’ thank you so much for this post and the memories that come with it.

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