Pop Quiz: What's this caterpillar?

Yes, I did have to look this one up. But I can give you some hints. It/they are cheerfully finishing off my dill, and there were a lot of them in there, so they must logically prefer dill to the basil and rosemary located right next to them. Can't blame 'em, there. But I digress. This will turn into a very common and recognizable butterfly, if we let it finish off the dill. The answer will be in the comments section.

While I was waiting for Tom to bring me some new batteries for the camera (we go through this exercise nearly every time we want to photograph anything because our camera eats batteries like beer nuts), I had an opportunity to quietly sit there in the grass, which was literally crawling with life around me. I used to do this a lot as a child. With the suburbanization of the area I lived in, many of the things I saw daily slowly disappeared from common view. People in suburban areas keep their lawns green and weed-free and their gardens treated with pesticides. Most insects eventually disappear, as do the birds and other animals that eat them. The exception to "most" of course are the Japanese Beetles, which are doing just fine.

Two years ago, we bought this farm in Southside, which for the uninitiated, means south of the James River in VA. One of the most pleasant surprises about this area was that many of the things that had disappeared from my life in Northern Virginia are still here. The Bobwhite Quail that used to run along in front of your car on every dirt road are not as numerous as they were, but we hear them call out from the hayfield in the evenings. I had not heard that sound for years.

One thing that has sadly not reappeared is the honey bee. Whether their severe decline has been due to veroa mites, a virus, or colony collapse disorder is still hard to say. But in 2006, beekeepers reported losses of 60 to 90 percent of their hives. The complete loss of honey bees would be an environmental catastrophe that would severely affect world food supply. I still look out for them when I am walking around barefoot in the grass. I really wish I needed to be that careful.