Flowers nourish insects

I think this is a Snowberry Clearwing moth on Dame's Rocket flowers

Besides the fact that I find flowers and gardening to be one of my main passions in life, I love the fact that flowers nourish insects. Here you see what I think is a Snowberry Clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis) also known as a bumblebee moth. In fact, I thought this was a bumblee at first glance!

Here is the moth with its curled proboscis, ready to probe the next flower for nectar! They also love phlox flowers which will open in the next month.

Bees and ants love the nectar of peony flowers 

The more flowers I have, the greater the variety of insects that get attracted to our yard. The peony plants have lots of buds which attract bees, wasps, hornets, and ants before the buds even open! The nectar must be highly sought after. I often find small holes drilled into the buds where I think hornets suck out the nectar.

Celithemis elisa skimmer dragongly

I find dragonflies resting on the foliage of the flowers. The dragonflies feed on insects and I welcome their presence in our yard. This is a Celithemis elisa dragonfly, aks Calico Pennant.

Celithemis elisa skimmer dragongly

I hope this dragonfly eats lots of mosquitoes as we are getting swarmed!

Here is another species of dragonfly. This pair is mating and the female will soon be dipping her ovipositor into the water of Caesar Pond to lay her eggs.