The sunflowers reached their peak today. The largest and tallest didn't last long. It was taken down by a big vulture. I was able to get this shot (above) before the vulture had his way with the 8-foot flower.
BELOW: I spent some time watching this flower and the insects she was attracting. Look at the bottom right of image for the grasshopper.
I think this grasshopper is Paroxya clavuliger (Serville). The long black stripe extending from his eye and his long antennae distinguish him from other similar species. Where he was once noticed -- not much in Florida anymore -- he was referred to as the Olivegreen Swamp Grasshopper.
He had quite an appetite. I watched him eat on this sunflower leaf for an hour off-and-on this afternoon. He finished off a leaf that was 4x his size in that time.
The bee is likely Bumble Bee (Bombus spp.). Bumble bees are large, social bees which produce annual colonies.
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