LatinosUSA

Hi everyone, it’s Robbie Cheadle here with you today with my March post in the Nature Photography section on LatinosUSA – English Edition. Today, I am showcasing Insects.

Next week, I am featuring photographs of Buildings & Architecture. For the February post, I’d like to showcase photographs of Buildings – looking up.

If you have a Buildings – looking up photograph to share in the Buildings & Architecture section, please email me at cheadlerobbie@gmail.com and use the title Photography – Buildings & Architecture. Please also include a short write up about your photograph.

African bee by Robbie Cheadle

I was delighted to get this close up of an African bee on a pastry. We were at the Johannesburg Country Club on New Year’s Day for breakfast and this persistent bee made an appearance. I was able to take a sequence of photographs of it enjoying its visit.

And what came next? by Derrick Knight

Derrick Knight has a fantastic blog that includes interesting book reviews, photographs, and family anecdotes.

The photographs below are extracted from a great post by Derrick where he has woven a children’s story using the photographs and asks readers to finish the tale. You can read Derrick’s post here: https://derrickjknight.com/2015/05/28/and-what-came-next/

Click on the slideshow to see the photographs for the story.

This is my ending:

The fly invited the butterfly to the annual Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast.

The butterfly was delighted to accept and attend the ball on the arm of as great a gentleman as the fly.

The pair were a great success and were vote king and queen of the Butterfly Ball.

You can read more about the poem by William Roscoe, The Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast, on Project Gutenburg here: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/20860

Ladybug and Caterpillar by Andrew McDowell

You can find author and poet, Andrew McDowell, on his blog here: https://andrewmcdowellauthor.com/blog/

Andrew has some wonderful books which you can learn more about on his Amazon US author page here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Andrew-McDowell/author/B08MVFN9TL

Or on his blog which includes universal links and other purchase outlets here: https://andrewmcdowellauthor.com/publications/

You can read a recent review of one of Andrew’s books here: https://mjmallon.com/2026/03/11/book-review-mystical-greenwood-andrew-mcdowell-bookreview-fantasy/

These two photographs are from 2024. The ladybug landed on my wrist while I was taking a walk during my lunch hour at work. As for the caterpillar, I was on a rowing machine at the gym one day, and I looked in the mirror against the wall and discovered I had somehow picked up some unexpected but delightful company.

Monarch Butterflies by Miriam Hurdle

Miriam Hurdle has a wonderful blog where she shares book reviews, poetry, and updates about family events. Miriam is a fellow contributor to This Is How We Eat anthology by contributing editor Yvette Prior. You can read her post about this anthology here: https://theshowersofblessings.com/2026/03/08/this-is-how-we-eat-stories-about-food-culture-and-connection-book-tour/

Miriam has some excellent books which you can find on her blog.

Monarchs are remarkable because they migrate each year, flying from as far as Canada and across the United States to congregate at a few forested overwintering sites in the mountains of central Mexico and coastal California. Over the past two decades, monarch numbers in North America have declined, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to join Tribes, state agencies, other federal agencies and non-government groups to identify threats to the monarch and take steps to conserve monarchs throughout their range. By 2080 the probability of extinction for eastern monarchs ranges from 56 to 74% and the probability of extinction for western monarchs is greater than 95%. Threats to the species include the loss and degradation of breeding, migratory and overwintering habitat, exposure to insecticides and the effects of climate change. December 12, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the monarch as a threatened species and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. https://www.fws.gov/initiative/pollinators/save-monarch

I started to raise monarchs in butterfly cages in 2021 until the year I moved to Oregon. I planted milkweed, the only host plants for monarchs to lay eggs, and their only plant food. I collected the eggs or baby caterpillars from the outdoors and transferred them to the milkweeds in the cage.

The monarch butterfly undergoes complete metamorphosis in four main stages—egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult—taking about 3–5 weeks.

1. Egg, photo1 (Days 1–5): Female monarchs lay small, white eggs, usually one at a time, on the underside of milkweed leaves.

2. Larva / Caterpillar, photos 2 to 3 (Days 5–14): This is the feeding stage. The caterpillar eats its own eggshell and then heavily consumes milkweed, growing roughly 100 times its original size.

3. Pupa / Chrysalis, photos 4 to 5 (Days 14–28): The fully-grown caterpillar attaches itself to a secure, hard surface, hangs in a «J» shape, and sheds its skin for the final time to reveal a jade-green chrysalis. Inside, the larva breaks down and reforms into an adult butterfly. This stage lasts 10–14 days, with the chrysalis becoming transparent just before the butterfly emerges. 

4. The adult butterfly, photos 6 to 7, emerges from the chrysalis and waits 2–4 hours for its wings to dry and harden before taking flight. Summer generations live 2–5 weeks to mate and lay eggs, while the migratory generation can live up to 9 months.

Male monarch has two dark spots on the hind wings and the female monarch has thicker veins, photos 8 to 9.

Click on the slideshow below to see the photographs that go with Miriam’s commentary:

Busy Bee on a Blue Squill Flower by Nicol Sara

My thanks to poet and photographer, Nicole Sara, for this contribution of a bee on a blue squill flower. You can find Nicole on her beautiful blog here: https://starrysteps.wordpress.com/2025/11/14/soothing-blues-for-tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-38-visualize-your-joy-11-11-2025/

Nicole has an etsy shop where you can find her gorgeous photographic digital designs: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StarryStepsShop/

March is always their time… beautiful tiny forest flowers and cute busy bees buzzing away in the sun. Happy to have taken this lucky photo this past weekend… so grateful for the bees!

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author, photographer, and artist, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated seventeen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, written and illustrated four poetry books and written and illustrated one celebration of cake and fondant art book with recipes. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

Social Media Links

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/robbiecheadle.bsky.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVyFo_OJLPqFa9ZhHnCfHUA
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle
TSL Publications: https://tslbooks.uk/product-tag/robbie-cheadle/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robbie-Cheadle/author/B01N9J62GQ
Unsplash profile: https://unsplash.com/@r_cheadle