Loving Goldenrod

Since scientists have freed goldenrod from their reputation for causing allergy miseries (their pollen is so sticky that it does not float in the air easily), I am free to declare my love for the plant and to have beautiful bouquets of it in the house. And when it is in full glory in early fall, it also attracts a number of interesting insects, like the Locust Borer:

This guy is in the long-horned beetle family (note the antennae), but the patterning is what you can't help but notice. And so it was an easy decision to capture that pattern that is a bit different on every individual yet easily recognizable.

This beetle is more than just a handsome face. It does serious damage to Black Locust trees when it lays its eggs, but Black Locusts have become invasive in some parts of the country. I pull up hundreds of little annoying Black Locust sprouts in our yard every summer that come from our neighbor's tree. So this little bug--particularly this mating pair--cannot be easily labelled, like so many things in life, as harmful or helpful. 

And, if you are still reading, thanks for the company!

I am linking with Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. Check out what some other fiber artists have been doing.