Weed Du Jour: Convolvulus arvensis

We finished putting in all of our intermediate posts in our vineyard yesterday. These posts will be our story post for our guide string for the remaining line posts. As we drove up and down our vineyard rows, we were dismayed by the bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) congregating in the southwest corner of our vineyard. The bindweed is related to the morning glory, and can be pretty in the right setting, but in a vineyard, they are a choking hazard for our young vines. So we took a day off from post pounding to pull out the bindweed. The story post provides a good marker for weed pulling. While pulling out the bindweed, I came upon a pair of very golden beetles. I stopped to shoot them, not to kill, but to take a picture. I learned from the Internet that these are Golden Tortoise Beetles (Charidotella sexpunctata previously called Metriona bicolor), and their favorite food is the morning glory! I'm glad that I left them alone and was thankful that I didn't disturb the bindweed that they took refuge in. But watch out bindweed, I'll get you later!

In the evening, we went to our friend's home for dinner. We really appreciate friends who feed us after a long day of weed pulling. They had invited another couple for dinner and the husband was from Reims and he brought this Ruinart champagne! There were oysters, shrimp and smoked salmon for appetizers with the Ruinart and dinner was pork tenderloin with sage butter, faro and a green salad with thyme vinegar dressing. The wine pairing there was a Martinelli Pinot noir. Yum!
Reference:
1. The Ark in Space: A Compendium of Creatures, The Tortoise Beetle - Amazing Metallic Arthropods.
2. Bec Crew, Glad you ditched the anal fork, Golden Tortoise Beetle, Scientific American Online Blog, July 4, 2012.