Blending In

It is ridiculous how excited I get about insignificant things. Like actually finding a cool bud in the backyard today.

Backyard Bud of the Day:

I don't know what it is, because it doesn't look like anything I've had in the yard before, so it is probably something from whatever wildflower mix I strewed about this year. It's pretty big (it kind of looks sunflowerish), so it's kind of amazing I didn't notice it before today. There is a second stem right next to it that has been chomped (just like all of the purple coneflowers! Why, deer, why?), so there could have been two, but there's only one. Now for the wait to find out what it is when it blooms.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

It's not flashy. But it represents something, which is a change in perception for me. Before I started looking closely at the bugs in my backyard, I had only once ever seen a bug shaped like this. I thought it was really bizarre. (I also named it Darcybug. Long story). Now I know that there are many, many bugs that look like this - by which I mean bugs with this shape. I used to have a very narrow perception of what bugs look like - I knew about ants, bees, beetles, butterflies. But I had never thought about what else was out there. And now I know there are a lot of bugs that look like this, and a lot of bugs that look really strange, and a lot of bugs that are really beautiful. And literally about 20,000 species of bees. Not that I have seen anywhere near 20,000 species of bees in my yard. But I have probably seen more than a dozen. And before all of this, I had probably only noticed that there were about three. Anyway, I think this bug is rather pretty. It is kind of pearlescent. I would guess it is some kind of Hemiptera, but I didn't look closely at the mouthparts.

I spotted a praying mantis again today:

 Can you see it?

How about now? Actually, the only reason I spotted it the first time is because it was moving.

And speaking of blending in:

 The caterpillar's new look reflects a new means of self defense. Before it avoided being eaten by looking like something no one wants to eat. Now it avoids being eaten by blending in with its background. As far as I know it still spent all day sitting in its hammock, though I did see it stretch out and move its front end around a couple of times.

I am not sure how looking like a weird cartoon character helps with defense. (Actually, yes, I do, it's the eye spot).

Then there are other young bugs that rely on safety in numbers:

I have no idea what these were, because this branch was about 7 feet up, and I am only 5'4". But something hatched recently (probably sawfly larvae. Seriously, they are everywhere).

I believe that this exact cluster of flowers was once featured as Backyard Bud of the Day:

I feel like there should be something profound to say about that, but it would probably just be depressing.

And speaking of flowers that have gone to seed:

 Foxgloves look like they are blooming all over again with adorable, cartoony, green flowers.

Sometimes I have to wonder, am I watching the bugs, or are they watching me?

It is sort of the reflection of the ring flash that makes this happen, but not entirely. It still looks like the bugs are staring even without it.

I found a lovely spider for Arachnid Appreciation today:
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 Look out, tiny tree cricket! (If that's what you are).

 Whew! Didn't see you...

That's an impressive set of chelicerae. They look especially venomous.

Caterpillar's Big Day

Good news, Backyard Bug enthusiasts! I have figured out what kind of caterpillar the bird poop-like caterpillar is - a tiger swallowtail! This is one that I had suspected it might be, but as you know, I stink at research. However, today it changed to a new instar (the stages of a caterpillar's life are called instars. No, I don't know why), and that clinched the identification for me. This is exciting, because the tiger swallowtail is a very pretty butterfly, and maybe it is wrong of me, but I am happy it is going to be a pretty butterfly instead of a drab, brown moth. You'd be amazed at the number of wild, colorful caterpillars that turn into drab, brown moths. Those moths have a coolness factor of their own, but I confess to loving bright colors much better. So, I am psyched about the caterpillar.

In honor of the caterpillar's new instar I am making it Backyard Bug of the Day. I am pretty sure that in spite of being shown here several times, and my having written about it, this caterpillar has not actually been Backyard Bug of the Day before. However, it would be okay if it has, because transforming into a new look qualifies it to be repeated. It's not as big a deal as changing from a caterpillar into a butterfly, but it still counts. I am going to give you quite a few pictures of it, because I want to show a progression of what it has looked like over a few days. So...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

This is three days ago, on June 26. Brown and white, shiny, tiny blue dots. Hanging out on the hammock. This is the same day that it was standing straight up for some reason.

This is what it looked like yesterday, June 28.

Then this morning, it was looking weird - duller (it's usually kind of shiny), wrinkled, and it was moving strangely, sort of rippling.

 It's head was sticking out more than usual. My assumption is that this was a moult, where it sheds its skin in order to be able to grow larger. It almost looks as if part of the body is sticking out, too, and is pink?

I observed the process on and off for over half an hour, but then I had to leave for the afternoon.

When I came home, it looked like this:

Quite the transformation! It's mostly green now, the body is a different shape, and the blue spots on its back have become more obviously eye spots (which are false eyes).

This is apparently the beginning of the fourth instar (out of five). I didn't see any shed skin, but if it is like the monarch caterpillars, it ate the skin after it moulted (protein!).  From what I have seen, this caterpillar is going to have to do a lot of eating and growing for the next instar!

Backyard Bud of the Day:

I think this is goldenrod. For all the goldenrod we get here, you'd think I would recognize the leaves...

Lavender is looking good:

Now that the beetle has moved on, here's a better look at the eggs she laid yesterday:

And some better shots of the mating candy striped leaf hoppers:

Some have much more vivid colors than others. These are pretty spectacular.

I found a praying mantis today that, while still quite young, seems to be maturing in its behavior. I have noticed that baby mantids are very skittish, and will quickly flee or hide when approached. Adults don't really do that much. They just turn their heads very deliberately and stare at you. Honestly, it can be kind of unnerving. Cool, but unnerving. Well, I found this youngster today, not quite two inches long, I'd say, but it didn't flee...

It turned its head and gave me the Mantis Stare. Well done, young mantis.

A cute Backyard Visitor today:

We've had woodchucks in the yard for years, but this is the first time I have one this year, so it's good to know they're still around (as long as they stay out of the vegetable garden).

Technicolor

June 28, 2014

I need an intro...

Nope. I've got nothing. Nothing but bugs.

I have 2 Backyard Bugs of the Day today, for the simple reason that... well, you'll see.

Backyard Co-Bugs of the Day:

Now, at first you are probably only seeing one bug here, and it's a pretty eye-catching bug. Another leaf-hopper, or plant-hopper, or tree-hopper... One of those. A Hemiptera, or true bug. But do you see the other bug? You don't have the benefit I had, which is that it moved, but I think you can see the legs pretty easily.

Or how about now? There is quite the plethora of woolly bugs in the backyard lately. In the last three days I have seen three different kinds. I wonder if this bug is in any way responsible for the rest of the fuzz all over this stem...

While we're on the subject of bugs sharing space:

It always amazes me that with all of the leaves in the yard, in the world, two bugs who are different, but are not trying to eat each other, end up hanging out on the same leaf. I wonder what they think about each other...

Backyard Bud of the Day:

Pokeweed.

I had quite a few frustrating moments today, of pictures I was trying to get but couldn't. I am going to post my attempts, though, because the colors of the bugs in question were so amazing, and you can at least see that in my blurry shots. All three of these pictures are zoomed in, because I just couldn't get close to either of these bugs (and one of them didn't even land anywhere. I know there are people who somehow get amazing pictures of bugs in flight, but I have no idea how they do it).

First, blue:

 Zoomed in this one isn't so bad, but it really doesn't do the blue color justice. When I saw this flying around, it was really something to see.

 However, it was not one to sit still, and thus very hard to focus on.

 And this red one never even landed. I don't think this picture shows the color very well -it wasn't so orangey red, it really was a bright, true red. And in this picture the wings look like helicopter blades, which is pretty cool.

Some day I am going to try to get a whole rainbow of bug colors in one day...

Usually when I find bug eggs I have no idea what kind of bug laid them...

But sometimes it's obvious.

Bees have a reputation for being busy all the time...

It's not entirely warranted.

Dragonflies have pleasant faces:

Here's a random Bonus Bug for you:

And it's good to know that there will be more candy striped leaf hoppers around in the future:

If I were to guess, I would say the larger one was the female. And to think, all this time I assumed that there were smaller ones around because they were immatures.

You see a lot of really awesome photos of bugs on the internet that are so awesome because the person taking the picture was taking it of a dead bug. In a lot of ways dead bugs are much easier to photograph (I wish there was a shorter verb for that...), so you get really good pictures. Not so much in this case...

Yes, this is a mosquito. Cause of death: it tried to bite me. I am not actually sure if it was dead at this point, because it was still moving a bit, but that could just be nerve endings or something. Don't expect to see a mosquito as BBotD.

Rounding out the bug portion of the program today...

Firefly. I asked nicely, but it would light up for the picture.

It's getting close to one of the best times of the summer...

 Raspberry season!

So close...

Now, in honor of my wedding anniversary tomorrow (which, to be honest, as I write this, is today), some romantic honeysuckle flowers:

And now, a spiderless Arachnid Appreciation:
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 A couple of different species of harvestmen/daddy longlegs. I still don't know what the red things are on the legs, but this one's got a bad case of it.

Wild and Woolly

Man, this is hard. Do you know how many cool bugs I found in the yard today? No, well, I don't either, because I didn't count them, but I can tell you it was more than one. And more than two. And more than three. So how am I supposed to choose a bug out of all the bugs to be THE bug for the day?

I don't know. So let's start with something I do know - Backyard Bud of the Day:

I have no idea what this is, of course. It's an interesting arrangement of flowers, though - some in bunches, and some solitary.

Okay, bug, bug, bug, bug, bug... what to choose...

Ah... Errr... Umm... Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I know what you're thinking: "Hey, that was one of the three Backyard Bugs of the Day from yesterday! What are you trying to pull here?!?" But, no, that's what I thought, and I was just happy to get a closer picture, but when I actually looked at it on the computer, I realized it's a different bug. Same structure, but different colors and markings. So maybe this is the same bug but different gender (which still allows it to be BBotD, by the way), or maybe it's a different bug, but related, or maybe there is variation in the colors and markings of the species. Whatever. It looks different from yesterday's bug, so it's today's Backyard Bug of the Day.

Ummm... No, sorry, I have changed my mind. This is Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Also similar to the weird BBotD from yesterday, the woolly aphid, but this is a totally different bug that just happens to share some woolly characteristics. But as weird as yesterday's bug was, this one is waaaaaaaay weirder. I think it is a plant hopper, but I am confused as to whether that is the same as a leaf hopper. Honestly, bug books are not all that helpful sometimes, and bug websites are even worse. So, let's just say this is probably something hoppy. Because those are definitely the legs of something that is going to spring away at some point. Though amazingly, it did not spring away when I was taking a picture of it, even though I was totally in its face. And there were actually two of them on the same leaf, and neither of them fled, so that's pretty amazing right there, and another reason why it deserves to be Backyard Bug of the Day. Points are awarded for cooperativeness. But I digress. As I was saying, this is a weird looking bug.

Here, I've zoomed in the picture. Is that weird, or is that weird? Don't you just love those weird eyes, and the way they stare at you? And the adorable frowny face? And the bizzaro things just sticking out of it? This is definitely worthy of Backyard Bug of the Day.

Here are the two of them on the leaf together. That is tomorrow's probably Backyard Bud of the Day peeking around the corner.

I know you think you have me figured out, and that I like to do things in threes, the classic comic triple, so I would post two bugs and say they are bug of the day, but the real one is the third bug, but I am not going to do that. Even though I have several other viable candidates for Backyard Bug of the Day, I am not going for the triple. The comic rhythm will just be sacrificed this time. Woolly Weirdo up there is definitely it. But while we are on the subject of wooliness...

Another woolly aphid, but much less woolly than the one yesterday. So many questions...

A while back I posted a picture of a green bee, and was then informed that it wasn't really all that green. So, here's another one:

Oh, and look, it's on a milkweed flower!

Seriously, if you want to find a lot of bugs in your yard, you could just plant milkweed and would be able to find an amazing array of insects and spiders. I didn't have time for a full bug walk today (and it's a good thing, because I found too many good bugs as it is!), but I could have just spent five minutes at one of my milkweed patches and found what I needed.

Having said that, none of the rest of these pictures feature milkweed.

Here's a ladybug larva, perhaps thinking of pupating on this leaf?

A damselfly. Posting just because it's pretty. I am sure it will be BBotD some day.

This next thing may be too gross to post, but I am posting anyway.

I am a little confused about this. The wasp seems to be caught in a web, but it's a bunch of flies, not a spider, that is going after it. Flies don't catch things in webs, do they? And these don't all look like the same kind of fly.

Sorry to say I have no arachnids to appreciate today. But tomorrow I am back to painting trim on the outside of the house, so I should be seeing lots of spiders and insects, and...

You never know what I will find.