Which Bug?

Sometimes when we go to the grocery store I marvel at the salad dressing aisle. I wonder what a person from another country that does not have our abundance of food would think if they came to an American grocery store and stood in the salad dressing aisle. There are a LOT of different choices of salad dressing here. There are about fifty brands, and each brand has a dozen flavors (though all the brands seem to have the same flavors), and each flavor has regular and non-fat. We make our own dressing (from a mix - and there are a lot of choices for mixes, too), and I am glad, because how else would I ever decide what salad dressing to use? How do people decide? Why do we need so many choices of salad dressing?

Okay, so maybe I am not very good at choosing sometimes.

I am sure you have figured out where this is going. I had too many choices for Backyard Bug of the Day. So I am going to do something that I do occasionally, that I forgot to mention in the rules yesterday. I am going to give you Co-Bugs of the Day (there are also sometimes Backyard Bug of the Day Runner-ups, but I kind of feel bad for the runner-up, so I don't do it much. It is possible that I both over think these things and get a little too emotionally involved on the part of the bugs).

Backyard Co-Bugs of the Day:

 I think this is a nymph, but I don't know what it is going to be when it grows up. But more importantly - it's BLUE!!! Look at that gorgeous color!!! I wasn't even going to go for a close look at this bug because it looked really icky when I first saw it (think small millipede. I am totally squicked out by millipedes), but I did, and saw how cute and BLUE it was. Totally knocked the other BBotD candidates off the list.

But then again... this is a bug I have not seen before. At first it looked like it might be related to yesterday's BBotD, but I think this is a borer, and I don't think yesterday's is. So I thought I might make this an extra bug, or a runner up. But then when I looked closely on the computer I saw that this one is also blue at the tip, and decided to be thematic. Hence, co-bugs.

Here's I've zoomed in so you can see the blue/purple of it. Pretty, eh?

There was no question about what would be Backyard Bud of the Day:

I wish I'd gotten a better picture, but it was starting to rain. (And then it stopped, but I didn't realize I hadn't gotten a good picture of the lavender, so I didn't go back...). This was the best smelling picture I have taken in a while.

Oh, and here's a picture of toad flax, yesterday's Backyard Bud of the Day, that was actually taken in my yard. I have been wracked with guilt over bending that rule yesterday, so my conscience requires me to do this:

This was the only stalk of toad flax I could find that was actually in my yard, not growing in the crack between the curb and the road.

And while we're on the subject of yesterday, remember I told you that yesterday's BBotD comes in other colors?

 Orange...

Bluish... I have also seen red and a more definite blue in the past.

This bug was one of the other BBotD candidates, and I am hoping to feature it another day (I have seen them around, but today was the first time I actually got a picture), but I just wanted to post this picture...

It's a nice look at the proboscis of the true bug/Hemiptera. Let's zoom that in a bit...

Nice, eh?

Some interesting Backyard Bug Behavior today:

 I am assuming this is a caterpillar, but it could be some other kind of larva. It is using silk threads to pull the leaf around itself. Presumably it will then make a cocoon or chrysalis inside, and eventually will come out as something else.

This is behavior I find vexing. We have awning windows, which open outward from a hinge at the top. So, the screen is inside. When the window is open at night, bugs - mostly moths - come hang out on the screen, and then get trapped there when the window is closed. There doesn't seem to be any way to persuade them to fly out. It's not good for them to be trapped there on a hot day. You can't reason with bugs, though.

I found a dandelion for you today:

I also - finally! - found a baby praying mantis!

I knew they had hatched in that part of the yard, so I have been on the lookout, and surprised not to have found any yet. They don't have wings at this stage, so they can't get far fast. Last year in the area where they hatched I was finding them in various stages of growth for weeks.

They don't like having their picture taken when they are this small. As you can probably tell.

Here's just something pretty:

And something cool, if maybe a little macabre:

I have observed that many bugs that eat other bugs don't like to eat the wings. This one somehpw ended up on a second floor window. The rain added atmosphere.

All that is left now is to Appreciate an Arachnid!
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Such a cutie! And a bit weird, I think - usually the chelicerae (HA! I looked it up!) look different... Love it posing on the milkweed buds. Bugs of all kind love hanging out on the milkweed.

Now, I could really go for a salad...