Serendipity

I don't have anything insightful today - it's too hot to think. Let's just look at some bugs.

Wait, no, I do have something to say. I was thinking that finding today's Backyard Bug of the Day was really serendipitous, because I only found it because my camera flash battery was nearly dead, and I had to suspend my bug walk briefly in order to go in the house to change the battery, and it was while I was on my way back to the house that I spotted the bug. So if my flash battery hadn't died, I wouldn't have seen it today, which is serendipitous. But then I realized that 99% of what I find when I go outside to look for bugs is serendipitous. It's almost always about being in the right place, or even just looking in the right direction, at the right second, to see things. There are a few rare situations where I actually go straight to where I think a bug is going to be, but even then, sometimes a bug (usually a caterpillar) that has been hanging out in the exact same place for a week is suddenly gone. Otherwise, I have to rely on lucky moments. Which is pretty funny when you consider that given the number of bugs out in the backyard, at every moment there are probably a hundred of them within reach that I just don't see.

Fortunately, I love serendipity. Serendipitous is my favorite word.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Remember this bug? Today is finally its day. The best I can come up with for an identification is that is a net-winged beetle, possibly a reticulated net-winged beetle, but there are a couple of species that look basically the same in the book, so a slight uncertainty will have to remain.

 I love this style of antennae.

Not a good picture of the bug, but a good shot of the antennae. I think this is my favorite antenna type. It looks so... engineered.

 The book says that it flaps its wings covers like this as an "odd defensive display when threatened." I didn't think I was that threatening.

 It is curious that in a lot of the pictures I take of this bug, the dark parts of the wing covers look blue or purple, but in real life they just look black. I would guess it's a trick of the light. Anyway, nothing has color at the molecular level, they say.

My reading also implies that they don't eat much as adults. That's not all that unusual - there are some moths that don't eat at all, having eaten all they need in life (which is short) as caterpillars.

Backyard Bud of the Day:

More asters?

Backyard Wildlife:

Chipmunks are very watchful. This chipmunk is holed up in a rock pile underneath which a woodchuck used to live. I haven't seen the woodchuck all year, and have assumed that it is not living there anymore. I wonder if the chipmunk living in that rock pile is proof that there is no longer a woodchuck there, or if they could coexist.

Caterpillar update:

 The biggest of the weird caterpillars has turned almost red.

Here's one of the others for contrast.

 A hint of what the underside looks like. I would love to see this caterpillar crawling up the window...

Many random bugs today:

 Weevil.

 Japanese beetle acrobatic act.

 I almost made this bug BBotD because of those terrific eyes.

 This bug was fun to watch.

Here's more fun instant animation for you - toggle back and forth between the next two pictures.

 It was hanging upside down on a tree trunk, waving its wings, like it was signaling to someone.

Moth in the wild. 

I see these all over the place lately, fluttering into the grass as I walk by.

I've talked a LOT about the weather this summer, mostly whining, but when you are observing nature, weather is an integral part of what you are observing. Plus, I am just whiny. But that's not really the point, which is that we have had very little rain this summer, which I think has affected the state of things in the backyard. Case in point:

The lack of rain has been disastrous for the sumac. Shriveled flowers, but no berries.

Ironically, the rain we did have the other day had some ill effects in the backyard - it rained really hard for a while, and all of the moth eggs that were on the deer netting were washed away by it. I knew that deer netting was not a good place for a moth to lay eggs!

Cocoons:

 From what I could see of light passing through it, I think this is an unoccupied cocoon. There also seems to be a really tiny bug on the top of it, but even zooming in I can't be sure.

Could this be the work of the grape leaf roller moth?

So very many arachnids to appreciate today, so let's get on to Arachnid Appreciation!
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 Adorable spider. I think this one is a new one for me.

 Zoomed in - look at that sweet face!

 When I first saw it crawling in the grass it looked like a headless ant. Naturally that didn't seem right, so I looked closer.

 Orb Weaver #1 - a rare daytime glimpse, tucked away in its leaf tent.

 I have never seen a jumping spider in a little silk nest like this. I thought it was some sort of cocoon when I saw it, and then I noticed there was something inside, and I was shocked when I saw it was a jumping spider. And anyone who doesn't think jumping spiders are adorable just doesn't know what adorable is.

 I am seeing a LOT of really, really tiny spiders lately. They are so small the only reason I have been seeing them at all is because I spot the webs, and then look really closely at the speck in the middle.

 Hiding in the roof flashing.

 Insects and spiders are not always as good at hiding as they think they are.

 Here's what that one looks like on the other side of the leaf.

The picture doesn't do this justice. In real life it's redder, and looks like a tiny, eight-legged tomato.