Lack of Interspecies Communication

The very first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning was blue sky! Literally, I opened my eyes and that's what I saw. I sleep under a skylight, which is why this was possible. I got out of bed a lot faster than I have the last few days, that's for sure. It was still on the cool side, but not as cold as the rest of the week, and I expected the bugs to be out appreciating the gorgeous day as much as I was, but for some reason they were not.

I just don't understand bugs at all.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 A cricket.

 A confrontation (they walked away, no bug was hurt).

 Hmmm... I wish I had noticed that little bug at the time, but I was literally focused on the cricket.

 Here's a zoomed-in shot of the eye. I love compound eyes.

I present to you the most cooperative cricket in the world.

Here's a summation of what was going on in the backyard today:

 Leaf hopper... and one of those black flies.*

 Ladybug... and one of those black flies.

 Two black flies mating, while another black fly tries to convince the female that it is his genetic material that should be propagated.

 The struggle went on for a long time.

 I don't know who finally one, but I am guessing the male who was mating first.

 Frankly, it didn't seem like the second male was going about it in the right way.

 There were probably thousands of the black flies (I really have to find out what these things are...) swarming today - they definitely liked the sunshine and warmer weather.

 I saw quite a few mid-air collisions. Some of them looked accidental, but some of them looked deliberate. I am not sure what the swarming is all about, but given the prime directive of all living things, I would guess that finding a mate is the purpose. Which would explain the intentional collisions - either they are rivals trying to knock each other out, or they are trying to snag a mate.

 I tried to get pictures to show how this looks, but it's just something that is really hard to photograph.

Anyway, you get the idea.

The ladybugs were swarming again, too, after a few days off. I wondered as I saw them if they were newly arrived ladybugs searching for a winter hideout, or if the ones that were swarming last week came out of their cozy nooks for the day and were going to go back after.

Random Bugs:
*A better picture of that leaf hopper.

 Pretty green leaf hopper.

 This is the first time I have seen one of these weird, pulsating caterpillarish/slug-like things since the frost.

 Bug-spotting test - can you see two grasshoppers?

 I can't NOT take a picture of bugs. I took this picture because I thought it was interesting and pretty, because it's pink, and when I looked at the picture on the computer I realized there's a looper in there.

 Aphid on my husband's arm.

 The camouflaging beetle larva is back on the lawn chair. With an aphid.

 Which means the other aphids are not afraid of it.

Adorable fungus:

I think I found more spiders than other bugs today, so a lot to appreciate in Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I know, I post a lot of pictures of jumping spiders, but they are so adorable I just can't help myself. And this one is special.

 Here's a zoomed in picture to show you why - reflected in its eyes you can not only see me, you can see BLUE SKY!

 Artsy, spooky spider photo.

 Here's how it goes when you try to take pictures of spiders. Sometimes the picture comes out well...

 Sometimes the spider poses nicely, but then the wind shakes the leaf the spider is on, and the focus ends up wrong.

 Okay, very funny. Sometimes the spider moves and suddenly the angle is kind of awkward.