Lounging on the Lawn Furniture

It's been a few days since I thought it was warm enough for their to be bugs out - meaning, a few days since the temperature has been above 35ºF. I know I have found bugs at 33ºF, but that was over a month ago. Now they don't seem to come out unless it's in the forties, so if they're not coming out, I don't bother, either. But it was solidly in the middle of the forties today, and the sun was shining for a while, at least, so outside I went with my camera... and found something new.

Backyard Bug of the Day

 Needless to say, I don't know what it is. It is pretty small, but not as small as a springtail. It looks like it might be an immature/nymph/larval something, because it has what look to be undeveloped wings.

 Here's some simple animation for you - toggle back and forth between this picture and the previous one to see how it was waggling its abdomen up and down.

 Because it was so small, and at first was between the slats of a lawn chair, it was hard to get a good picture...

I was surprised that it was so hard to find bugs once I went outside, because I saw a lot flying around outside the windows before I went out. Then... nothing, until I checked out the lawn chairs. Then I also checked out the table umbrella on the picnic table (we really should bring that inside...). There were a lot of bugs there, mostly like this one:

If I didn't have furniture outside, I wonder if I would have been able to find bugs at all today.

Another thing I found, which I did not take a picture of, was... evidence, shall we say, that perhaps there was a coyote in the backyard earlier. The evidence looked fresh. Not that I looked very closely at it. And I am no expert on what various animals' scat looks like, but I did see coyote scat on a wildlife documentary once, so that is what I am guessing it was. I have never seen a coyote in my backyard, but I have heard and seen them in the area.

I also discovered the other day that the woolly bear caterpillar is still in the package bin, it is just hiding under the leaves that are in there. And so far it has managed to dodge all of the packages that have been delivered there.

Random Plant Pictures:

This moss is growing in the crack of a big boulder. Some day it is going to be two smaller boulders, and this moss will have played a part in that.

Now if you will indulge me in a little self-promotion before I show you today's beautiful spiders, I have made several bug calendars that are for sale online, if you like looking at bugs, and want to see big, colorful pictures of them every day. Click HERE to see the four calendars, and the other random stuff I have on Zazzle.

Now, Arachnid Appreciation:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

 This little beauty is the only arthropod I found that was not on the lawn furniture.

This one was on the umbrella, and why not? There are lots of bugs to eat there! I think in a more natural setting this spider's body type and way of holding itself probably blends in very well, but not so much on a blue and white umbrella.