Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Backyard!

Today's Christmas miracle was sunshine! It was a nice surprise, because the forecast was for rather a lot of rain. Huzzah! The weather forecast was wrong! Of course, it's not all good - the forecast also said it would be close to 60ºF, but it only reached about 50ºF. Still that's pretty warm, and after yesterday's heavy rain, sunshine was such a blessing. I was surprised (and disappointed) that I didn't find more bugs today, but what I did find was pretty awesome, so...

Christmas Bug of the Day:

 I actually know what this is - a winter firefly. Which is not to say that this is a firefly that lights up the nights in winter. Actually, they lose their bioluminescence after their early adulthood (Which could have something to do with the fact that they are diurnal - active in the daytime). They are called winter fireflies because they overwinter as adults, and though they spend most of the winter hiding out under or in the bark of trees, they sometimes come out on nice days. This is the first time I have seen one in the winter, though, because I never looked for bugs in the winter before. But I have seen them in the early spring when it's still pretty chilly.

 I know I have shown you a lot of springtails lately, but this one has a notable feature - a SHADOW! Because it was sunny this morning!

A couple of random bugs:

 This is not just a picture of an ant...

 I have no idea what this is... Spores, or fungus, maybe?

 This bug was not in my backyard, but one I saw when we went for our annual Christmas letterboxing hike at my sister's house (What is letterboxing? Click HERE to find out), and it was so awesome I had to include it as an extra Christmas gift. It's a pretty big bug, some kind of beetle.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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You haven't seen Rain Gauge Spider for a while, but I thought I would show you today the way she has been hiding out lately under this canopy.