Deja Vu

Every day is the same, lately - about the same temperature, sunny, breezy - it's like the movie Groundhog Day, but without the blizzard. Well, without a lot of other things, too. But from the standpoint of the weather, you would never know that this week we went from summer to fall. Today was the day after the solstice, and it was almost identical to the day before the solstice. Not that the weather changes suddenly when we change seasons, I know that. But there is this sameness that is starting to feel weird. There is a saying about Connecticut: If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes. The weather here is usually changeable. It can go from hot to cold and back again so fast you get whiplash. Today's weather usually has no correlation to yesterday's weather or tomorrow's. But these days, it's like the weather was copied and pasted into every day of the calendar. Yes, it's cooler than it was a couple of weeks ago. But for a while now we have had basically the same day over and over again. The good thing is, it's nice weather we're having. The bad thing is... well, it's not a bad thing, it's a weird thing, and the weird thing is... it's not very Connecticut.

Plus, we really could use some rain.

Oh, and statistically, in Connecticut, October is the sunniest month of the year. This year I would say the only reason October could beat September for sunny days is because it is one day longer (Yes, I remember that we had a rainy day a few weeks ago. But still).

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I'm actually not sure what we have here. At first I thought it was a looper caterpillar with bits of goldenrod plant stuck to it for camouflage, but looking closer I think it might be the larva of some sort of beetle with bits of goldenrod plant stuck to it for camouflage.

 I didn't get good enough pictures to tell. Either way, it's Backyard Bug of the Day because it has bits of goldenrod plant stuck to it for camouflage, and if it hadn't moved at just the right second, I never would have even known it was not part of the goldenrod plant.

Random Bugs:

 Can you see why I think this should be called Argyle Caterpillar?

 It ate about half its leaf today.

The shiny, white stuff on the leaf is a silk mat that it makes for itself on the leaves, just like the eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar.

 It had a neighbor today, a hoverfly.

 This is a different hoverfly, doing what hoverflies do.

I thought this fly had an interesting way of standing. I have never seen one stand upright like that before.

 It had a bit of a wing problem.

 Small milkweed bug. I think it is the seeds of the milkweed that they feed on. This one must be happy with such a smorgasbord.

 Today I saw a whole bunch of these bugs, which was noteworthy because I have not seen any in months.

 Suddenly they are everywhere.

Weevils look so prehistoric.

 I think this is the first time I have ever seen a grasshopper eat. Every other time I have looked at a grasshopper up close, they have just been completely still (or hopped away). This one wasn't bothered at all by the fact that I was in its face with the camera, it just kept chowing down on goldenrod flowers.

 Assassin bug

I was photobombed by bugs a couple of times today:

 This one I knew about; Just as I was pushing the shutter button to take a picture of this flower, a tiny wasp flew by. Just barely made it into the picture.

This one I didn't see until I looked at the picture on the computer. There had been a bug on the branch that crawled around to the back before I could get even a good look at it, much less a picture, but since my intention was to take a picture of the galls, I didn't care. But it seems the bug got into the picture after all. Do you see it?

 Here it is zoomed in.

It's a little easier to see here, with its antenna sticking out.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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