So Many Bugs In the World...

Maybe I'm cynical, but I am always surprised when it rains on days when rain has been forecast. I haven't actually gathered any data on this, but I would guess that for every day of rain, we get five days of rain forecasts. I was glad that it was raining today, because we haven't had any lately. However, it didn't rain much, which was good for going for a bug walk, but not good for making up for the general lack of adequate rain for the last year. At least I think some of the pollen that has been coating everything was washed away today. The air felt really clean, freshly washed.

The bugs in the backyard did not like today's weather though, so there were not many to be found, but I have once again found one I have never seen before. It still impresses me that after more than 4 years of observing the bugs in my backyard I am still finding new things. I would guess that there are still huge numbers of bugs that are actually out there right now that I have never seen, because bugs are such multitudinous creatures, but you might think that by now I had seen everything there is to see. I wish I was the kind of non-lazy person who had actually identified and cataloged all of these bugs from the beginning, so I would know how many different species I have seen, but that ship sailed a LONG time ago. So I will never know. I know it's hundreds. Could it be a thousand? I don't know, maybe not. And even that would be nothing out of the 30 millions or so of insects on the planet, but after all, I am doing all of my bug hunting on just over an acre in a part of the world that has winter. And when I started this I never imagined that so many incredible things were out there, so close to me. Wild.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I found this caterpillar dangling from a thread in front of my face. I transferred it to this leaf so I could see if it was a gypsy moth, which it is not. I don't know what it is, though. It kind of reminds me of something, 1970s fashion, maybe.

 Tiny rove beetle, about to fly away. Obviously I only got one shot of this.

Some kind of nymph

Sow bug. I always see these when it's damp outside.

 Bee or wasp of some kind

 

 Something mysterious... I found two leaves that were stuck together, and could see that there was something inside, but can't see what - although it definitely is caterpillarish in shape.

 

 Exoskeleton of a hopper

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Here's why people should like spiders. They eat mosquitoes. At least, I think that's a mosquito. It might be something else, like a gnat. It was very small, as was the spider, which is a crab spider of some kind.

 

 I posted a picture of this spider yesterday, taken from the other side of the web, so showing the underside of the spider.