A Different Kind of Hopper

 The most interesting thing in the backyard today wasn't the bugs, but the bunnies. They have been a pretty rare sight so far this year, although on a couple of occasions when I have managed to see them there were a lot more than I'd usually see. In the past I have usually seen them alone, but sometimes would see two, and very rarely three. A couple of weeks ago I caught a quick glimpse of four or five (they disappeared fast, so I am not sure). But in general this spring I haven't been seeing them much at all. Well, today they were all over the backyard. I only know for sure that there were four of them, because I saw two in one part of the yard, and then walked over to another part of the yard and saw two there, but I spotted rabbits at least six times over the course of the day (some of them I saw through the windows). Also unusual this year is how skittish the rabbits are - they are more than usually reluctant to let me get close enough to get a picture.

 Two here...

... and two here.

 I don't have a good picture for you of today's Backyard Bug of the Day, in fact it's quite a bad picture, but considering the kind of bug it is, this is definitely the best I am going to get.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Firefly. It was on the ground, blinking in the grass, so I think that means it is female. From what I understand, the males fly around blinking their message, and the females sit on the ground blinking a response, and that is how they find each other. Obviously, this is not an easy thing to take a picture of.

However, I did not take my bug walk after dark, so the rest of the pictures were a little bit easier. Random Bugs:

 Buffalo tree hopper nymph. You can see hints of what the adult will look like, but its shape is going to change, and it is not going to have those spines as an adult. The nymph stage of this bug looks more like a fish with legs than an insect.

More ichneuom wasps:

 This one looks a bit like its abdomen is shriveled - I wonder if it already laid its eggs?

 This one's abdomen was pulsing.

 This find was curious for me, not because the bug is unusual; I have found them many times before, and saw several today. It was the plant I found it on that was interesting to me. I forget what this plant is called, but in the late summer and early fall it has clusters of tiny, beautiful, pink flowers. I have always found it curious that those flowers don't seem to attract bugs. I never see bees on them. I hardly ever see anything on them except katydids. So what do we have here? The dried up flowers from last year, with a katydid nymph on it. I don't know what it is that makes only katydids interested in these flowers, but I wonder if it is just coincidence that this one was on it, or if it is still attracted to it in a dried up form.

 Craneflies

 Another nymph.

 Moth

 Really tiny nymph of some kind?

 Plume moth

 I think this is a small milkweed beetle, although it's not all that small. There are LOTS of beetles that are smaller. But it is smaller than the large milkweed beetle, which is perhaps the point.

Remember yesterday I was wondering how so many people were getting rashes lately from having gypsy moth caterpillars crawling on them, and couldn't understand why there were so many people who had the caterpillars crawling on them in the first place?

Here is a gypsy moth caterpillar crawling up my leg. Obviously my insect repellent pants did not repel it, but that is probably because it didn't try to eat them, or sting me through them.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This mite was a photobomber - I was trying to take a picture of the tumbling flower beetle. Sigh. Some day I am actually going to get a good picture of a tumbling flower beetle...