A Buggy Day

I am out of the daily blogging habit, and keep forgetting that I need to blog on these days when I am going out and finding bugs.

Today it was 69.somethingºF outside. In February. It was beautiful, but so wrong...

But I saw a bee today. In February. I didn't get a picture, because that was the moment I discovered that my camera battery was dead, but you can just trust me, I saw a bee.

So, what else did I see on this spring day in February? More variety than any other recent day - Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera... some other opteras that I don't know... Most of the bugs were not feeling cooperative, and it was really windy (a hot wind, not a cool breeze), so I don't have great pictures, and didn't get pictures of everything I saw, but it was a buggy day in the backyard!

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Tiny beetle basking in the sun. I don't even think I can call today's sunshine apricity, because it sure didn't feel like winter sunshine. Anyway, this beetle obviously was drawn out of its winter hideaway by it.

Another Coleopteran:

 

 I think this is called a twice-stabbed lady beetle. There is another red spot on the other side, so I am sure you can figure out the name.

I saw one other beetle - a winter firefly, but I didn't get a picture of it, and anyway, you're probably sick of seeing those.

On to Hemiptera:

I never have figured out what this bug is called, but here it is, on the male flower buds of the hazelnut bush.

Other Hemiptera, aka True Bugs:

 Candy striped leaf hoppers. I have been disappointed the last few days not to find these on the mountain laurel, because I have seen them other not-freezing days this winter. Well, today I went off the paths in the yard and happened to be looking at this tree that still has last years leaves, albeit brown and dried out, and it was covered in candy striped leaf hoppers. Funny thing is, there are a couple other trees of the same species in other parts of the backyard, and I didn't see any CSLHs on those.

 We went out this evening, and got home around 11:00, at which time it was still in the high 50s, and there were quite a few bugs on the front porch waiting for me by the light. Most of them were winter crane flies, but there were a couple of moths. This is the only one that let me take its picture.

And, Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Not a spider, but a harvestman. I am curious about these short-legged harvestmen. I guess they can't really be called daddy-long-legs. I don't know if they are just young ones whose legs haven't grown yet, or if they are another species. That seems most likely, since their bodies are about the same size as the ones with the long legs.