Chrysalides and Mysteries

The backyard was very buggy this afternoon–I even had a fly follow me through about half of my bug walk–but the bugs were in general too fast and busy to pose for my camera, so I didn't get pictures of many of them.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Stink bug nymph. Note the undeveloped wings.

Some interesting Backyard Bug Behavior:

 A predatory wasp with a leaf hopper as prey. I don't know what species of wasp this is, but I would guess as is the case with many predatory wasps, it will bring the hopper (possibly still alive, but paralyzed) to a burrow to feed its offspring.

 And off it goes!

 Long-legged fly. It's hard to tell in this picture, because the fly is small, but this fly has something in its mouth.

 Chrysalis?

 Definitely a chrysalis. As is sometimes the case with chrysalides, you can see the shape of the various body structures inside; antennae, wings, and body.

And speaking of chrysalides...

 I can't tell if this is a species of wingless female moth, or if this is a female gypsy moth that has just eclosed and its wings have not expanded yet. I did go back and check on it later, and there was no change. I didn't see any sign of the chrysalis casing it may have just come from. There are some species of moth, like the white marked tussock moth (which I think the gypsy moth is related to) in which the females are wingless. Female gypsy moths have wings, but they don't fly.

And confounding the whole question...

 This egg mass was on the same tree, a couple of inches away. But it does not look like a gypsy moth egg mass.

 Caddisfy

 Yet another assassin bug nymph

Family of aphids

Arachnid Appreciation:
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