This Post Is Brought To You By The Letter J

The focus of my bug hunting is my backyard; I don't bring my macro lens with me when I go places. I do, however, notice bugs a lot more in other places than I used to. It has just become a habit. So today when we were sitting at a traffic light and I noticed that there was milkweed growing along the side of the road, I checked (from my place in the car, I did not get out) to see if there were any monarch caterpillars on the leaves, and I was very excited to see that there was! There was a large monarch caterpillar on the bottom of one of the leaves. I would say that today is probably its last day before beginning its pupation. This is the first time in my entire life that I have seen a monarch caterpillar somewhere other than my own backyard. It was a thrilling little moment.

And speaking of monarch caterpillars, I was right about the two that I thought would start getting ready to pupate today. Last night before I went to bed, one of them was on the ceiling of the enclosure, and when I came home this evening it had gone into its J pose:

And this one was also settled in at the top of the enclosure:

 A few hours ago this one went into the J pose, too. Note the green tinge at the left (head) end.

So, tomorrow I will have two more chrysalides, and...

 ...I am pretty sure this one is going to begin tomorrow, and possibly one other one.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Beetle. Don't know what kind.

Because of timing and rain, I didn't get to do a very comprehensive bug walk today, so I don't have a lot of other bugs to show you:

 Moth

 Squash bug

 I am pretty sure this is a tumbling flower beetle.

 White hickory tussock moth

Cabbage white butterfly

Bumblebee and jagged ambush bug. The bee got safely away, but if you look at Arachnid Appreciation...

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 The jagged ambush bug was not the only predator it eluded! Granted, I think the bee was a bit much for that flower crab spider to take down. I did see one try to capture a butterfly, once. The butterfly didn't notice.

 Six-spotted orb weaver with a web between the petals of a purple coneflower.