Bug Seasons

I think that back before I actually paid attention to what was going on in the bug world, I would have said that, aside from the woolly bear caterpillars you see in the fall, caterpillars are a springtime thing. I guess my assumption was that they are like birds and mammals that have young in the spring, that then spend the summer growing up. Of course, that's not necessarily true of all birds and mammals. Some birds have more than one brood, so the second one is more toward summer, and I think that squirrels actually have their young in the winter. And maybe bears do, too? I don't remember, I read a lot of stuff, but I don't always remember the details. Anyway, it turns out that caterpillars are a spring, summer, and fall thing. Some species of lepidoptera, like monarchs, go through a couple of generations through the seasons. Some caterpillars will overwinter as caterpillars, or as pupae, which means that they can be around as caterpillars into the fall. All of this explains why I shouldn't be surprised that I am seeing so many caterpillars in the backyard lately. Still, it does seem like a LOT. And today, I saw this:

 I watched a butterfly lay this egg. Most definitely not a spring thing. I didn't get a good look at the butterfly, she was too fast, but I could see that she was kind of beat up, as butterflies sometimes are after they've been flying for a while. I thought it was a red-spotted purple based on shape and coloring, but looking it up realized that that was probably not what it was–they would not be laying eggs in early September. So a little more looking and I realized it was probably a spicebush swallowtail, and the reason it didn't look like a swallowtail is probably because it was kind of beat up–it must have lost its tails, which is not unusual. Also, the egg is on a sassafrass leaf, which is a host plant for spicebush swallowtails. I am not sure, but this could be one that overwinters as a pupa. I'll try to keep an eye on the egg to see it when it hatches.

With apologies to my mother, who doesn't like caterpillars, once again we have a caterpillar for Backyard Bug of the Day:

 It is clearly a sphinx moth caterpillar of some kind. I tried to look it up, and it looks very much like the twin-spotted sphinx, but the book describes certain details (the color of the horn) that are not right. So... I don't know what it is.

Other Bugs:

 Another caterpillar. I am too tired to look this one up.

 

 Net-winged beetle in the grass

 Bumblebee on autumn joy sedum. There were a couple of bees on these flowers, which was nice to see because for some reason I have never understood, there are hardly ever any bugs on these plants.

 The praying mantis is still hanging around in the same area...

 

 It gets a bit aggressive when I get close.

I had wondered if that mantis above was the same one I saw last week (or was it the week before?) with the mangled wing. Well...

 ... today I think I found that mantis, in the same general area. Clearly dead and being eaten by a wasp.

 Very pale primrose moth

 I have never seen so many damselflies as I have this year!

 It was eating something.

 Assassin bug nymph

 Winter firefly

Long-legged fly

 Also eating something. I don't think that I knew before now that these were insectivorious. It's always nice to learn new things.

 Here's another insect eye test for you. Can you see the insect?

 How about now?

 Katydid

 A lot of larvae are gross, but some of them take it to extremes.

 I am rushing before deadline, so I am not going to look this up yet again (I keep forgetting what it's called) but I think Scolops is in its name... [Edit: Okay, fine, I looked it up. It is a partridge bug, Scolops sulcipes. It's kind of funny that I can remember Scolops, but not partridge...]

 Leaf hopper.

 Cricket

 Plume moth

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Finally I spotted some flower crab spiders today! This one I found because I saw its prey awkwardly dangling from the flowers.

 Sorry about the horrible picture–it's one of those times when you take a picture and think it was good, and then find out it wasn't. But at least you get to see the spider.

 I haven't seen the arrow-shaped micrathena in a couple of days, so today I was happy to find it in a new spot, kind of near where it was before, but not exactly.