Three's the Charm

Though this blog is called The Bugs in the Backyard I have always regarded it as about more than bugs, featuring, when I have the chance, anything from flowers to reptiles that I find in my backyard. That it is about 99% bugs is mostly a reflection of the fact that bugs outnumber other living things in my backyard by a LOT, and are actually easier to photograph in a lot of cases, particularly when I usually have the macro lens on the camera. Therefore, when I do find something else to feature, an animal of some kind, it's usually by default that I name that animal as the Animal of the Day (depending on what category it belongs to, birds, reptiles, amphibians, whatever). There has never been a great struggle to choose which snake to feature as Backyard Reptile of the Day (and I am not complaining about that). If a toad gets chosen as Backyard Amphibian of the Day it's because it is the only toad I saw that day. But as I was walking around my backyard this beautiful afternoon, I was thinking about how I hardly ever see any frogs or toads in my backyard anymore. I have only seen one or two this whole year, and it has been a pretty wet year too, so it's not because of the drought or anything (though I do hear tree frogs). Even while mowing the lawn, I have not been seeing them, and that is when I mostly see frogs/toads, when I almost run them over with the lawn mower (I only actually ran one over once, but it was okay and hopped away). Then later in the afternoon I was mowing the lawn, and almost ran over a toad. Or maybe it was a frog, I am still not clear on the distinction. I left the mower and went to get my camera, as always while mowing the lawn, waiting for me on the back porch, and as I was on my way back to take a picture of the toad/frog, I almost stepped on another toad/frog, of a different species. Then when I stopped to take a picture of that toad/frog, I saw another! Except for once during a hurricane when we had several tree frogs on the window screens and back porch, I have never seen three frogs/toads in one day. Well, I got a decent picture of one of those, a bad picture of the other, and the original one, back with the lawn mower, was gone by the time I got there with the camera. So, it's really not a problem choosing which one will be Backyard Amphibian of the Day, because I only got a decent picture of one, but it is a bit of a thrill to have even had the chance of having to choose.

Backyard Amphibian of the Day:

 Here's the other one I got a picture of. I think the first one, the one I almost ran over with the mower, was the same species.

And speaking of things coming in threes, today was a 3 Butterfly Day!

I found the first one had eclosed at around 9:30 a.m.

 The second one I found less than an hour and a half later.

 

 The third one was still hanging in there. I expected a wait for this one, because it had started to turn clear much later yesterday than the others, so late I wasn't completely sure it would eclose today.

I took the first two outside to be released one at a time.

 The first was female. This is the only picture I got before she flew, and it was the most impressive first flight I have ever seen, a ways across the yard and high up into a tree. She was ready to go, and quite feisty in the enclosure.

 The second one was more mellow.

 It was a male, as you can see from the black dots on the hind wings.

 You can just barely see the dots from this side. He hung out on this leaf for a little while, but disappeared while I was doing my bug walk. I scanned the trees to see if I could spot him, but no luck, until...

 Hours later I saw him (I assume it was him) on this tree.

The third one eclosed while I was outside releasing the second one.

 #3 is female. She spent much of the afternoon on this leaf, where I left her. But later when I was mowing the lawn I noticed she was gone–and then almost ran her over with the lawn mower because she had moved to a plant that was low to the ground and hanging over the edge of the flowerbed. I moved her back to the tree, and that is where she was when I went inside later. I suspect if I went outside now she would still be there, and even if I went out at dawn again I would probably find her.

There won't be any eclosures tomorrow, and I am thinking not the next day either, but maybe the day after that.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Bald-faced hornet. I found it chewing on my stile.

 The book Insects of New England and New York says they are actually a species of yellow-jacket (though not yellow), and are not really hornets, but wasps (I don't know the difference). It also says they are non-aggressive, which certainly described this one, although it is a pretty intimidating looking insect.

Other Bugs:

 I found another white marked tussock moth caterpillar, a smaller one. This thing definitely looks like it was put together out of spare caterpillar parts.

 Empty egg mass, of what I don't know.

 This plant is an invasive one that we have been trying to get rid of for years with no success, but today I noticed that wasps, bees, and flies seem to like it very much. I couldn't get many to behave for pictures, but here are a few:

 Praying mantis. It's in the same general area as the one I saw the other day, but I don't know if it's the same one. I couldn't see its wings to tell if there was anything wrong with them.

 Aw, praying mantis just wants a hug!

 Stinkbug

 You know, little bug, there are a million things in the backyard that you would blend into perfectly. This is not one of them.

 Two-striped planthopper

 The moth eggs have changed color, from a pearly white to a pale beige.

 Winter firefly. Not my favorite thing to see right now, because it reminds me that there is such a thing as winter.

 This caterpillar never seems to do anything. Other than having molted once, I have not seen it do anything other than just sit on the same leaf for the last week. It might be a little bit bigger, though.

 I almost ran this moth over with my lawnmower. In fact, I did run over two others (They were fine–one of the benefits of using a reel mower). I was on quite a streak of almost running things over today. Obviously these moths like to hide in the grass.

 Here's what it looks like unobscured by grass, after I moved it out of the way of the mower.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Another species for the week. I think I have only ever seen this species on thin tree branches, like twigs, and they tend to stretch their legs along the branch to blend in, which they do really well. It was interesting to spot this on the trunk of a tree, and see the way it places its legs in that situation.