The Bugs in the Backyard: Butterfly, Flutter By

Today when I went out to get the mail I walked almost all the way back to the house without seeing any bugs at all, and I went out (and back in) via the back door, so that was a pretty good distance of buglessness. It seemed noteworthy to me at the time, anyway. It wasn't quite that bad when I did my bug walk, but it wasn't exactly a buggy day. I am kind of surprised by the lack of buginess, though I shouldn't be because if there is anything I have learned from over 5 years of studying the bugs in my backyard it is that I don't know anything about bugs. I have absolutely no idea why there are some days/weeks/years/whatever time periods that have a lot of bugs and others when bugs are scarce. Yes, it makes complete sense to find more bugs on a day in July than a day in January, but any time I have thought I could determine what I would find at any given time I have been wrong. Last weekend was cold, so I wasn't surprised not to find many bugs, but it's been hot the last couple of days, and last night it didn't even get cold overnight (determined by the fact that my heating system did not turn off its summer mode). Seems like nice bug weather, but not so much. Is it because we never seem to have any real rain? Do I just not remember how many bugs are around in early October? Do I only think I remember that usually there are a lot of dragonflies around at this time of year? I don't know. Which is exactly the point. I take pictures, and I write this blog, but I am not keeping real records. I don't have log books of everything I saw every day. I don't have charts and graphs. I am not a scientist. I just want to go outside every day and see interesting stuff.

I did see something interesting today, though I did not see it well. Since Monday when I saw the last monarch and a painted lady butterfly I have not seen any butterflies in my backyard. That's kind of unusual, because even though I don't take pictures of them and post them on my blog, I see cabbage white butterflies probably on a daily basis from springtime onward until fall really sets in. I don't take their pictures because a) it's not easy to get pictures of butterflies b) they are too common to be interesting–it would be so boring to post a picture of one every day c) they are actually pretty boring looking butterflies anyway, and d) they keep destroying our Brussels sprouts (and now our broccoli, which we planted for the first time this year). Of course, they had help:

These are cross-striped cabbage worms. They grow up to be perfectly uninspiring brown moths. So not worth the sacrifice of my Brussels sprouts. I know it is shallow, but I would be so conflicted if any of the things eating my Brussels sprouts grew into something beautiful. I mean, if blue morphos lived around here, I would probably plant Brussels sprouts just for them. But for these caterpillars, or cabbage whites? I want them off my vegetables.

But I digress. When I went outside to do my bug walk today I saw a butterfly flitting around the rock garden in front of the house, and from a distance it looked like a cabbage white. Normally I wouldn't bother to make an effort to get a picture of a cabbage white, but I had just started my bug walk, so my aggravation and frustration levels were low, and I was feeling a bit wistful about having not seen any butterflies at all for a few days, so I decided to try to get a picture of it.

Getting a picture of it was not easy. It kept landing, but not close enough for me to get a shot, and then it would fly when I tried to get closer, and there was a lot of just fluttering around–can you even find the butterfly in this picture?

Here:

As I watched it, I began to realize that it was not a cabbage white, which meant it was more worth getting a picture of, and so I worked really hard at doing that...

... and this was the best I got. And the best look I got at it...

So let's add a bit of magnification. I think it is a clouded sulphur butterfly. Notable for the fact that I think I have only seen one other one ever in my backyard, and that was one of the first of my Backyard Bugs of the Day back in 2012. I'd make this a Backyard Co-Bug of the Day today if I had gotten a decent picture of it. It flew away, too fast for me to follow, so I thought that was that, but then when I walked down to the street to look for bugs down there it suddenly flew up in front of me, which means it was resting on the ground and I didn't see it and I blew my last chance to get a picture of it, because then it flew away down the street.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

I just looked this up, and it might be a Golden Dung Fly. You can imagine how it got its name. I am not sure if that's really what it is, because the book says their "nursery" is fresh cow dung, and there are no cows around my neighborhood, not anymore (there were a few years ago, but any remaining dung from those could not be considered fresh). But maybe they like other kinds of dung, and are fine with whatever kinds of animal droppings are in my backyard (and I cannot believe this is what I am writing about). Anyway, I didn't know it had such gross habits when I took the picture, and it is a pretty cool looking fly, and quite large for a fly, and right now all I can think of is that I am glad it didn't land on me.

Katydid

Earwig. Whenever I post a picture of one on Facebook there is something of an outcry–these are probably the last popular of all the bugs I post. I can see why, but they are pretty handsome insects.

Red-legged grasshopper. I wonder how self-aware insects are; does this grasshopper know how much it resembles a seed pod of an evening primrose?

Bumblebee and spotted cucumber beetle...

... and there's a third insect in this shot–can you spot it? It's very out of focus.

Katydid

This is a species of assassin bug, but when you see it from the front, it looks like it's doing yoga, which makes it seem so peaceful. And I suppose it is, if you're not another insect.