Cooler

Day 2 of autumn and in the morning I wondered if it was going to be too cold to find bugs. That was silliness, of course, because the temperature was in the 50s, and I can generally find something if it's at least in the 40s. And as soon as I walked out the door I knew that there would be bugs to find because I could hear multiple species of crickets blithely singing. As it turned out, the biggest surprise was that the insects–well, the bees, to be specific–were so active, they were flying as energetically as ever, not the least big sluggish from the cold. But then, it had warmed up to about 60ºF by the time I went out looking for bugs. Personally, the dreary weather made me feel sluggish, but the bees did not feel the same.

However, I have to wonder if the weather had anything to do with why I found such a quiescent Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Common thread-waisted wasp.

 This picture shows better why it is called thread-waisted.  I have seen these around a lot lately, mostly feeding on goldenrod, but also bobbing around near the ground (they build burrows for their larvae in the ground), and they never sit still for pictures. I found this one just as you see it, and as you can also see, it let me get REALLY close for pictures, and never moved.

Other Bugs:

 Ladybeetle larva

 Fly

 I found these two huge ants tending to some aphids.

 The aphids are at various stages of development.

Then I found these ants on goldenrod:

 At first it was hard to tell what they were all doing, but then I saw the wing...

 From the other side of the flower you can see that they are feeding on a hover fly. I don't know if they are predators or scavengers. There was a spider about an inch away from all of this on the same goldenrod stalk, and I wonder if the spider preyed on the hover fly and then when it was finished the ants came to scavenge the carcass.

 

 Cricket

 Greater anglewing katydid eggs

 Hopper and stilt bug

 This woolly bear caterpillar has been sitting in the same spot for days, and now looks like a slug crawled over it.

There were lots of bumblebees on the goldenrod today; I don't think I saw any other species of bees or wasps there, even though there is usually a variety of species there:

 But there is something else lurking...

 The bee landed right above the assassin bug, but didn't get caught.

 

 Jagged ambush bug lurking among the goldenrod flowers.

 Ailanthus webworm moth

 Fall webworm caterpillar

 I think this caterpillar just molted. I think what you see below it on the leaf is the skin it just shed.

I found several moths just hanging around. Most of the pictures didn't come out, but they did all at least sit still for me to take them:

 

Arachnid Appreciation:
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There was an arrow shaped micrathena spider on a tree for a few days that disappeared... but now it's back:

 

 

 Something lurking...