The Bugs in the Backyard: A Wandering Mind

I'm trying to think of something to say about my backyard today, and I am totally drawing a blank. I did my bug walk, I found bugs... and... I have so much else on my mind that I think I walked around in a state of preoccupation and didn't really connect with my environment. I did my bug walk, but I don't really remember it. That's not a good way to interact with nature, I suppose, but since I am usually much more mindful about it I am just going to let it go. I think I usually have a much better relationship with nature than that.
And I would like to say that the last week has been a real species bonanza in the backyard. Every day I find things that, though mostly not new to me and my backyard, or even rare, are things I didn't see the day before. It has been a huge showcase for insect variety. And it continued today.

Technically I was not on my bug walk when I found today's Backyard Bug of the Day. A monarch butterfly eclosed today, and I took her outside to release her. She was ready to fly away within about a minute, and zoomed off around to the other side of the house. I followed (I know, I said that I don't chase butterflies, but I didn't think she was going far), thinking she was going to be in the flower bed on the other side, but she wasn't. There was another butterfly there, though...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

Gray hairstreak. You may have noticed I have been seeing a lot of hairstreak butterflies lately, and there's been quite a few species, it's not just one kind every day. This was a rare opportunity for me to see the dorsal side of the wings–usually they keep them straight up unless they are flying.

I realize that most of the hairstreaks look very similar, and the way you tell them apart is by the wing markings, the colors of the lines, the patterns, the orange dots, etc.

They have a habit of rubbing their wings together in a forward and back motion, and that is usually the only way I get even a glimpse of the more colorful side of the wings.

Feeding on autumn joy sedum; note the proboscis.

It's not alone...

Mostly the insects seem to get along pretty well when sharing flowers.

Today's Monarch:

Female. She flew away pretty quickly after I brought her outside.

Meanwhile, back in the dining room, there are two chrysalides that will eclose tomorrow, the last two that I have:

I am concerned about both of them, because they both became chrysalides in bad locations where they were resting against other objects, not just hanging free. From what I have read that leads to deformities, and it is likely that they will not be able to fly (although deformed wings don't always prevent them from flying.

There was quite the display of ladybeetle life on the milkweed today:

A ladybeetle larva preparing to pupate

A ladybeetle that has become prey to an assassin bug

For these next 3 pictures I wasn't sure which ones to choose to show everything that is going on...

The female (the larger one, on the bottom) is eating an aphid...

Note the other aphid walking along the edge of the leaf. It wisely chose to duck under the leaf instead of walking past the predators.

I just think this is the better picture. But it doesn't show the aphid eating. Today I saw ladybeetles as predators and prey. Anyway, there will be more ladybeetles coming along some day...

But there will also be more assassin bugs.

The goldenrod continues to attract a lot of bees and wasps:

There are 5 different species here...

This sweat bee was on another plant.

With a caterpillar. I don't often see those on goldenrod, except for loopers and brown hooded owlet moth caterpillars, and this is not one of those.

It is VERY popular with ailanthus webworm moths.

I found another web of ailanthus webworm caterpillars.

This species of caterpillar builds itself a lair out of silk and leaves:

It looks like it has a parasite on its side. Just after I took this picture it scooted backward into its lair, out of sight.

Cricket

A new anthill

I am not sure it that caterpillar is alive or not...

Sawfly larva. I don't often see them walking around, alone. Usually they are feeding in groups on leaves when I spy them.

This is one of the most camera-shy bugs in the backyard:

Sharpshooter, a kind of large leaf hopper. I have never seen them clustered together like this before.

Winter firefly

Plant hopper

Caterpillar–a better picture of one I saw yesterday, still in the same place.

There was a nice variety of things attracted to the porch light this evening:

Caddisfly (new species for the week)

Two-spotted tree cricket, another new species for the week. Actually, all of these porch-light pictures are new species for the week.

Tiny beetle

Some kind of geometer moth. On the ground it would be a very convincing dead leaf camouflage, but on the side of the house it is rather obviously a moth.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Remember this shot from above, with all the wasps on the goldenrod? Well, there was something else lurking, and you can see it in the picture above, albeit out of focus, and I didn't want to draw attention to it because of the arachnophobes. Can you see it?