Stretching

I cannot deny that I am in need of some exercise, so I should be grateful for the intense photoga workout I got during my bug walk today, but I still found it aggravating that almost all of the insects I found today were on or near the ground. I had to do a lot of bending and balancing in awkward poses. I can't wait for the plant world to fill out so that there will be more bugs at or near eye level. That won't be for a while, though, so for now I will just appreciate that today was lovely and warm (in the 60s!), and felt like spring, even if it still mostly looks like winter.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 Grasshopper nymph. I only saw it because it hopped in front of me, and then I couldn't find it again until it hopped again.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 First bee of spring! There was another one, too, on the same tree, but it flew away before I could get a picture.

The bees were on the candy striped leaf hoppers' favorite tree:

There weren't a lot of them out today, but there are 4 here.

 I don't know what this is. It is on an oak branch, and the oak tree only just lost its leaves from last year (they turn brown in the fall, but many of them stay on the tree until spring), so I didn't see it before now. It looks like a caterpillar's cocoon, but it has that hole in it, and appears to be full of debris, and have eggs laid on it. It could actually BE a cocoon, and the moth has emerged and laid her eggs on it. That happens.

Closer look at the eggs and the jumble of things inside.

 Twice stabbed lady beetle

 Not sure if this is a wasp or a winged ant.

 Winter fireflies

 Sawfly, I think.

 I am not happy to see what I think is a sawfly on this tree. Last summer sawfly larvae almost completely defoliated this tree.

 Beetle

 Rove beetle, I think.

 We went out this evening, and when we got home and the car was turning into the driveway I caught a glimpse of something in the headlights that I thought might be a woolly bear caterpillar...

 ... and so when I got out of the car I walked down the driveway to see, and sure enough, it was a woolly bear, crawling around on a rock. I asked my husband to go inside and get my camera, while I kept an eye on it...

 ... and when he came back with the camera he spotted this scurrying around on the rock. I think it is a bristletail.

I saw a lot of spiders today for Arachnid Appreciation:
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Mostly jumping spiders:

 

 This one has caught something.

 

 

 

 An itsy-bitsy jumping spider

This is the only species of jumping spider that I know the name of… bold jumping spider. I think.

 You'll have to look closely to find this one.