The Bugs in the Backyard: Jumping, Striding...

Out of the millions of species of insects in the world, there are many, many, many species that I am never going to see in my backyard. I don't live in a tropical rain forest, so I am not going to see a blue morpho butterfly, alas. I am not going to see a weta, because I don't live in a cave in New Zealand (actually, I don't know if they live in caves. I do know they live in New Zealand). I am not going to find an orchid mantis, because my backyard is not in southeast Asia. Altogether I have probably found over a thousand species of insects, and there are probably thousands of others that could potentially turn up in my backyard, but some are just not ever going to be there. For some of those never-to-be-seen insects, though, it isn't a question of being in the wrong climate, or the wrong hemisphere, but merely a matter of the wrong habitat. Insects have certain preferred ecosystems, so I would not expect to find any beach insects (are there beach insects? I think so?) in my woodsy backyard fifteen miles from the shore. And I would not expect to find a water bug, because my backyard doesn't have water in it, except for the occasional puddle. However one of today's Backyard Co-Bugs of the Day defied expectations and showed up in my backyard today.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Water strider. This is a water bug. It lives on ponds and streams. I say on, and not in, because it skates along on top of the water. It looks like it only has 4 legs, but it's an insect; it has six–the front pair are smaller and tucked up under the front a bit, and are used for grabbing prey, while the other four legs are for striding on the water, defying the surface tension.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing as I saw this scoot along on the surface of a puddle. I thought at first it must be a crane fly, or something else, because why would there be a water strider in my backyard? A puddle is not a permanent structure for living on. But looking more closely, and watching it for a while, I realized it has to be a water strider. I have no idea what it was doing there, but it did stick around the whole time I was outside doing my bug walk. Definitely a most unexpected find.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

This isn't a new find, or something that doesn't belong here, but I made it Co-Bug of the Day because it's pretty cool looking, so I couldn't resist. I don't know what it is, other than it is a Hemiptera, because I couldn't find it in my book.

While I was taking a picture of BC-BotD#2, I caught some movement off to the side, something really tiny. Can you see it?

I don't know what it is, but it's unbelievably small.

Other Bugs:

Hopper of some kind

Candy striped leaf hoppers

Ant

Ant carrying stick

Ant carrying two more ants, which I think were dead

I found this curious scene on a tiny puddle on the front steps:

It's not unusual to see a few snow fleas on this puddle, but I was curious about what was going on in this little scrum of snow fleas...

Looking closer, after a couple of them scooted away, I saw that the two remaining ones were being attacked by mites!

Also, there is a springtail nymph (I can't tell if it's a snow flea nymph or not).

I think Coleoptera (beetles) was the most represented insect Order in the backyard today:

Click beetle

Winter fireflies, which are beetles, not flies. I saw quite a lot of these flying around today.

Not sure, could be a fungus beetle. Photographed on my hand, where it landed

Checkered beetle, I think.

Don't know, but it's a beetle. A really small one.

There comes a day each spring when suddenly there are jumping spiders all over the place. Today was that day. Interestingly, by all over the place I really only mean all of the human structures in the backyard. Of all of the jumping spiders I saw today, only one was on a plant; the rest were on things like the picnic table, the grill, or the side of the house. The first one I saw today was on the outside of a window that I was looking out of (I didn't get a picture of that one–by the time I got my camera it was gone). I decided that I would take a picture of every single one that I saw today (after the one on the window) and post them all. I didn't get pictures of all of them, and I am not posting all of them because some of the pictures were terrible. But looking at what I am posting, and realizing that was not even all of them will give you a sense of how many jumping spiders were out there today. Note that there were several species of jumping spiders, too. And also I would like you to consider that only about half of the spiders I saw today were jumping spiders. Most of the others, though, I didn't even try to photograph, because they were tiny spiders on webs, and with a breeze today there was no way I was going to get pictures of them. Among what follows you will see only two spiders that are not jumping spiders. And now, without further ado, Arachnid Appreciation:
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Ooh, this one caught a fly! It was still alive when I saw it.

I can't tell if that's a mosquito or not. If it is, bravo spider!

This one has a gnat. On top of the car. We were going out early in the evening and there were several jumping spiders on the car, so I had to photograph them before we left.