THIS IS THE BLOG POST FOR MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2019. My internet conked out while I was working on this post, and I did not get it back before the deadline, so this will appear as if it is a post for the 18th. But it's not. Carrying on...
The mood in the backyard today was decidedly romantic, as amor insectum was to be found among the greenery. A great deal of amor insectum:
Hover flies. The female is feeding during their encounter.
Robber flies
More hover flies
Leaf footed bugs
More hover flies. I am not even sure how these two are holding onto that leaf. They can fly around together like this. I haven't even shown you all of the hover fly couples I saw in the backyard today.
Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:
I don't know what this is, and I didn't even get a chance to look at it from another angle to see it better, but this was so cool I had to choose it for Backyard Bug of the Day.
Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:
Swallowtail caterpillar; I assume eastern tiger swallowtail. It has false eyes, disguising a bit where it's real face is. I one of these at least once every year, and almost never see their real faces.
Trying to look like a snake. A teeny, tiny snake.
Caterpillar face. The dark dots along the side are its eyes. Caterpillars have a lot of eyes, but they don't really see well.
Aside from the false eyes it has another means of camouflage, which I will leave you to discern yourself.
This is the point where the internet conked out last night, and I wasn't even able to post what I had done so far, bu I am going to keep writing as if I was writing it yesterday...
Before I went outside to do my bug walk today I was sitting on the couch, doing some work on my computer, and twice when I looked up to look out the window I saw butterflies dance past the window really close, as if they were inviting me to come outside. So, eventually I did. I didn't get even close to a picture of a butterfly, but I did witness a rather peculiar butterfly incident. Come to think of it, though, I'll tell you about it a little later in this post...
Backyard Amphibian of the Day:
Other Bugs:
Grape leaf roller moth
I've been seeing a lot of these lately. Most about this level of cooperation.
The daisy fleabane was once again very popular, mostly with sweat bees.
Tarnished plant bug, BBotD from yesterday. On daisy fleabane.
Caterpillar on daisy fleabane leaf
Long-legged fly
Beetle on sassafrass. It's a small leaf, not a huge beetle
Some kind of Hemiptera nymph
Some kind of pupal case
Yesterday I posted about the tiny bugs on a vine, and how hard it is to see them, and recognize them as bugs if you don't know what you're looking for. Here's a vine with some of the bugs on it:
Caterpillar. I can't remember the name, but it should be called Tartan.
Aphid
It's tough to be an aphid. So many things want to eat you. (This is not the exact same aphid as above). Robber fly dining on aphid
Bee going for the raspberry flowers
Bee on raspberry flowers
Bumblebee on a flower I have never been able to identify
Some kind of Hemiptera
Lady beetle larva on milkweed
Leaf-footed bug. So, here's the butterfly story. I saw a leaf-footed bug flying around, apparently trying to decide where it wanted to land, and considering a few spots. Well, it went in for a landing in one spot and apparently startled a butterfly that was already there, a skipper (which neither I, nor apparently the leaf-footed bug, had noticed before), and the skipper chased it away! I wasn't just that the skipper took flight, it chased the leaf-footed bug, following its flight, and harassing it when it did land, so that the leaf-footed bug flew away! Then the skipper, triumphant, landed, only to fly away before I could take its picture. It is important to note that the leaf-footed bug was probably a bit bigger than the skipper, certainly if you take only body size into it, and don't count the wings, but even still...
This is the tree where the pair of leaf-footed bugs at the top of the post were. There were at least four or five of them on this tree, mostly marching up and down the trunk. They do seem to have an affinity for this tree; in years past I have seen them congregating there.
Okay, I am going to break one of my blog rules now, and post a picture of a bug that was not taken on my property, because it's a fantastic bug and I considered kidnapping it and taking it home so it
would be on my property. But I didn't, because I don't want to mess with its life. I have seen this once in my backyard (on my front porch, actually), and now four times total in my life:
Luna moth. We were inside a fast-food restaurant and I saw this on the window. I went outside to take the picture. It's a glorious moth.
Now, back to the present... There won't be much of a blog post for today, Tuesday, June 18, because it's been raining all day and the only arthropod I have been able to photograph is a spider I found in the house. But you never know, so stay tuned!
Arachnid Appreciation:
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Daddy-long-legs/Harvestman
I think this is a grass spider
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