Infested Memories

My family moved to Connecticut one summer in the early 80s when I was just about to enter middle school. I believe it was the following spring, my first one in Connecticut, when we had a horrific infestation of gypsy moth caterpillars. It was traumatizing. I swore that I was never going to go outside again, and could not believe that we had moved to such a horrible place (which I had quite liked up until that point). There were caterpillars EVERYWHERE and the nightmarish aspects of it had a lot to do with this:

 Gypsy moth caterpillars sometimes dangle from the trees on silk threads, I think because they are planning to go somewhere and it's the fastest way down to the ground. That year of the horrible infestation, which is still the worst one I have ever experienced, they were everywhere, and it was a grotesque experience to walk anywhere outside, because wherever you went, you were surrounded by dangling caterpillars.

 It's not as bad this year, but gypsy moth caterpillars were still the most prevalent insect in my backyard today.

It was, over all, a frustrating day in the backyard:

 Honestly, I was contemplating quitting this blog, and my Backyard Bug of the Day project. I still am.

It was really cold last night; I don't know what the low finally was, but when I went to bed it was 43ºF. I wondered how that would affect the number of bugs I found today, regardless of whether or not it warmed up a lot during the day (which it did, but it still felt strangely chilly at 70ºF). I don't think it had a huge impact. I didn't see quite the variety of bugs that I usually do, but there were a lot of bugs over all, mostly bees and wasps. Like today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Note that this bee (or is it a wasp?) is holding onto something. I couldn't find this in my book, but I think that it is a parasitic wasp that brings a caterpillar to its young in a burrow so that the wasp larva can feast on the caterpillar as it grows and develops (as the wasp grows and develops. This is pretty much it for the caterpillar).

 Even though I saw a lot of bees, this is the only other one I was able to photograph.

 Case bearing moth pupa

One of the most frustrating of bugs in my backyard:

 Bee fly. As you can see, I was not able to get very close to it.

 This doesn't help much.

 Sharpshooter

 Caterpillar

 Woolly aphid

 This sapling has been almost completely defoliated by sawfly larvae.

 Beetle

 

 This ant was carrying a sliver of wood that was at least four times its length. I have no idea what it was going to do with it.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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