Arbitrary Season

It's Labor Day weekend here in the United States, and for many years the day after Labor Day would be the first day of the new school year. I don't think there are many places anymore that have that tradition, most places now I think start the school year in August, but Labor Day weekend is still regarded as the end of summer in some ways. Not that it has anything to do with an actual change of seasons on that first Monday of September. The leaves are not going to start changing color on Tuesday. It could still be hot for another month. And the bugs in my backyard carry on with the bug lives, caring more about day length, temperatures, and food availability to determine the seasons.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 Dragonfly. A species of meadowhawk.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 Spotted cucumber beetle. On pokeweed, not cucumber. I realize that many people don't like this insect, because it's a garden pest, but I've never seen one eating the cucumbers in my garden (we didn't plant any this year, but we have in other years). I only see them on other plants, and I think it is a native species, so I have nothing against it.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 Fourteen-spotted lady beetle

Other Bugs:

 I think this is a fruit fly.

 Katydid, blending in pretty well, I think, on the black-eyed Susans that are past blooming.

 Last week I saw several species of katydids over a few days. Today I saw a lot of katydids, but they were all this species.

 Moth

More banded tussock moth caterpillars:

 

 

Assassin bug nymphs:

 

 The eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar has changed to its final color scheme. It still blends in pretty well with the leaf.

 I didn't get a picture of it, but for the first time ever I got a glimpse of a caterpillar's osmeterium, which is a weird, tentacle-like organ that is inside its body and pokes out when the caterpillar is feeling threatened. It supposedly smells bad–I did not smell it, I barely caught a glimpse of it. It's a strange thing.

 The false eyes are more prominent in this instar.

 Fall webworm in a web (you can see a few in the background, too).

 Net winged beetle

 Stinkbug nymph

Backyard Amphibian of the Day: