Deviating From Habit

I procrastinated a long time today before going out to do my bug walk, because it was hot and humid outside and I hate that. I knew that the longer I waited, though, the harder it might be to find bugs. I didn't care. I didn't want to be outside in the baking sun. It was hot enough in the shady early evening when I was out there. I was rewarded, in the end, by finding some interesting things, if perhaps not a great many, but since the bugs don't seem to like it when it's really hot, I don't think I ended up missing much.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 Katydid. Immature, as can be seen by the wings, which are not fully developed. This is probably the same one I photographed yesterday, as it was in nearly the same spot.

The reason there are Co-Bugs of the Day today is because I went against my usual routine and posted a Backyard Bug of the Day on facebook in the early evening, pretty much just after my bug walk. I usually wait until much later, in case I find something new later. I hardly ever do, so it's not a terribly useful policy, and that's why I ignored it. And then I found something cool later on, that probably would have been Backyard Bug of the Day on its own if I had waited. Ah, well, the katydid got lucky, I guess.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 Derbid planthopper of some kind. This is only the second time I have ever seen this amazing bug. The first time was in the house, when it landed on my computer. Tonight it was on the storm door.

Being on the storm door means I got a look at it from above and below.

Other Bugs:

 Dragonfly

 Little monarch is still there. I thought maybe you'd get a better sense of its size if I showed more of the leaf.

 I think these are tarnished plant bugs.

 Still something going on with these ants.

 Wasp on Queen Anne's lace

I found a plant with three brown hooded owlet moth caterpillars on it, all different instars, and in order to show the size difference I took a picture of each one from the same distance:

 This one is nearing maturity, and has all of its colors.

The other two are still only black and yellow:

Yes, still a lot of caterpillars:

 Double toothed prominent

 

 Wasp on goldenrod

I found a huge mass of aphids on the new trunk of the tree that is growing through the back porch:

 As I have explained before, the ants look after the aphids in exchange for the sugary secretion, called honeydew, that the aphids produce.

 You can see several drops of honeydew in this picture.

The ant is going for a drop here.

 I noticed something interesting in this picture...

 Giving birth? Aphids give birth to live young instead of laying eggs. That looks more eggy, but maybe it takes a while to look like an aphid? You can see that there are aphids of various sizes in the pictures. Also, can you spot the drop of honeydew in this shot?

Suddenly I am finding spiders again. Arachnid Appreciation;
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 This orchard spider is spinning a web.

Backyard Reptile of the Day:
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Still no tortoises, but at least a new species for me:

 I think this is an eastern milk snake. It is quite a young one, only about 8 inches long.

 It was moving away, but...

 ...it did not like me getting close with my camera, so it turned back and got into a strike pose.

It was pretty aggressive. I was far enough away that it could not reach me, but it did strike out at me a few times.