Preparing For Winter

Ah, autumn! The leaves are vibrant and varied, there's a chill in the air, and chipmunks run around stuffing their faces:

 Literally.

 

 Hm. I've never really noticed what chipmunk tails look like.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 A female ichneumon wasp making a bold fashion statement by wearing stripes with polka dots.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 When I first spotted this tucked away in a gap in some tree bark I thought it was an anchor bug, but when I looked closer I realized it is a beetle, and one I have never seen before. I could not find it in my book, unfortunately.

 When I can I prefer to take pictures without a flash or the light on my camera, but it was an overcast day, and this was in a dark spot, and I thought perhaps with light on it it would be iridescent, and so I turned on the light, and yes, it is.

 I really wanted to poke this thing with a stick to get it out of its hole, but I knew that was not nice, and it would probably have backfired anyway; the beetle would have dropped to the ground and hidden or flown away. So, I had to be satisfied with this incomplete view.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #3:

 Some weird fly I have never seen before.

Something is eating the chrysanthemums before they even get a chance to bloom:

I hope it leaves something for the pollinators, for when the asters are done:

It's hard to tell, but there are two bumblebees there.

 

 Thread-waisted wasp. At around 60ºF these get very lethargic, and much easier to photograph.

Other Bugs:

There were a lot of crickets in the rock garden today:

 

 

 Another cricket, on a tree

 Leaf hopper

Last year around this time there was a rock in my backyard that for several days had multitudes of tiny rove beetles crawling all over it. Today I found a similar situation on a brick in the old vegetable garden:

 

 

 I went over and looked at the rock where they were last year, and found one there.

 Leaf-footed bug

 Stinkbug

This was Backyard Bug of the Day about a week ago, and that was the first time I ever saw one:

 Today it was back on the same plant.

 Fall webworm

 Milkweed bugs

 Starting tomorrow this blog will be on hiatus for a little over a week for technical reasons.

Arachnid Appreciation:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

 

 The marbled orb weaver is still hiding away in its bower, and has not built a web in several days.

Jumping spider: