New Habitats

When we bought the land next to our original property last summer, one of the many advantages that occurred to me of having a nice expanse of woods was that I would be able to find more bugs. I didn't even know at the time (having bought the property without ever actually examining it) that there were several different small bodies of water included in it: streams, small ponds, and a bit of a swampy bit. When I found out about those, naturally I thought about the possibilities of different kinds of bugs than are currently to be seen in my backyard: water bugs. We didn't really start exploring our woods until the fall, when it was getting chilly and not prime season for insects, so up until now I haven't seen much in the way of water bugs–just springtails, and they are not precisely water bugs, not to mention I find them in my original backyard. I have been looking forward to spring and summer, though, for the chance to see more aquatic insects.

Well, Sunday was the first day of meteorological spring. And though that is a meaningless designation to the wild world, today I found one of those things I was hoping to see in the spring. Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Water strider. Oddly, I actually have seen these in my backyard before, on a puddle once. They definitely felt out of place. Here on the stream is a place I think they were much more as home. Sorry for the low quality picture, it was taken on zoom on my phone while I was perched precariously on the edge of a rock trying not to fall into the water or drop my phone.

I saw a lot of stoneflies, winter fireflies, and winter crane flies today, but didn't get usable pictures of any of them. I found one tree that had at least a dozen stoneflies racing up the trunk.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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I didn't have time for a bug walk today, in part because I chose to go for a walk in the woods instead, and while I was sitting on the back porch steps putting on my sneakers, this spider ran past at the foot of the steps. I felt a little bit like it was reproaching me for deciding not to do a bug walk. And yet I didn't do one. Sorry spider.