Water Bugs

We haven't had much rain for about a month and a half, and most of the water areas in our woods have dried up. Both ponds and a couple of the streams are now just mud. I think they only reason there's even mud there is because they are fed by groundwater, and there is still some water in the ground, but there's not enough for it to really stay at the surface. Even the main stream is down to a trickle in most places. There is one pool in the stream, however, that remains, but now that the water level is down so much there are several rocks that used to be submerged that are now above the water and dry, which means it is possible to stand in the stream and take pictures of the water bugs that live there. It's a precarious position, with the constant threat of falling in the water with my camera, but it's still better than trying to take pictures from the bank of the stream. I hope for the sake of those bugs that the pool doesn't dry up like everything else. I was glad to be able to get a better look at them; the pool, and the stream in general, when there's water in it, are home to a variety of insect life. That includes a species of dragonfly that I have been seeing lately that seems to patrol up and down the stream. If I stay in one place for a while I can see them (who knows how many?) fly upstream... and then a few minutes later fly back downstream... and then a few minutes later fly upstream... It's fun to watch. I wish that one would land somewhere where I could get a picture; it is a species I have not seen before, and it's pretty big. But today I was most pleased about getting pictures of Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 Predaceous diving beetle

It swims by using its legs like oars, I think only the middle pair.

 There were quite a few of them in the pool of water.

That pool in the stream is very popular with water striders. I was happy to finally be able to get close enough for a decent picture.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 I think this a s net-winged beetle. It's a new species for me, which is why it's Co-BBotD, even though it's not a great picture. It's much smaller than the other net-winged beetles I've seen in my backyard before.

The flavor-of-the-week for the bees has been raspberry blossoms.

Long-legged fly eating a gnat

Cabbage white butterflies.

Oh, that reminds me–I was standing amidst the milkweed and a monarch butterfly swooped in front of me, the first one I have seen this year. It didn't stop to feed on the flowers, or lay eggs (I don't know if it was a female), just kept on flying.

I have seen very few caterpillars this year, but there are tiny ones on one of the sassafras trees: