Weather Pattern

Same song, fifth verse? Thunderstorms, and a bug walk that happened later in the day than I wanted it to. This is an interesting and annoying pattern we are in.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

A species of Derbid planthopper. Cedusa maculata. I like it because it is blue.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

Large milkweed bug

The milkweed patches remain the popular insect spots in the backyard, particularly for bumblebees. It's interesting to stand amid the plants, watching the constant movement as the bees flit from flower to flower, and listening to the hum of their constant buzzing. Definitely not recommended for anyone who is afraid of bees.

 There are other bugs besides the bumblebees, though. Note the tiny one flying in the background, and can you see the plant bug (I did not see it until I looked at this picture on the computer).

 This was supposed to be a picture of a bumblebee and a sweat bee, a big bee and a small bee. So where is the small bee, you ask?

 A bumblebee landed on top of it. They don't really pay much attention to other bees (or any insects, really) when they decide to land somewhere.

 The small bee got out. Sweat bee

There were a few skippers feeding on the milkweed, too.

I have still not seen any monarch caterpillars.

Long-legged fly on milkweed. I think they are predatory, so it makes sense that there are a lot of them around the milkweed plants lately, with so much potential prey. I don't think they can take on a bumblebee, though.

A fun way of spotting bugs: by seeing their shadow through leaves.

 Praying mantis nymph. It's in the same area I have found them in recent weeks, but I don't know if it is one I have seen before. If so, it has grown quite a bit.

Looper caterpillar

Possibly with parasites, or parasite eggs?

Caterpillar

This tiny moth was on my indoor weather station.

I have been checking up on an insect egg I found about a week ago, and have noticed that there are others on the same tree. The original one I found hasn't changed, but this one is a different color, which could mean it is soon to hatch.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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I found a nest of spiderlings inside a tent of leaves.

Spider with sawfly larvae. It looks like it has fed on at least one of them.