Tradition

 Traditions can have a certain charm, but there are many that people keep up even though they don't enjoy them, simply because they are tradition. I am not a fan of irksome traditions for traditions' sake. I definitely don't like being forced to observe them. And yet, every spring I engage in the tradition of taking bad photographs of bee flies because I can't get a good photograph of one:

This is about how close I can usually get.

Can't see it?

Here's a closer look. The bee flies (there are multiple species) look and fly like bees, using mimicry as a way to trick potential predators into thinking they can sting and should be left alone. 

Here's a shot with the wings still.

 If tradition holds up, I will not see another bee fly for the rest of the year, much less get a closer picture.

 Today was highly beetly in the backyard again (and I did a full bug walk for the second day in a row!), and today a couple of them were more cooperative... to an extent.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

A beetle, obviously. I am not going to look it up. It really wasn't very cooperative, and I don't think it deserves the courtesy of having me attempt to find out its name (which I would probably fail to do anyway if I tried. There are a LOT of species of beetles).

 Like I said, it was not that cooperative:

More Beetles:

The leafy spurge continues to attract a lot of ants, and today a click beetle.

And a tiny fly.

I looked this up once, and have forgotten what I read about it. These tiny beetles are amusing, with their curious shape the seem a little bit like sci-fi vehicles to me. Or medicine capsules. What I imagine about them is more interesting to me than what I read.

And of course, we here all know that fireflies are not flies, but beetles:

I think this is courtship...

... and this is what follows.

Other Bugs:

Bee on garlic mustard, an invasive, tree-killing plant

Stilt-bugs on crab apple blossoms:

Ants have been everywhere the last few days, including quite a lot that are crawling on the side of the house, probably trying to find a way in. I hope they don't. I prefer ants in the wild. Like this one:

An ant on sassafras. One of the many, many, many things I have learned since I started studying the bugs in my backyard is that bugs are not only to be found on the ground and on picnic blankets (and really, I have spent a lot of time on picnic blankets in my life, and very seldom have there been any ants on them. I think popular culture has wrong them), but also in trees.

Assassin bug nymph

Moth blending in

Arachnids I DON'T appreciate:

I found three ticks on this dead sapling trunk. It seems like every year there is an article published somewhere or other (you might say it's a tradition!) that says that, based on the weather in the spring, "This is going to be a bad year for ticks." What they really mean is that it is going to be a good year for the ticks, and a bad year for anyone and anything that does not want to be bitten by a tick. They seem to say this no matter what kind of weather we are having–I am surprised I haven't seen such an article yet this year, because so far it has been a good year for the ticks, and a bad year for trying to avoid them.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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