A Bug Spotted

 I didn't do a bug walk today because it was cold, dark, and rainy, but my husband spotted an interesting bug when we were out on our woods walk. We had just started the walk, and I went by the same spot on the way back, and the bug was still there, so I went back to the house for my camera. Ironically, it's an insect that I always have trouble photographing because they don't like to sit still for pictures, and will usually hide under a leaf if I try to get close enough for a photo. I hoped that because it was so cold it would be more compliant. It was, marginally.

So, Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Grape leaf roller moth. This is one of those insects that gets to be Backyard Bug of the Day whenever I manage to get a decent photo.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

Amazing crane fly. That's my opinion, not the name of the species. I have never seen one like this, so it's a new species for me.

Female. That is not a stinger, but an ovipositor, for laying eggs.

 When I took the pictures I wasn't sure if this was a wasp of some kind or a crane fly. It didn't occur to me until I was looking at it on the computer to check for halteres. The arrow is pointing to one. Halteres are organs that evolved from a second pair of wings down into a tiny, almost vestigal appendage that is believed to be used to aid in balance and flight control. Flies (including crane flies) have them, but wasps don't, because they still have four wings.

 

She looks like she is bursting at the seams. I wonder if she is gravid, and being full of eggs is what makes her so round, and also creating that gap.

Since this is not, at present, a daily blog, I have decided to abandon the rule that any pictures I post have to be from the day of the post. I planned to do a blog a couple of days ago, but my internet was out of service for a couple of days, and I was unable to post that day. So, here are the bugs I saw on Thursday, May 27, 2021:

This is another moth that was spotted on a walk (this time in the backyard, near the house), and was obliging enough to wait while I went inside to get my camera.

Sawfly larvae on oak leaves:

A Little Night Entomology Music

 I went to a school concert tonight, outdoors, with the band set up on the football field and the fans in the bleachers and on chairs on the track. We chose to sit on the track, all the better for social distance. I was introduced to someone, and in making small talk, the pleasantness of the evening for an outdoor concert came up, and the man said, "... and it's too early for bugs!" I assumed he meant too early in the season, but not wanting to be my fully pedantic self to an unsuspecting stranger I refrained from saying, "It's never too early for bugs." The concert started before dusk, but the sun set and darkness came long before it was over, and the stadium lights were turned on. I don't know if the man we spoke to noticed, but there were a LOT of bugs, because it's not too early for bugs. There were mayflies swarming in the lights, looking for mates. There were spiderlings sailing by on their silken threads (two of which landed on me). There were beetles walking around on the track. A wasp landed on my husband's knee. Many, many little things I could not see close enough to identify flitted through the air. I saw a huge moth fluttering around, and then watched it dive bomb right onto a kettle drum, and actually heard the tiny boomp as it bounced off. I also saw several people go out of their way to squish bugs, including a huge beetle I was sorry to see crushed on the bleachers as we left. None of that was necessary, none of them were bugs that were hurting anyone, or could hurt anyone. There were no mosquitoes around me, at least, and I know they have come out for the season, because a couple of them tried to bite me earlier in the day at home, in my woods. I enjoyed watching the bugs during the duller moments of the program. 

I enjoyed watching them in my backyard today, too. I didn't do a bug walk, but I was out doing work in the yard. I didn't see many bugs, but I did see a damselfly, and for a brief moment regretted that I didn't have my camera outside. But then I realized that if I had my camera I would only be frustrated and disappointed, because the damselfly didn't land anywhere, it just wafted from place to place, searching for something and not finding it. I watched it, and enjoyed witnessing the flight, and was sort of relieved that I wasn't trying and failing to get a picture of it. Sometimes it's nice to just watch the bugs go by.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

I thought this was a net winged beetle when I spotted it on my way to the mailbox today, but it's a moth. It's pretty beat up; I am guessing that it overwintered as an adult, and is now hoping to find a mate to pass on its genes as it nears the end of its lifespan. 

That's all I've got for you today. I hope you have a chance to watch some interesting bugs go by this coming week, and every week, for that matter.

The Big Day

 I took my camera to the woods today to try to make up for yesterday, and hoping to find a couple of the bugs I saw then, and though I only found one of yesterday's bugs, I found a surprising number of insects in the woods today. No frogs, no turkeys, and no butterflies, but it was definitely worth having a camera on my walk.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Mayfly. My husband spotted one, and then I found another, and another... Even if you've never seen a mayfly, and don't know what they look like (see above), you've probably heard about them. They famously only live for about a day or so after they reach their adult stage, leave the water where they spent the majority of their lives (about a year) as larvae, spread their newly acquired wings and fly. I've seen pictures of rivers and streams with huge swarms of them that have just emerged and have a day to find a mate before they die. Some of the larvae I have been seeing in the stream were likely mayfly larvae. And today was obviously THE day for some of them.

Mostly I found them on the underside of leaves...

But I found a swarm of them dancing above the stream:

In most of the flying pictures you can't see the wings, which are obviously beating very fast, but this shot caught a glimpse.

I think this is a pair that made a connection.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

Moth fly, which is a fly, not a moth. Tiny, and a rare sight for me. It's even rarer for me to get a picture, so whenever I do, it becomes Backyard Bug of the Day.

Other Bugs:

My photos today began just outside my back door, where ants are once again tending to flocks of aphids on the tree that is growing through the back porch.

Then, into the woods...

I hoped I could find yesterday's caterpillar again, and I did, not on the same leaf, but on the same small tree. These caterpillars' defense strategy is to look like bird droppings, and when you disturb them they add some dramatics to the masquerade, draping themselves over the edge of whatever twig or leaf they are on, so they look even MORE like bird droppings. 

Moth hiding in leaf litter

I'm not sure what this is. It has the face of an ant; it could be a winged ant. It could also be a wasp.

Beetle. Possibly a soldier beetle.

I am guessing some kind of seed bug (being the lazy blogger that I am). Definitely Hemiptera.

Caterpillar

Click beetle

Due to spiders being an uncooperative cohort, here is just a sample of what I saw today for Arachnid Appreciation:

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I could say something about the different hunting styles of the spiders I have here, but I am too tired. There's some variety. There.

Time Shortage

 I wanted to bring my camera with me when I went for my woods walk today, but I only had an hour for a walk, and a walk with my camera takes two. I regretted not bringing it, of course, as I saw some cool bugs–including a semi-cooperative butterfly–an enormous spider, a turkey, and an interesting frog. All I had was my phone, so I got pictures like this:

That's the frog. It is underwater in the stream.

I got an okay one for Backyard Bug of the Day:

This is either a viceroy or a red spotted purple caterpillar. Even when I look up how to tell the difference between them I always end up confused. They are very similar, which is interesting because the two butterfly species don't look similar at all, other than maybe wing shape. If I knew what kind of tree this was (which I don't) I might be able to identify the caterpillar by looking up host plants, but the two species have some overlap in their host plant preferences, so probably not. This caterpillar looks like it's pretty close to time to pupate.

Ugh

 You know I am generally a fan of members of the Class Insecta, but I don't like them all. And so today we're going to begin with a Public Service Announcement and Backyard Ugh of the Day:

Don't leave standing water in your backyard.

I don't keep my birdbath filled all the time because I don't want mosquitoes to lay eggs in it. I let it dry out frequently. Sometimes when I fill it I use water that is collected in a watering can that has been left out. Well, today I filled the birdbath and noticed tiny things swimming around in it. I got my camera for a closer look and realized it was mosquito larvae. Because the birdbath has been dry for a few days I am pretty sure they were already in the water when I dumped it from the watering can. So I guess we need to put the watering can away where it won't collect rainwater. Rain water evaporates pretty quickly from the birdbath, but I guess not from the watering can. I ended  up dumping all of the water out of the birdbath and hosing it off, and I left it tipped over to fully dry for a few days.

There were a variety of sizes of the larvae–see the tiny one on the left–so I would guess that mosquitoes have been laying eggs in the watering can for a while.

More on what I found when I tipped over the birdbath later...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

Crane fly

Other Bugs:

Assassin bug lurking between leaves

Click beetle. Click beetles are thus named because when they feel threatened they flex (or something) their bodies and kind of flick themselves away with a click. I have been up close and in the faces of a lot of click beetles over the years, and have never seen one do that–apparently they don't generally find me threatening–but this one clicked away when I tried to get a closer shot, and I was exited to finally see (and hear) a click beetle click. And then I felt sad that I made it feel threatened.

Hm. I just realized I really didn't see very many bugs today. I photographed a couple others that aren't good enough pictures to post, and saw a few that I didn't get pictures of, but it wasn't really a buggy day. Part of that could be that I went out in the late afternoon/early evening time that isn't high time for bugs. I don't know why else, unless it's a continuation of the last few years of declining bug numbers. We do seem headed for drought again, and speaking of which...

I think the salamanders are doomed. It seems to me that if we get an inch of rain every week that maintains the small pond at least a little, so that there is always water in it, but we aren't getting an inch of rain every week. There isn't even a tiny puddle there now. The ground is barely damp. All of the egg masses are exposed. Last year at least some of them had hatched by the time the pond dried up, but I don't think they had this year. Alas.

Meanwhile, in the big pond:

I saw a couple of these frogs. What's fun about them is you don't see them at first, because they blend in really well. There's a lot of green algae (or something) on the surface of the pond, and they sit with their heads just above water. Their heads are green, blending in with the algae, but their bodies are speckled brown, so they blend in with the brown water and the dead leaves in the pond.

Here you can see the green head, but also the speckled, brown body.

Another one

Also seen in the woods today:

I think that is pollen raining down. 

Arachnid Appreciation:

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Now, about what I found under the birdbath... Backyard Reptile of the Day (and no, it's still not a tortoise. It is never going to be a tortoise):

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The birdbath doesn't have a pedestal, it is basically just a cement dish, and I have it in the rock garden, sitting on top of the rock. Well, apparently there is a space underneath it, because when I tipped it off the rock to empty it, I found this snake curled up underneath. It took me a while to notice it, actually, and the snake didn't move. It just sat there (where it was probably quite cool, even on such a warm day), and was still there when I went and got my camera and came back. It was pretty small; I would say this coil is about three inches across, or less. I think it might be a juvenile eastern milk snake. I can see a hint of a checkered belly, one of the characteristics of an eastern milk snake. Non-venomous, or I would never have gotten close to it with my camera. I'll admit it freaks me out a bit to know that snakes lurk in my rock garden. This is not the first one I have encountered there. I know snakes are useful neighbors, but I walk around in the rock garden, and if there are snakes under the vegetation, I would not see them.

Anticipating Future Fruits

Springtime feels like a constant state of anticipation. Waiting for leaves, waiting for flowers, waiting for what comes next, waiting for days that aren't cold, waiting for the eggs to hatch in the wrens' nest in the bucket on the back porch so I can stop worrying about frightening the birds off their eggs (they have hatched, I think Friday or Saturday of last week)...

And with some of those flowers, there is waiting for the fruit that will follow. Backyard Blooms of the Day:

Blossoms on a wild blueberry bush in the woods. They are smaller than the flowers on the cultivated blueberry bush in my backyard, and I wonder if that means that the berries will be smaller. No doubt the cultivated ones are cultivated for large fruit.

There's still water in the big pond, and today there were a couple of frogs that were peeping out of the water, and were not frightened away when I leaned over to take their pictures. Backyard Amphibians of the Day:

As I write this I have still not decided which insect to choose as Backyard Bug of the Day, so I am just going to start posting the pictures, and maybe something will strike me and the right one...

 I wasn't planning to do a bug walk today because of other things I had to do, but I found something interesting, so I decided to take my camera out as part of my woods walk, and start by doing a bit of a bug walk in my regular backyard. I ended up taking a walk of over two hours. It was wonderful.

Here's the interesting thing I spotted:

Sawfly larva. I noticed leaf damage on the leaves of a tree, and recognized it as sawfly larva damage. Right now the larvae are tiny enough that you only see them if you look for them, and I looked for them because I saw the damaged leaves.

Pair of weevils

Stilt bug

Lace bug

There were a lot of bees and flies on the garlic mustard again. I only managed to get decent photos of one of them:

 

Stinkbug

Weevil

March fly:

Those big eyes that make up pretty much its entire head show that it is a male.

Okay, I have decided. This is today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

Some kind of fly. I think it was hanging out looking for a mate. It has extremely long front legs, and interesting golden-shimmery wings. And it's quite small. And possibly a new species for me.

Stonefly. I think this is a different species than the ones I saw all winter. It's bigger than those were.

Click beetle

I saw an incredible number of spiders today, of many different species. However, between their shyness and the breeze that wouldn't allow the necessary moments of stillness to photograph webs, I only got a few pictures for Arachnid Appreciation:

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This is my favorite picture of the day. Two spiders of different species staring each other down on a leaf. Or rather, they were staring each other down until I came along and distracted the jumping spider so it turned to look at me instead (and then wandered off to the other side of the leaf).

Bowl and doily spider

Also a bowl and doily spider