Family Day

 Instead of a Backyard Bug of the Day today, I have a Backyard Bug Family of the Day, because I found several insects from the same family of Tettigoniidae. 

Meaning katydids. Three different species.

Backyard Bug Family of the Day:

I don't know species of katydids. I know this is a female, because that green thing sticking out of her back end is an ovipositor. I can also tell that it is a juvenile, because its wings are not fully developed.

Obviously different species of katydid, another juvenile. There were two of them on this plant, and each of them leapt away when I tried to get close for a picture. They are phenomenal leapers.

And the last species of katydid for the day:

This one was on the screen door when we got home in the evening. It is an adult, as you can see from the fully developed wings. I think it is a male.

A different perspective

 Other Bugs:

This is not just a pile of plant debris, it's a pile of plant debris stuck to the back of a larva that is using it to make potential prey think that it is just a pile of plant debris. It's always funny to see these walking around. They remind me of one time I was outside walking in the rain with my niece when she was about two years old, and she was holding an umbrella; as she was so small, walking beside her I could not see her, all I could see was the umbrella apparently bobbing along by itself. It was really funny and adorable. I am pretty sure this is a lacewing larva. You can see a leg underneath all of that as it walks around.

The entire time I was outside mowing the lawn today this bee was resting in this cucumber blossom.

I watched a monarch butterfly lay this egg on a milkweed leaf. In other monarch news, I could not find the tiny caterpillar from yesterday. That does not mean it was eaten; it is very small and hard to see, so if it moved somewhere else on the plant it would be difficult for me to spot it.