Reliable Arachnids

 One of the great things about spiders is that if you see one of the web-builders during a hike at night, there is a good chance that if you go back the next day with your camera you will find it in the same place. Having seen a cool spider last night when I didn't have my camera, I set off into the woods with my camera today in order to get better pictures of it. At first, arriving at the tree where I saw it last night, I thought that I had been too reliant on that chance, because there was no web, not even the tattered remains I saw last night, but the bower leaf was still there, and I peeked inside, and there was my spider. As usual, I will post the spider pictures at the end of this post, but I need to give credit where credit is due: if I had not specifically intended to take pictures of the spider, I would not have had my camera for any of the other pictures I took today. Not that there were oh so many, but the spider is the reason for this post.

Let's start with fungi...

A fun thing about fungi is that they seem to just spring into existence. I have walked by here just about every day, and suddenly, tons of mushrooms!

These are on a tree stump of a tree that fell earlier this year, while...

These...

... and these are on the fallen log that was the trunk of that tree. Other than cutting through them when they fall on our walking paths (or anywhere they are a danger), we leave fallen logs where they land. They are an important part of the forest ecosystem. These mushrooms growing on the stump and the log are part of the lengthy process of breaking down the tree and returning it to the soil. Also, if you are looking for mushrooms and fungi, fallen trees are a good place to find them.

These were in a different part of the woods. I don't know what this species of mushroom is called, but they grow on tree trunks and always look to me like little cities, either populated by infinitesimal fairies, or something very science fiction.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

This is a species of metallic wood borer, but I don't know which one. It doesn't really look like any of the ones in my field guide, at least not enough to identify it as anything other than something from that family (or genus? I always get levels of taxonomy. I think it's family. Genus would be the next level). Anyway, it's a beetle, and it bores into wood. That probably sounds bad, particularly if you know about emerald ash borers, and that they are driving ash trees to extinction, but native species are not as ruthlessly destructive. There are biological controls, and they coevolve with the trees in their native space. Nature balances herself when left to her own devices.

  I found the Backyard Bug of the Day near the end of my walk; before that I had gone most of the way without finding any arthropods other than the spider and a caddisfly larva that I failed to photograph well enough to post. I thought to myself that I needed to find something so that this post would have something besides a spider. This came to me just as I entered the part of our property I refer to as the wildflower meadow, and I assured myself that I would be able to find some insects there if they were anywhere. Insects love meadows. I was right, and here are a few Other Bugs:

Katydid. Female; you can just see her ovipositor under her wings.

There were quite a few very sluggish bumblebees:

Earwig

Candy striped leaf hopper
 

Arachnid Appreciation:

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Marbled orb weaver:

Here she is, peeking at me while I peek at her in her bower. She is a female; the female is big and round, and the male of this species is smaller with a pointier abdomen. Not that I have ever seen one, but so the internet informs me.

Can you spot the tiny mite on the pronotum of the Backyard Bug of the Day?