The Stars Underfoot

The Draconids meteor shower was tonight, so I stood out on the back porch for a few minutes to see if it was worth really going out to watch. I saw a couple of meteors, so we (me, my husband, and my mother, who is visiting) bundled up against the chill and the mosquitoes, moved blankets and a lounge chair into position, and settled down to watch the show in the sky. 

And then... nothing. 

Eventually, my husband gave up and went in the house, but my mother and I stayed out for a while longer. Still no meteors. But then my mother said she saw something else, a flashing light. We had seen a lot of airplanes, so I thought that's what she meant, but she said it seemed like a firefly. I said that would be odd, because it's not the season for them, but she was seeing something, so I asked where, so I could look. She said it was on the ground, by her feet. Ah. I knew what she was seeing.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Firefly larva. Naturally, I had to go inside and get my camera for a picture, because this is something I see very rarely. Alas, I did not get any of it lit up. And this one is out of focus, of course, so I shouldn't even be posting it, but here it is. There were a couple of others out there, too. Adult fireflies use their glow to attract a mate, but I have no idea what the larvae light up for.

Since I had my camera out, I decided to look around to see if I could find any other bugs, and was surprised (why? Why am I always surprised?) at how many I found, and what they were. Interestingly, I didn't find bees snoozing on flowers, or moths pollinating them. But I did find...

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

Moth fly. Yes, it looks like a tiny moth. But it is a fly.

A fly that REALLY looks like a moth. What makes it a fly instead? Well, I don't know a lot about them. Obviously, it does not start life as a caterpillar. And it has only one pair of wings, not two. But it sure does look like a tiny moth.

Other Bugs:

White fly

Fly

I found a few caterpillars dangling from trees:

Assassin bug nymph

Leaf hopper

Tree crickets:

These might be male and female of the same species. Anyway, this one is male...

... and this one is female.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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