Treading Carefully

 We had a snow/sleet/rain storm yesterday which left a slick, hard coating of frozen snow/slush on the ground, so I strapped my crampons onto my boots and headed for the sunny woods. As we descended into the valley, it occurred to me that I had not seen any bugs at all (it was a few degrees above freezing), but I found something on my way down that path. And then when I got down by the stream...

Backyard Bugs of the Day:

This is where I like to see snow fleas–on the snow. A reminder, snow fleas are not fleas, they are a species of springtails (and I am still confused about whether they are insects of not). There were thousands of them, not bunched together (which would have made them easier to see and photograph), but spread out all over. I had forgotten that last winter we found a lot more bugs down in the valley by the stream. Other than what appeared to be a gnat, and a caddisfly larva in the stream, I didn't see any bugs other than the multitudes of snow fleas. I didn't bring my camera, because I don't like to have it on me when I am unsure of my footing, in case I fall on it, so phone photos are the best I could do.

But what did I see as I was walking down into the valley?

Arachnid Appreciation:

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I think one of the coolest things I have learned about arthropods in the years I have been studying them in my backyard is that spiders come out and walk around on snow.

First Sprouts

 Aaaah! What a beautiful day!

The sun was shining, it was warm, and finally, FINALLY! my snowdrops have sprouted. I have been looking for these for weeks. In previous years they actually bloomed by the beginning of February, and I have been despairing of seeing them this year. Whether they will bloom or not is yet to be seen; they did not last year, all that came up were the leaves. But hope remains...

On the rare occasions of me posting in the last few months I feel like I have written a lot about the fact that I have not been seeing as many bugs, or the bugs I expect to see. One of the species that has been completely absent so far this winter is the winter firefly. A diurnal species (active during the day) that is actually active year round, I expect to see, and have looked for, winter fireflies whenever I have been out on a sunny, not-freezing day, but I haven't seen any this winter... until today.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

The sad thing, though, is that most winters this tree has dozens of winter fireflies crawling on its trunk on nice days. Today I found only one.

There was a day last week when I looked at some memory posts and discovered that for two years in a row I had a wasp as Backyard Bug of the Day. Same species. Exact same day of the month. I don't know how warm it was those days, but days in the 60s, like today, are pretty rare in February (although we've had 2 this year. Or was one of them in January? I don't remember). Today I saw the same species of wasp:

For years these would sneak into the house during the winter. Twice I was rudely awakened in the morning by being stung in my armpit. I like them much better when they are outside.

It took me a while to find bugs today, and I was beginning to feel like I have forgotten how to look for them. I did a full bug walk in my regular backyard today, with only small forays into the woods and field, and it has been a long time since I did a bug walk like that, instead of just taking my camera along on my woods walks. Because my knee hurt too much, and because I had things I needed to get done today, I didn't walk in the woods, much less to the stream, so these are all just the normal bugs you'd expect to find in my backyard on a February day when it's 66ºF.

Beetle. I looked this up once, but I have forgotten what it's called. Mostly because I think it looks like a pill, like a capsule, so I think of it as a pill beetle. But that is not its name.

Odd looking ant. It's missing a leg, too.

Birch catkin bug

I went looking for some snow fleas on a rock where I have found them in the past. There were a few there...

... but while I was taking pictures of them, I noticed some unbelievably tiny things walking amongst them. Can you see anything? Mind you, the snow fleas themselves are tiny. The other things were almost too small even to see through the macro lens...

Mite

There was another mite, too, but one that is just big enough to see with the naked eye. It helps that it is bright red:

I suppose this (and the other mites) should be in Arachnid Appreciation, but I don't think anyone is going to be freaked out by these the way they are by spiders.

If you read this blog regularly (well, if you read it regularly when it was a regularly posted blog), or even if you just read the most recent post, you are probably expecting to see this:

Candy striped leafhoppers basking on their usual beech tree. I also found them on several other beech trees.

I always think of twice-stabbed lady beetles as a sign of spring.

Some kind of plant bug.

I saw a few winter ants here and there. That is a species, not just an observation of seeing them in the winter. In fact, today's high of 66.2ºF was pretty close to the top temperature for them to be around. They don't come out in the warmer parts of the year.

Just like our other recent day in the 60s, the temperature is plummeting. I am finishing this around 1:00 AM (and still pretending it's yesterday), and it is below freezing outside, and not expected to be much warmer than that all day Thursday. The weather roller coaster rides on!

Winter Spring

 Ah, what a beautiful Spring day! In February! 

This bird cuddled up in the wreath on my front porch tonight probably looks like it is trying to keep warm, but it really was a gorgeous, mild day. The temptation to pet this little fuzzball was incredible, but I have a policy of not touching wild animals. This is the second night this week it has been on the porch wreath and not flown away when we got home. 

But as for today... 

As you know, I have not been walking much recently, but today it was 60ºF, and it was much too beautiful a day NOT to go for a walk. And unlike my recent walks in the snow, when I didn't want to bring my camera because with my bad knee I was afraid of falling and didn't want another thing to throw me off, today I strapped on my camera carrier and headed for the woods. I'll just get it out of the way now and say I was a little bit disappointed in what I was able to find, just because I was expecting to find more species of insects today. On most of my walks in the last month or so I have seen at least one insect, and that is including days (and nights) when it was freezing or just above. So I thought that on a day in the 60s I would see a lot of different kinds of bugs, and a lot of the ones I did see. But other than two exceptions, to be seen shortly, I saw mostly single individuals. Ah, well, I should not complain. I had a beautiful spring day in February!

Backyard Bug of the Day:

Candy striped leaf hopper on beech leaf. This particular beech tree is one where I know to look for candy striped leaf hoppers on pleasant winter days. In fact, a couple of days ago, when the temperature was only in the 40s, but it was sunny, I found one on this tree while showing a friend who had stopped by part of my woods. I used to think that the temperature had to be in the 60s for these to come out, but in the last few years I found out that it doesn't have to be that warm. However, the one I found a couple of days ago was a solitary find. Today, with the temperature about 15 degrees warmer, there were dozens.

Other Bugs:

Even when there was ice on parts of the stream I have been finding aquatic insects all winter. Here are a couple of caddisfly larval cases made out of sand from the bottom of the stream.

Aquatic beetle. I see more of these on night hikes, but I saw a couple today.

Another caddisfly larva, this one with a case made out of dead leaves.

If you know what you're looking at, you can see that its head is sticking out.

I know, this doesn't help much.

I saw a few swarms of winter crane flies. That is the other bug I saw in large numbers today:

Winter stone fly. Last year I saw hundreds of these, particularly when there was snow on the ground; they were all along the paths we walked, crawling on the snow. So far this year I have seen two; this is one of them.

When we got home in the evening this male midge was on the front porch. You can tell it is a male from its feathery antennae. The females have very small, plain antennae. I assume the males need to sense pheremones or something from the females to find a mate.

As I said, I was hoping to see more bugs today; last night I saw a beetle on a tree, and I expected to see snow fleas, and winter fireflies–this is exactly the kind of day they should have been basking on tree trunks. I have not seen any this winter. Overall, though I have seen bugs on my walks this winter, there have been nowhere near as many as I saw last year. This is sad and puzzling.

Interesting note: tomorrow it is supposed to snow.

The arthropods I have seen most frequently on my walks in the last few months have actually been spiders, including a couple I spotted walking on snow. So it was no surprise to find them today. I found two of them on the same sprig of the beech tree where the candy striped leaf hoppers were sunning themselves. A good place to hang out if you like to prey on insects, I would say. Arachnid Appreciation:

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I frequently find these tiny spiders on my walks, especially at night when their webs reflect the light of my flashlight, which makes them easier to see.