Sorting

I spent the first part of my day finalizing my choices for pictures for the exhibit at the library and ordering the prints, which was a difficult process. After three years of doing this, I have a LOT of pictures of bugs. The number of pictures that are so amazing that I want to show them off in an exhibit is much smaller, but still. I sometimes have to have two Backyard Bugs of the Day just because I have difficulty making decisions. Then, when I was done, I went outside with my camera and had a horrible thought - what if I found something so amazing today that I just had to put it in the exhibit?! Well, I guess that's not really a horrible thought. And it didn't happen, so, whew! Dodged that problem!

Actually, compared to earlier in the week, there were very few bugs around today. It was weird - even the goldenrod was forsaken. And forget the milkweed. It has been abandoned for ages. I had to look hard to find things - and the things I found did not include the weird caterpillar (whose official name is not weird caterpillar, but smaller parasa moth caterpillar). Apparently, the weird caterpillar has moved on, or been eaten, or something. At any rate, I could not find it.

I almost didn't even bother to look at today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

I saw this pair of antennae sticking out from underneath this leaf (okay, not ALL the bugs have forsaken the milkweed), and thought it was funny, but didn't bother to look because I figured it was just another snowy tree cricket. But then, for some reason I took a peek and found...

 A snowy tree cricket!  But this one is an adult, so it has those cool wings. The other ones I have been seeing have been juveniles, and an insect in a different form can be BBotD again.

 This is a male - the male has these wide, rounded wings, and the female has narrower wings.

I looked this up in another of my bug books, and it, too, mentioned the connection between temperature and the snowy tree cricket's chirps, but it gave a different mathematical equation for determining the temperature: Count the number of chirps in 13 seconds and add 40 to get the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit. Then I read an excerpt from an old book on insects on the internet that went on at length about snowy tree crickets having a full orchestra. It waxed very poetic for a science book.

Aren't these wings gorgeous?

I spotted a younger snowy tree cricket today, too:

One of the things I read said there are two kinds of tree crickets, and one of them hangs out in trees and shrubs, while the other doesn't. Which still leaves the question of why it is called a tree cricket... Anyway, this one is hiding in a dead milkweed leaf.

Backyard Bud of the Day:

Right now I am assuming everything is either goldenrod or asters. This looks more like asters.

When I went looking for the weird caterpillar, I found this instead on my hazelnut bush that is nearby:

 It actually does a pretty good job of masquerading as the edge of the leaf, turned brown, but I spotted it anyway. I was not pleased that it was eating my hazelnut bush's leaves, but I don't think this one caterpillar can do much damage. Speaking of damage, I hope those white things on its side are not parasites of some kind...

 The internet can't seem to agree on the species, but it is possibly a checkered fringe prominent moth caterpillar.

 I noticed its similarity to the tiny caterpillars on the nearby oak sapling. (By the way, I checked back to Tuesday's blog, and yes, these looked different a few days ago - the part that is brown now was green then). These could be the same kind. I prefer them on the oak tree rather than the hazelnut.

 Still coexisting peacefully. Two of them are even face to face.

 They really don't like those egg casings, though. Also I have to wonder about the fact that there are so many more eggs on the leaf than caterpillars. I did spot one a few days ago on another leaf, but not so many as these eggs would accommodate.

More caterpillars:

Here are the eggs from yesterday.

They have turned light brown, too. If you look closely you can see their texture - I'll try to get a closer picture tomorrow - I didn't realize they were interesting enough up close to be worth it.

Cocoon:

 On a cedar tree. No idea what's inside.

Pupating ladybug.

Just a few random bugs today:

 Ages ago I said that there were some bugs that eat bird droppings. I was not making that up. Yeesh, no wonder they call this a stinkbug.

 Leaf hopper.

 Katydid on the roof.

 Is it just me, or does this look a little bit like Godzilla?

Notice this ambush bug's wings developing.

Why are these flowers not swarming with bugs?

Believe it or not, I have only one spider today for Arachnid Appreciation:
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I think this is one that I haven't posted in the recent Spider Spectacular. I have lost count of how many species it's been in the last two weeks, but it has to be around 20.

It's really cold tonight - I wonder how many bugs I will find tomorrow?

How to Suceed in Bugness

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wish I could be Backyard Bug of the Day. I wonder what I have to do to win that honor." Well, today, with the help of today's Backyard Bug of the Day, I will tell you.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 First, be an insect. You don't have to be a true bug, which is an insect in the order Hemiptera, distinguished by their mouth parts. You used to be eligible as an arachnid, but now that I have Arachnid Appreciation, spiders don't tend to get chosen for BBotD. By the way, check out the mouth parts of this guy! I think it is a species of fly.

Sitting still to have your picture taken is crucial, even if it's just long enough for me to focus and shoot once.

 You have a better chance if you let me take shots from several angles.

 Having an outstanding, or at least interesting, feature is helpful. Like cool, striped eyes. (This picture is zoomed in, which is why it's so grainy. But those are some cool eyes, eh?).

 Having really cool wings is always a plus.

It definitely helps your case if I have never seen you before, but if I have seen you before, and you have still never been chosen as Backyard Bug of the Day, perhaps because you are not very interesting, your best bet is to sit really, really, still and let me take lots of pictures of you. Which, for the record, is not what today's Backyard Bug of the Day did. However, it did stick around for a while, and pose many different ways, it just moved a little too fast most of the time. But it was chosen anyway, because I have never seen it before, and it has really cool eyes AND really cool wings.

And that's it! Now you know how to become Backyard Bug of the Day!

Backyard Bud of the Day:

Goldenrod. For some reason some of the buds are purple.

I actually had to make a choice for Backyard Bud of the Day today. But the great thing about buds, as opposed to bugs, is I know exactly where to find the other ones that didn't get chosen so I can use them tomorrow.

Remember that bug that didn't get chosen as Backyard Bug of the Day yesterday because it wouldn't sit still? Well, it could have been chosen today, because I found it again. In fact, I found several:

 This little one was knocked out of the scrum.

 I am pretty sure I heard it say, "Whatever."

I believe the two wing covers (and that wing on the top) on the outside belong to the female. There appear to be three others involved, after the one was knocked out. The one that was ejected appears smaller than the others.

While we have insect reproduction in the forefront of our minds, here's the eggs the moth laid last night:

Pearly white. I noticed more eggs elsewhere on the deer netting that were a slightly darker color. I am guessing they have been there longer, and feel woefully unattentive for not having noticed them there before. But who looks at deer netting with great interest? Anyway, I'll keep an eye on these eggs.

While we are catching up on things, I got my wish, and saw the weird caterpillar moving today. In case you are wondering, it glides. I tried to get video, but made a mistake, so there is none - not that it would have been good, because it was very windy today. Anyway, I did get pictures:

 Gliding...

 Gliding...

 It wraps itself around the edge of the leaf when it eats.

Very weird. But it ate a lot today.

More caterpillars:

 White hickory tussock moth caterpillar. With venomous spines!

 I posted pics of these a few days ago, and showed some eggs on the leaf, and mentioned that monarch caterpillars eat their egg casings after they hatch. I noted that these caterpillars had not done that. From this picture you can see that they really don't want to eat the egg casings. If, that is, these are even their egg casings. I have no proof of that. There are a couple of sets of them on this leaf, though.

 I love the threat display. Seriously? I think I could take you.

I need to go back and look at what these looked like when I first saw them, because I think they have changed...

This is turning out to be a rather Lepidoptera-centric blog - a cocoon:

And moths in the wild:

Just a couple of random bugs today:

And now, Arachnid Appreciation!

They're pretty scary looking today - you've been warned.
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 This is the new spider from last night, the one with the web that went way up into a tree. It's a little less intimidating during the day. I think it's adorable the way spiders try to make themselves look invisible by hiding under their own legs.

 It moved its web a little bit tonight, which is good, because it went out into the path, and was destined to get broken.

 And this is a new spider tonight, that moved into the vacant spot where Spider #2 used to be. I know this is confusing for you, but trust me, it makes sense in my head.

 This is a different species than the others - even different from last night's new spider.

Okay, now even I am confused. Let's just leave it at There Are Many Kinds of Spiders in the Backyard.

A rare glimpse of the other side of this spider - the largest (and Spider #3, if you're keeping track).