Dodging Rain

Another gloomy, rainy day in the backyard, but the rain was so sporadic that I was able to do my bug walk by just heading into the wooded areas when it started to rain, and the open areas when it stopped. This resulted in a much less methodical meandering than I usually engage in, but that's not a bad thing. At first I thought I wasn't going to find anything but gypsy moth caterpillars and slugs (ugh), but I persevered and found more interesting things.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I think this is some kind of bee fly.

 Eastern tent caterpillar

 The discarded exoskeleton of some king of hopper

 March fly

 This looks like yesterday's Backyard Bug of the Day, but it is actually a different species, an eight-spotted forester moth. Highly uncooperative.

 Mayfly

 Assassin bug

 At first I thought this was a gypsy moth caterpillar, but I think it is actually some kind of tent caterpillar? I'm really not sure - it doesn't seem to have the right spots for the GMC, but maybe it's just an instar that hasn't developed them yet? It would be very nice if I could find a good picture of ALL the instars somewhere, but so far I haven't, and my confusion here is just adding to the bad information on the internet... Sorry about that...

 Some kind of Hemiptera nymph

 Aphids tending their young

 Some kind of larvae–not caterpillars

 Wasp

 A very cuddly pair of hoppers.

 This might be a tufted bird dropping moth. It's so much prettier than its name, but I can see how in certain circumstances if would look like bird droppings.

 Beetle–potato beetle, I think.

 This is only indirectly a picture of an insect. It is a gall on an oak tree, about the size of a golf ball. There is an insect larva inside.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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A Rainy Day

I'm sorry to say that I don't have much to show you today. It rained all day; mostly it was just drizzle, but that is enough to keep my camera inside. However, we went out for the evening, and when we came home the porch light had attracted a few insects, and I got pictures of a couple of them.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Grape leaf roller moth. When I see these out in the yard during the daytime they are almost impossible to approach close enough to get a picture, and they usually land on the underside of leaves, which makes it even harder to get a shot. But when they are on the front porch at night they are a bit more placid about photos.

Another small moth

Home

I'm sorry, but I have a horrible headache, and am going to have to put off writing today's blog until tomorrow. My backyard has transformed since I was last able to have a walk there, and it is wonderful. The trees are fully leafed out, and there are many flowers in bloom. I had a wonderful time on my trip, but I am happy to be home.

I got here in time to see the irises blooming.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

It's hard not to feel like the bugs are welcoming me back when I opened my front door in the morning and found this on the screen. It stayed there all day.

 Quite a beautiful moth.

What I found out the back door was less welcome:

 The tree growing through the back porch is covered with gypsy moth caterpillars. Sigh. I guess all the rain in the last month has not activated the fungus that is supposed to kill them. Here you can see that one of them has shed its skin.

The backyard was full of caterpillars today:

 

 I'm not sure if these are not-yet-hatched caterpillars, but that's what it looks like.

There were other insects, too:

 Beetle

 Some kind of Hemiptera

 Hover fly

 Moth

 Ants tending their aphids

 Six-spotted tiger beetle. These are so shy this year, I can't seem to get closer than this.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Home Again

Hello again! I am home! After almost 3 weeks away, I returned to my backyard today. It was nearly dark when I returned from my trip, so I was unable to make a proper visit, but I saw how lovely it has become while I was away. I saw some cool bugs on my trip, but I didn't have my macro lens, so I didn't take pictures of them (except for one beetle), but I would not be able to share them here, because they weren't taken in my backyard. I hope while I was gone you took the opportunity to go outside and look for your own bugs.

I turned on my porch light when I got home, in hopes of attracting some insects, and I did.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Tiny, blue-eyed moth. No idea what kind it is, but it's pretty.

I have all moths, which is not because that was all that I saw on the porch, it's just all I got pictures of. There were a few inaccessible beetles, too.

And that's all for today. I am looking forward to a walk in my backyard tomorrow!