Flash!

Backyard Bug News Flash - literally - I did see fireflies last night! I like to look out the back door or the window before I go to bed, and when I looked out last night I saw one firefly flickering across the backyard. Tonight there are a few more. It's a happy moment every summer when I see them.

Don't expect pictures, though. Those are hard to come by.

Speaking of looking out of windows, all day I was seeing butterflies whenever I looked outside. So many different kinds, all over. Not that I saw them when I was outside, but seeing butterflies always makes me smile, whether I get a picture or not.

In contrast to yesterday when I took about 300 pictures, today I took less than 100. As soon as I turned on my camera (when I found a bug just steps from the back porch), I noticed that the battery was almost dead. Every picture I took could have been my last for the day.

So, Backyard Bug of the Day:

This is a new bug for me, which is pretty exciting at this stage of the Backyard Bug of the Day game. I never would have thought that two years into doing this there would be anything left in my backyard that I have never seen. Naturally I have no idea what it is, but the red part behind the head is similar to what a lot of fireflies have so maybe it's some kind of firefly. It's definitely related.

Once I get everything I need I sometimes contemplate giving up for the day, and I especially considered that today, when I didn't think I would even be able to take many pictures, but I kept looking around, and found this:

 I found several of these caterpillars on the trunk of a tree - three on one side, fairly close together, and one on the opposite side. Mostly kind of low, near the bottom. They were all kind of melded into the grooves of the bark. They were also all facing head down, as if they were on their way down the tree (which makes sense if they had been eating the leaves, were now full grown, and were leaving the tree to pupate). They were also not moving at all.

 I went and checked out the tree around dusk (when I went out to see if I could find any fireflies), and the caterpillars were all gone. Off pupating somewhere, I hope. I have no idea what kind they are, so I don't know what they will be when they emerge from their cocoon or chrysalis.

I found this caterpillar on the same tree. It's a different kind, but also hiding in the grooves of the bark. At first glance its camouflage was pretty good, because I thought it was a twig, but how would a twig get into a groove in the bark? This caterpillar was facing up the tree, for whatever that's worth.

Here's a Bonus Bug for you, too:

And Backyard Bud of the Day:

And Daily Dandelion:

A lack of perfection and symmetry is very charming in flowers.

Speaking of flowers...

By the way, yes, I have noticed that there seem to be more plants than bugs on my bug blog. But I am always holding back bugs in case I get a chance to feature them as BBotD on another day.

I guess I really have to talk about the rules at some point...

But not now. Right now, I am going to appreciate an arachnid:
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I've talked about the joy of finding a Backyard Bug of the Day right after walking outside. Well, I found this arachnid to appreciate as soon as I opened the back door - it was on the glass of the storm door. I like to see bugs and spiders on windows, because I get a different view of them that way. Also, they often can't see me and my camera, depending on where their eyes are placed, so they can sometimes be more cooperative about having their picture taken that way. This one seemed to be aware of me, however.

Now that I have fireflies in the backyard, it feels like summer. I went out after dinner and saw a few. Forget astronomical calendars, or Memorial Day weekend, or the weather, or the end of the school year (my husband is a teacher), for me it's summer when I see fireflies.

Happy First Day of Summer.