Einstein and Bugs

I read a quote today from Albert Einstein (or purported to be from him. Frankly, I never 100% believe that any quote I see on the internet is truly something said by the person it is attributed to. But I digress): "Few are those who see with their own eyes, and feel with their own heart."

I don't know what he was referring to, because I don't know the context (and it fits with science in general, at least the eyes part) but I think that is what I am trying to do when I explore my backyard every day. I want to see nature with my own eyes. I used to watch a lot of nature shows on television (back when they had real nature shows on television. And I had a television), and it was always interesting to see how the world works. Now, I am trying to see it for myself, but without traveling to exotic places. Because it may not be an African safari, but there is a lot of life in my backyard.

Which brings us back to the circle of life from yesterday. Today I got to see the other ten percent. But I also got to see this:

 The other praying mantis brood in the bush in front of the house was born today! I missed the moment they egg case disgorged this mass of wriggling babies, but at least I got to see them like this. Actually, they were like this most of the day. By the time it was getting dark there were still some that were attached. I am not sure what that means for them - perhaps that they are not going to make it. And weirdly enough, I didn't see a lot of them in the bush, especially later in the afternoon. The ones that made it out dispersed quickly. Still, this was cool. I got some video, but I don't think I will get a chance to deal with it until tomorrow.

 They look like tiny aliens.

Here's one that hatched the other day:

More about them later...

More impending life:

But then there's that last ten percent from yesterday:

 It is a bug eat bug world. Humans are lucky enough that most of us don't have to worry about becoming prey to another animal, but for bugs...

An unrelated incident. I just found all of this on the ground. This was a pretty big bug, by the looks of it.

Back to something more pleasant. A tutorial on how to find bugs - one technique, anyway:

 Spot a leaf with insect damage.

 Turn the leaf over to see what caused the damage. (If you don't like spiders, try not to notice the spider in this picture).

These were too small for me to see if they were caterpillars or some other kind of larvae (though at the moment I am guessing the latter). With their see-through bodies you can see the green food they have eaten, and also... what they are shortly going to eliminate.

The possible ladybug intermediate stage bug was still on its plant:

Here's a preview of a couple of future BBotD's that were hanging out together on a milkweed plant. Coexisting nicely:

Can you see the bug in this picture?

Or perhaps at least its shadow?

Hey, remember the black and white polka dotted moth?

Two things: One, it landed on the living room window, so I got this picture. I love taking pictures of bugs on windows. Two, in my never-ending quest for a good bug guide I was looking through a book at a bookstore today and this moth was in it, and it is called the Grape Leaf Roller Moth! So, this would be one of the species that rolls up leaves (there are several, apparently). Though it is actually the caterpillar, and not the moth that rolls the leaves, I believe.

After all that, here's the Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Dragonfly. No idea what kind - and there are many. I kind of just go by color, so, this is a yellow dragonfly!

 It was pretty cooperative, too. I didn't get any pics from the front, but it sat still for me for quite a while.

Hmmm... my notes include the word (?) "exo" with no picture file number... I wonder what that means...

Backyard Bud of the Day:

 I used to know what this was called...

But for now let's just call it Difficult Plant to Photograph.

Here's a few more lovelies for you:

 Honeysuckle

 Blue eyed grass

Foxglove in the sunshine

I had a couple of furry visitors to the yard today:

 I heard this before I saw it, but I still didn't have time to focus.

Now for Arachnid Appreciation. One of the spiders is really cute, but if you find you are really attached to the praying mantis babies, maybe you should skip this, because one of the pictures involves one of them becoming part of the aforementioned 10%:
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Cute first:

 Another adorable baby spider. It had threads all over this leaf.

 It was on the same leaf that the caterpillars(?) were eating. It marched back and forth past them several times. I couldn't help but wonder why it didn't eat them.

 All it all it appeared adorably oblivious.

 This spider caught one of the praying mantis babies - one from the other day, it looks like. I missed the actual pounce, but the mantis was still struggling when I caught sight of them. Well, that's why praying mantises lay so many eggs... Like I said, it's a bug-eat-bug world... If this praying mantis had grown up, it would have eaten a lot of other bugs!

Now, go outside and see the world with your own eyes! (And then come back in and keep reading my blog every day).