What?

Most days even if I don't do my blog until late in the evening, and I took pictures in the morning, I have a sense all along about what I want it to be about, and what bugs and buds and whatevers I am going to post, but today, I am drawing a complete blank. I can't even remember what I took pictures of. So now, I am going to open the file and be totally surprised by what's in there...

Just for fun, I am going to post things in the order that I took them, not in the kind of order that I always think makes sense, but probably means nothing to anyone else.

First up: Eggs!

They've hatched! Except for two of them. No sign of the young'uns, so they either skedaddled or were eaten. Let's assume the former. Sadly, this means I still have no idea what these were.

Backyard Bud of the Day:

And he's what it opens up to be:

I think we are going to have Backyard Co-Bugs of the Day, today. Here's Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 Tree hopper. So cute.

Remember that possible bug egg I saw yesterday?

I think this is where it was. I am going to assume it hatched, and whatever was inside ate the part of the leaf where it was, and moved on.

Interesting Backyard Bug Behavior:

 A larva on a leaf, with a layer of silk over it. I imagine this is meant to be protective, but I don't know how - I can see right through it...

Except when the light hits it at a different angle.

More Backyard Bug Behavior:

There should be a picture of a daddy long legs here, but I'll put it at the end, in Arachnid Appreciation.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 This is a candy striped leaf hopper. It has another name, too, but I don't remember what it is. This is one of the best Backyard Bugs of the Day EVER. In the grand scheme of things this is a repeat from the first year, but it's new for the blog (and I am allowed repeats from the past this year, according to my rules).

I've zoomed this picture in - sometimes I can get really close shots of these, but a lot of the time it jumps away if I get close - like it did today. I got a glimpse of it shooting stuff out its back end - and I found out what that is - sugar water. The bug (and this is another Hemiptera, or true bug) sucks juices from plants, and it gets both protein and sugar from them. It wants the protein, but not the sugar, so it shoots sugar water out. The reason it shoots it away is to not attract predators, but there is a species of moth that feeds exclusively on the sugar water that leaf and tree hoppers shoot out their back ends - it loops its tongue near the bug's 'shooter' and catches the tiny drops when they shoot out. I am not making this up. Maybe Richard Attenborough is, but I am not. Yes, I learned this from the bug documentaries I have been watching.

There should be two spiders here, but those will go at the end...

Ah, here's something you'll be excited to see!

This was the first transforming ladybug I found, and today this is what I came across - a ladybug and a whatever-that-is with a split in it. It sure looks to me like this ladybug busted out of there. According to my bug book, that thing (or rather, that thing when the bug is still in it), is a pupa, so I guess I was wrong about the whole nymph/incomplete metamorphosis thing. They hatch as larva (makes soooooo much more sense, because they don't look like ladybugs!) and pupate, and then emerge as adults. And this is why you shouldn't trust any information you find on the internet! Also, given how neatly this one seems to have emerged, it would appear that the one from the other day probably fell victim to something before it finished its metamorphosis.

Nice camouflage.

A bridge:

Another spider here...

Dramatic flower:

This might be lady's thumb.

This is the size grasshopper I am used to seeing at this point in the summer:

Just a web, no spider.

Here's what those grass flowers look like. 

 Weird.

Ah, six spotted tiger beetle! Usually they are skittish around people, but this one landed on the side of the house just inches away from me where I was working.

Bunny.

Backyard Bird of the Day:

 Dramatic hummingbird.

I took this picture of a moth with the telephoto lens.

Now for Arachnid Appreciation! I would say these are all pretty mild in terms of creepiness. But I have zoomed one of them in a lot, so... brace yourself, arachnophobes.
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 It's hard to hide when you're a daddy-longlegs.

Zoomed in on the picture you can see the spinneret.

So, that's my day in the backyard. I hope you enjoyed it!