Guessing Games

Today is my birthday! Mother Nature did NOT give me a nice present. It was cold, dark and rainy, which is the kind of weather bugs hate - I almost didn't get to go out to do a bug walk at all. Family members were more generous; I got a new monopod and backup batteries for my camera. Things that will make my photography easier. Huzzah!

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 A leafhopper. The specific species is not in any of my books. I love its intricate pattern.

When I was posting so many pictures of assassin bugs yesterday I should have posted some of these:

 There are about a million of these in the backyard. I usually don't bother to take pictures of them, because they don't photograph well, but sometimes I give it a try.

There are so many assassin bugs, of various species, in my backyard that I sometimes entertain the idea that the reason I am having so much trouble finding bugs this year is because the assassins are killing them all. But there must be enough bugs around to provide food for all those assassins...

Random Bugs:

 This time of year I often play a fun game called "Is That a Bug or a Dried Leaf?" The object of the game is to determine as quickly as possible whether I am looking at an insect or a bit of dead foliage. I really thought this was a dried leaf at first, something made me look closer, and then I saw that it was a bug ON a dried leaf.

 It took me a while to figure out it was actually a bug on another bug! (And these are bugs, true bugs. Note the proboscides. These are Hemiptera. I can never figure out if they are plant eaters or bug eaters, though. There are too many bugs of both kinds that look like this.

 Even the bees were scarce today. The only ones I saw were sluggish bumblebees, and even they were in short supply. Except on this particular plant.

 Dagger moth caterpillar (I think). Spotted Apatelodes. It's a little bedraggled from the rain. On the left you can see a bit of its face as it eats the leaf. Also on the left, on the leaf behind it, is a stinkbug. They are on That Tree, of course.

 Firefly. I haven't seen one of these in ages.

 Aphid

 Cranefly. With rain.

 Leafhopper

 Praying mantis with rain.

 I have mentioned a number of times the difficulty sometimes in discerning whether a thing is an insect or bird droppings. I had a hard time with this one. I am 99% sure this is insectoid - specifically, a caterpillar. What I can't decide is whether it is dead, or whether it is chrysalized.

Here's the other end of it. If it is chrysalized, I am not sure that is the most secure attatchment to the plant. However, as usual, I have to trust that the caterpillar knows what it's doing. Unless it's dead.

 I noticed two interesting things about this wasp. First, that it appears to be missing most of one of its legs. Second, that it is holding onto the stem with its mandibles. Also, it was not moving at all, which I assume is because it was cold.

 Ambush bug.

 Is it just me, or does its head look like a cartoon puppy?

See?

This white hickory tussock moth caterpillar seems to have a bit of a pinkish hue.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This spider was crawling up a thread across the path. I went around.