Late Arrival

It looks like someone didn't get the memo about Caterpillar Day yesterday. Or maybe today's Backyard Bug of the Day wanted to make a fashionably late entrance. Or wanted to stand out today, instead of blending in among a bunch of other caterpillars. I think you can guess what kind of critter I have found for Backyard Bug of the Day today. And actually, I am glad this one didn't show up yesterday, because this one is another new one, and pretty amazing, so I would have had to either make a difficult decision, or go with Co-Bugs, and I hate to do either of those things.

Here it is, Backyard Bug of the Day:

 This is not in any of my books, but the internet seems to think it is a Yellow Shouldered Slug Caterpillar. It is obviously related to yesterday's, and the saddleback, and the smaller parasa. What I can't figure out is why anyone would name this anything having to do with shoulders.

 This is how I first spotted it (the first bug I saw when I went out today. It's nice to find your BBotD right off the bat, especially when bugs are getting scarce). The unmistakeable smooshed-over-the-edge front of a slug-like caterpillar. I read today that these caterpillars don't have prolegs, like other caterpillars, they are actually like slugs underneath. I have not seen this, and it doesn't seem likely that I will, but it is interesting. And a little creepy. But it certainly explains the way them move. The thing I read only said they don't have prolegs, it didn't say they don't have real legs, so I wonder how they play into the movement thing. Caterpillars generally use their prolegs to hang on to what they are standing on, and use their real legs to hold their food, but all are used in walking. It is a puzzlement.

 This thing doesn't seem to have venomous spines, but I am not going to touch it to find out.

I took a second bug walk after dark (a short one, to look at spiders), and checked on this caterpillar. It had finished devouring the leaf it had been on earlier in the day, and moved quite a distance away to another one.  It's on an oak tree; these are not small leaves. A most impressive appetite. It was the first and the last thing I photographed today.

Backyard Bud of the Day:

 Another tree preparing for next spring.

 Daily Dandelion

 The wild grapes are ripe.

 A few flowers hanging on - primrose, I think.

 Aster.

Red clover

Bed straw

Caterpillar Check-in:

 WHTMC was onto a new leaf today. Shortly after I took this picture it bit through that last bit, and the tip fell to the ground.

 When I passed by later there was an assassin bug who was assessing the caterpillar.

 It decided to look elsewhere for a victim.

Even later, the caterpillar had made more progress. By the end of the day it had moved to another leaf, leaving this one unfinished (I think they don't like the parts that have already changed color).

 Saddleback was hungry today.

I spotted this one during my after dark walk. There are too many caterpillars that look like this for me to identify it.

I have quite a few Random Bugs today (I really should have started working on the blog earlier this evening...):

Stinkbugs

 The leaves on That Tree have changed.

I think this is a sawfly.

A few hoppers:

 If you're looking for bugs, you should know that what looks like just a blotch on a blade of grass might be a bug.

 The one in the background is the lesser of two weevils.

 Immature lace bugs in assorted sizes.

 Have you ever been stared at by a cricket?

Some kind of hairstreak butterfly, but I didn't get a look at the dorsal view of the wings, so I don't know what it is.

Net winged beetle:

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 When I spotted it, this spider was scampering wildly all over the top of this goldenrod plant. I have no idea why - I have never seen a spider do that. Yes, they move fast when there is prey stuck to their web, but what this one was doing I have no clue. I don't even think it was a reaction to my presence, because the reason I spotted it at all was the movement, and I then came closer to see what was doing it. Spiders don't have great eyesight, so I don't think it saw me coming. In this picture it had paused for a few seconds, and then it started dashing about again.

 Here it has stopped and is huddled under a tiny leaf.

Like the other orb weavers I see on my night prowls, Orb Weaver #1 has changed color a bit, but it looks a little different than the others, not so much like it has the shamrock spider pattern, though the color is right.

 It has a very pointy abdomen... I am pretty sure those lines are new, too.

Orb Weaver #3. This is the biggest one, I think.