Look, Don't Touch

I know my pictures make it look like I am up close and personal with the bugs, but I have my limits. I avoid touching them. There are too many of them that bite, or have venomous spines, or sting, or who knows what else, so I keep the camera between me and the bugs. I am even cautious about touching the plants they are on, and not just because touching the plants often scares them away. I don't want to grab onto a leaf and find out there was something with venomous spines on the other side that I didn't see because I was so intent on the bug I was looking at. Not to mention a lot of the plants have spines of their own (though not venomous). Well, today I grabbed onto a plant stem to steady it so I could take a picture, and the bug, who was trying to avoid the camera, chose to crawl onto my hand. I didn't have an "AAAAH! THERE'S A BUG ON ME!!!" reaction, but I did not consider it an ideal situation, partly because it's hard to take pictures of bugs that are on your own hand. But fine, it wasn't a biting or stinging kind. However, it started on a course up my arm, and that I was really not cool with, so I tried to get it to crawl back onto the plant. It didn't want to crawl back onto the plant, and expressed its dislike of my plan by peeing on me. Not cool. Still, it was a cool bug, and I got some decent pictures, so it was a candidate for Backyard Bug of the Day. Then I found another bug, one that I have been looking for and not finding this summer, so I decided that that bug should be Backyard Bug of the Day (side note: that bug tried to pee on me, too, but it missed). However, in the end I decided to make the Co-Bugs of the Day because, as has been well documented, I am wishy-washy.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Ailanthus webworm moth. I have to look up that name every time I want to know what it is. I think it is a gorgeous moth, but one that almost doesn't look like a moth. Actually, it looks like ugly 1970's wallpaper. But this moth makes it work. I found the moth on a tree (I guess if the tree crickets aren't using it...), but in the past I have always found them either on goldenrod or my front porch.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 As best I can find out, this is an immature stink bug. One of my books refers to it (and the one in the book doesn't look exactly like this, so I am just assuming this is what it is) as a 'mature larva,' which seems oxymoronic to me. At any rate, it looks like a superhero emblem. Bugs are pretty well represented in superhero-dom - Spiderman (I know, spiders are not insects, they are arachnids. Go along here), The Tick (yes, I know, ticks are also arachnids), Ant-Man, Green Hornet, I think there's one called The Wasp... there could be others; comic books are not my thing. Anyway, this could be the emblem for Stinkbug. I don't want to speculate on what his or her powers would be.

 Fun bug fact: mature stinkbug larvae have red urine. This is only one spot where it got me.

Here's a rare treat - Backyard Bird of the Day:

I think this is a phoebe.

Backyard Bud of the Day:

It's a little surprising to find a tree that is getting ready to bloom this late in the year.

I have a lot of Random Bugs today:

 Japanese beetle

 Another shot of one of today's BBotDs with a candy striped leaf hopper. I am constantly amazed at how blase bugs can be about the close proximity of other bugs, but I guess if neither is trying to eat the other, there's not much to be concerned about.

 There were lots of other bugs on the same plant (a stem of balloon flowers), including these two of those most elusive leaf hoppers. There was actually a third one that hopped off before I could take the picture, and a couple of other bugs as well on the same stem.

 The bees that I think are honeybees are still in abundance on the goldenrod. They are hard to photograph because they are taking that busy bee thing very seriously.

 This caterpillar has been on the same tree for weeks. This is the tree the tiger swallowtail caterpillar was on months ago. It is a very small tree, but very popular.

 Eye test (no, that is not the name of the bug).

 I am not sure if this is a katydid or a grasshopper. I think it's a katydid.

 Leaf hopper. They do a good glare.

 Romantically inclined moths in the wild.

 I am not sure if this is a bee or a fly. It's hard for me to tell sometimes.

 It's quite handsome, whatever it is.

 Caterpillar with excellent camouflage. That didn't stop me from spotting it, though.

 I think this is a cuckoo wasp.

 Moth in the wild. It has a deformed wing, but obviously it can still fly.

I wasn't sure if I should put these next two in Arachnid Appreciation, or leave them as Random Bugs, because they are bugs, but they are caught in a spider web. I decided to go with bugs. Maybe these are a trifle graphic for some people, but this is life as a bug.

 This one was still alive and kicking. The spider was obviously content to let it do so, and remained in its leaf tent.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Just one spider today:

Dining on cricket.