Lunch Time

Oops, I've been a bit too procrastinaty (yes, it is a word, because I just made it into one), and I have a lot of pictures today, so let's get right on to the bugs:

Backyard Bug of the Day:

This looks like it is probably a nymph of a leaf hopper, but I couldn't guess what kind from the colors and markings. Actually, it also looks like Witchie Poo from the 1970's television show H. R. Puffnstuff.

I was saved from having to either make a difficult choice or having two BBotD's today by the fact that it turns out that I didn't get any good pictures of the other candidate. Which is not much of a victory.

Backyard Bud of the Day:

 Morning glory. I had not noticed that the morning glory had buds on it yet until...

I walked out the back door and saw that it was blooming! It was a surprise to see this flower, because usually the morning glory doesn't bloom until later, and also because I forgot that I planted a color mix of seeds, so I was expecting blue. Definitely glorious.

A couple more plants:

 Pokeberries. I just think they are beautiful.

 I can't look at this without wondering if there is a bug inside that tiny hole.

It's been a rough year for the purple coneflowers.

I've got a ton of Random Bugs (I took a very long bug walk today):

 Insert weevil pun here.

 And here.

 Ah, this is one of those bugs I have been missing this summer!

You can do that fun animation thing with the next two pictures, and see the way hairstreak butterflies shift their wings. Just toggle back and forth between the pictures.

 Not a good picture of the bee, but you can see its bright red tongue (if it is a tongue? I think it works like a straw).

 I didn't see the saddleback catterpillar yesterday, since the heavy rain the other night, so it was good to spot it today.

 It had eaten a portion of this leaf, and while I was watching it turned all the way around, which was the first time I saw it move. I can see why these and the smaller parasa moth caterpillars are in a category called slug caterpillars. They move in a slug-like way, as opposed to the undulating way most caterpillars move. And it's a weird thing to watch, because their legs are underneath, so they just sort of glide. In this picture you can see the spikes on the side of the caterpillar. But don't touch!

 Another amusing thing about caterpillars is that they are standing on their dinner while they are eating, and eventually run out of room.

 I happened to be touching this leaf when the hopper hopped off, and I could actually feel the force of its jump vibrate through the leaf.

 Moth in the wild.

 This put me in mind of a line from Star Wars:Episode I - "There's always a bigger fish." Or bug, in this case. But what I was really thinking was the opposite - there's always a smaller bug - because the long legged fly is a pretty small bug, but it found something smaller to eat (in Arachnid Appreciation you will see that spiders don't have that restriction)

Milkweed bug. Not on milkweed. I have seen very few of these this year. Usually the milkweed are teeming with them.

Speaking of bugs getting eaten:

 I found these remnants of a bug - there were a couple more small pieces. I can't tell what kind of bug it was, but based on the size of the leg, it was a pretty good size. And it was blue! I wish I had seen it before something ate it.

And while we are on the subject of predation, let's have Arachnid Appreciation!
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 What's that you say? That's not a spider? Give me a sec, I'll get to that part! So, I spotted this bug just stuck in the goldenrod, which struck me as kind of odd. It was obviously dead, but how the heck could it die and just get stuck there? So, I took a closer look.

 Goldenrod spider.

This daddy-long-legs is sadly afflicted.

Lately I am seeing a lot of jumping spiders in little hideaways. I even saw one of them pull it closed today when a bee got close.

 They're not all hiding, though.

 This spider is in for a rude awakening tomorrow morning, because tomorrow is garbage day, and this spider has built its web across the opening of the garbage can.

No, I am not falling for that free hugs thing. I saw what happened to that other bug.