Standing Still

Do you know what this is?

Yes, a spider web, but also RAIN! It was totally unexpected. The forecast said there was about a 2% chance of rain. We don't get rain when there is a 90% chance of it. Okay, yes, it was just enough to make everything wet, and it barely registered in the rain gauge at all, but for some reason this unexpected dampening made me feel kind of giddy.

And now you know why I don't live in a desert (I almost wrote dessert. There are different reasons why I don't live in a dessert). Yeah, I whine when we get a lot of rain, but I can't deal with no rain, either. I like a balance.

Along with the rain came cooler daytime temperatures than we have had in months - I don't think it hit 70ºF today, and I am not sure the bugs liked it. Specifically, the bees. Even more specifically, the bumblebees. They were very sluggish today. Motionless, in many cases.

Which makes them very easy to photograph, as long as they are in a good place, in a good pose:

I have chosen a bee for Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I chose it just for that cute face. I don't choose bees very often for Backyard Bug of the Day (and I am going back to three years ago when I started this project on facebook, not just talking about this blog), in part because it is hard to get a good picture of one, but in part because they just seem so common to me that I tend to overlook them a lot. It's the same reason I don't feature ants as BBotD. But it also has a lot to do with the fact that there are so many that look similar that I don't know if I am seeing something new, or something I have seen every day. I read somewhere that there are over 20,000 species of bees in the world. That was mind boggling to me. I knew there was more than one kind, and would probably have guessed that I have seen about 5 (before BBotD) but over 20,000?!? Obviously I don't have all of those in my yard, but I couldn't even begin to guess how many kinds there are in my yard. It's easier with spiders, because they look more different from each other. But when I don't even always know if I am looking at a bee, a wasp, or a fly? Well, let's just say that doing this Backyard Bug of the Day project has taught me a couple of things that are not directly about bugs, and one of them is that for the first 4 decades or so of my life I was not very observant. Another is that I don't know very much about the world that surrounds me. However, I am learning a lot, and that's what's important, right?

However, I still chose this bee just because it's cute.

Well, cute and almost completely immobile, so I was able to get that cute face shot. I didn't do as well with getting a full body shot. This, sadly, is the best one.

In other news, I may be allergic to goldenrod. However, it is only a mild allergy, compared to some of my others, so I think it is manageable without giving up Backyard Bug of the Day.

I don't have a bud today, but I do have this:

The prettiest gall I have ever seen. A quick internet search says this is an oak marble gall, and it is formed when a certain species of wasp lays its egg in a leaf bud on an oak. More information from the internet: ink has been made from oak galls since Roman times (though I don't know if they used this specific kind). So now that little bit from the movie National Treasure, where Nicolas Cage is talking about iron gall ink, is filled out for me a little bit more with that information. See, I am learning things!

Wait, I have a file on my list entitled Bud. Did I find a Backyard Bud of the Day?

Ah, yes. This is sort of bud-like. It is on a goldenrod, and I assume that when those open, the seeds will be inside. Remember when I said that in the past I have not been very observant? Well, up until this year I have never noticed this stage of the goldenrod. I know what the plant looks like when it has gone to see, but I never noticed an interim stage between flowers and seeds. So, this is a bud-ish situation. Anyway, it's pretty. But I did use some as Backyard Bud once before, now that I think of it... Well, that was probably a different species of goldenrod. There are several.

There are tons of Random Bugs today:

 Caterpillar. Yes, I zoomed it in on my computer to count the prolegs.

I think this is a sawfly.

 It has been a while since I have seen an ambush bug. Note the mite biting it. I am really starting to wonder about these mites. This year is the first time I have seen them so abundant. And they are biting all different kinds of bugs. What I wonder is, does it harm/kill the bugs? Do they know the mites are there? Could they get them off if they wanted to?

 I spotted an immature ambush bug, too. They were kind of nearby by my standards, but for a bug that six feet or so is probably a greater sense of separation.

I found a couple of these, far from where I saw the other one (or ones, if that's what the tiny ones were) last month.

 I hate to brag, but I impress myself sometimes when I spot these things. Sure, it's obvious when you see the picture, but out in the yard, this was an impressive catch.

Another stink bug on The Tree in the daytime. My hypothesis is not holding up.

 Another stink bug.

 I saw this assassin bug creep under a leaf, and then it backed out, pulling this little beetle along. It has impaled the beetle with its proboscis. Note, however, that the while the assassin bug is sucking the life out of the beetle, a mite is feeding on the assassin bug.

Sawfly larvae.

 I am used to seeing them do the ninja move when they feel threatened. I don't think I have ever seen them follow up with this.

 Moth in the wild. I promise, I will stop posting these at some point. But look at the pretty blue eyes!

This is the best view I have had of the camouflage looper. I am pretty sure the head is at the top this time.

 Acanalonia bivittata. Seriously, who names these things?

 Unless I am mistaken, something has taken a bite out of this one.

 Yes, I know, we don't like mosquitoes, but from an aesthetic standpoint, they are rather fascinating.

 This bug would have been Backyard Bug of the Day if I had gotten a picture of it from the side. Some day, perhaps... And if so, it will knock your socks off.

This bug is just a brat.

Backyard Amphibian of the Day:

 It was quite hefty, for a toad in my backyard. And yet, I almost stepped on it.

I am going to start out with a couple of spider webs for Arachnid Appreciation. Nothing to be freaked out about:

 What can I say, I like rain on spider webs.

Okay, now for the actual arachnids in Arachnid Appreciation:
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 This spider is lacking a few things...

 But when the picture is zoomed in... Is that a regrown front leg? That has not completely re-grown, and is not hairy yet?

Inadvertent spider shot. I was taking a picture of the vine. Do you see it?

 This sort of looks like a spined micrathena, but not really.

 More mite bites!

I posted a picture of this the other day. Given that this spider is still in the same spot, clutching this packet, I am going with my hypothesis that it is an egg sac, not wrapped up prey.