Chilly

I am going to go all Aragorn on you (and probably mess up the quote): I told you that there would come a day when I would find no bugs, BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!

I didn't find a lot of bugs. But I found them. For quite a while I thought that today would be the day I would find no bugs, and I didn't even want to bother finishing my walk, because it was really cold and windy outside and I just didn't feel like bothering, but then I found a spider and it was all okay.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I don't know what this is, and I am not 100% sure it has not been Backyard Bug of the Day already (there was something similar the other day, but not the same kind of bug), but it's pretty, and I was happy to find it, so here it is.

I saw some weird and interesting things in the backyard today:

 Maybe this isn't interesting. But what I find interesting about it is that I don't know what these are. They are tiny things, caught in some spider silk. Are they bugs? Spiders? Seeds?

 Here's that same picture zoomed in. I have no idea.

 I think these are insect eggs. I read recently about some kind of insect that lays its eggs in a slit in a twig. I don't remember what kind of insect it was, but that is sure what these look like.

 I think this is a cocoon. Or a chrysalis. Note that it is open on one end.

 I have posted pictures of these before. What is weird(er) about this one is, what is that blob of gel like substance on one end of it?

Random Bugs:

 At this time of the season, when you think you aren't going to find any other bugs, flies look a lot more interesting

 Another springtail. With those unidentified specks.

 Still hanging around, pretending to be a thorn.

 I like snowy tree crickets because I think they look like dragons.

 I found quite a bit of activity in the rock garden today. I think that the rocks make it a warmer micro-climate than other parts of the yard. Finding this wasp was a pleasant surprise (how often do people say THAT about a wasp?).

 And inches away was this wasp (or possibly a sawfly. I can't really tell the difference sometimes).

 And there was an ant nearby, too.

 Unusual looking ladybug. I don't know it those are its natural markings, or if something happened to it. It is sitting on the solar panel of on of our path lights.

 Leaf hopper.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This is the spider that kept me going on my bug walk today.

 You'll notice that a lot of the pictures today were taken on patio furniture.