Dew

You would think that after being surprised a certain number of times a person would become unsurprisable (I don't think that's a word), because you start to expect surprises, and then they're not surprises anymore. Well, I am still being surprised by my backyard.

Aside from the obvious, that every day I am surprised that there are still bugs out there - because every day deeper into winter (and let's face it - winter doesn't really start on December 20-something, or even on December 1, as in meteorological winter), it is more surprising to find something alive outside from the category of arthropods (I can never remember - kingdom? Phylum? I think it's phylum). No, it is the specific things that I find on any given day that surprise me.

Like this:

 I think I am going to award this cricket with Backyard Bug of the Day status right now. Only because it is purple and green, and I have never seen that before. That is probably just the effect of the dew on it, but I don't care, this little beauty is now Backyard Bug of the Day.

Slightly closer shot, because I couldn't decide which was better. Now, I stopped hearing crickets in the yard about a week ago, and I figured that that was it for them, that they had died. But I just read somewhere (on the internet, so I don't really trust the information) that they don't necessarily die in the winter, they go into a stage called diapause. There are different kinds of diapause (going into a cocoon to pupate is one, I think), and this particular kind is basically the insect's metabolism slows down to an extreme when it's in duress, which means it doesn't need food, which means it just stays there in a dormant state until things get better. And getting better in this case would be getting warm in the spring. So, how did I find this cricket, you are wondering? Well, there's a piece of wood on the ground near the house, from a project we have not finished cleaning up after, and I happened to nudge it aside with my foot today during my bug walk. I saw a lot of scurrying, and then this cricket, sitting in a little hole under the board, covered in moisture. It didn't move, so I suppose it could be dead, but I choose to believe it's in diapause.

Having said that, though, today was not a cold day. My standards have deteriorated, but it actually felt quite warm to me - it was almost 50ºF.

One thing I have noticed in the backyard lately is that the above cricket notwithstanding, pretty much everything I have been finding is really small. Small hoppers (when I find them), small spiders, springtails... There are some exceptions, like some of the flies, but mostly it's the littlest things that are holding out against the cold.

Random Bugs:

 I saw lots of gnats today. Mostly flying. And they're very small.

 I also saw lots of springtails. Or things I think are springtails.

 This one I am not sure about. But I think it is. It's a little bigger than the other springtails.

It also did not want its picture taken.

 Unfortunately, I forgot to change the settings on my camera for this one, but I wanted to post it anyway because of the lovely gold fuzz on this fly.

Ladybug. I saw another one, too. Still looking for a place to hibernate (which, by the way, is not the same thing as diapause, but the thing I read didn't explain the difference).

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 A real beauty.