Mostly Spiders

Happy Thanksgiving! I know what you think I am going to say, that I am thankful for bugs, but that's not what I am going to say. I am thankful for the whole of the natural world, because it is glorious in its entirety and in its every tiny detail. Which includes bugs.

So, yesterday's storm did not live up to its horrible billing, but the backyard was still mostly covered with ice this morning:

The temperature was above freezing, though, so it was already melting when I went outside, and was basically a layer of slush over everything.

And speaking of the yard being covered with... something, here's something else to think about when you are considering the natural world with gratitude. Right now the backyard is covered in... what euphemism shall I use... droppings. Deer and rabbit, to be specific. It's getting so that I have to be very careful not only of where I walk, but where I set down the monopod. And I really have to be careful when I want to kneel down to take a picture down low. Now, in the past I have not spend a great deal of time out in the backyard in November, because when it got cold, I just stayed inside - I certainly wasn't walking around out there for a half hour or more every day. So I don't know if this is how it always is in the late fall/early winter, but I know this is how it is in the early spring, when it is still fairly cold. And I always figured that the reason there was so much scat around was not because the animals were hanging around the yard more, and leaving things behind, but because when the temperature is below freezing the droppings wouldn't decompose, but I had another epiphany today about it, and it is this: perhaps the dung beetles have gone dormant/died/whatever for the winter, and that is why there is so much dung around. I have been aware that dung beetles exist for many years, from watching nature documentaries, but I kind of thought that they were just in the African savannah; it wasn't until I started poring over bug books that I found out that we have them in North America. Kind of a duh moment. Anyway, I have never seen a dung beetle, but according to what I just read in my bug book*, they are mostly nocturnal, and let's face it - I am not studying the dung in the yard up close. My point is this: be thankful for the dung beetle. Because if there were no dung beetles, well, you can imagine what the world would be like. And that's all I think I need to say about that. Okay, one more thing - that's why I think insects should get more respect and appreciation - whether we know it or not, many of them are so extremely to us and to our environment that we ought to be happy that they are here, surrounding us. And if we have to get bitten by the occasional mosquito, so be it. Bugs are great.

As you have no doubt surmised not only from the title of this post, but also from the fact that this post exists at all, I did find living, active arthropod life in the backyard today. What I did not find was insects. I really did expect today to be That Day, even if yesterday's storm was not as bad as advertised, but not ten feet out the back door I found a spider. And then another. And another. I also found a springtail. But I didn't get any pictures of insects - I did see two, flying, but that was it. Still, I think it was a pretty impressive result - the backyard was covered in ice for 24 hours or so, and it was 34ºF when I went out (I think. I could be remembering wrong, it might have been 36ºF. But that is not much better).

So... Springtail:

Is this adorable, or what? I love that it has that smiley face on top of its head, even though those are just marking, and not its actual eyes. I can't see its eyes, actually. This thing is so tiny, that even as close as I can get with the macro lens (and this is it), it's still too small to see a lot of detail. I also love its purple and black coloring, and that it looks like a computer circuit. It was scooting around on the same puddle from the other day. It's pretty impressive to be able to skate on water that is not frozen. I am now kicking myself because I never thought to look at puddles during the summer. Who knows what might have been in or on them? Well, next year...

Everything else from today is a spider, so arachnopobes, this is where you check out. Unless you want to brave it; only the first spider has a fairly high creepiness factor (well, not that high. But I am trying to put myself in the mind of an arachnophobe. Anyway). Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I haven't seen a crab spider in a while.

 The rain gauge spider is still alive and kicking.

 Looking for aphids, probably. I have to wonder what all of these spiders are eating at this point. Because I am still finding spiders, but not so much spider food.