The End is Near

Did you miss me yesterday? I wasn't slacking off, and I haven't quit, but it rained all day, so I didn't get to do a bug walk, and not a single bug was attracted to the porch light, so I had nothing to share. I think that was the only day all year that I was completely unable to go out and look for bugs because of rain. Every other time, even days when we got 3 inches of rain, it has slacked off at some point so that I could go find bugs. I have very little to share today, either. The high the last two days has been in the 40's, and the overnight temperatures have been in the 30s, so most of the bugs are done for the year.

When I went outside for my bug walk today it was cold and there were fierce winds roaring through the treetops. I am not a fan of wind, especially cold wind, but it is fascinating in its way. During a moment of calm (which were few today), you can suddenly hear the roar in the distance, and you can actually hear it coming closer and closer, tearing through the tops of the trees in the woods. You can see them tossing and bending, and the wind comes like a wave, until finally the front arrives, and all around you the trees are being lashed about, and it is so, so loud. And biting cold. And even if there were any bugs to photograph, it would be impossible to do so, because whatever they might be sitting on is tearing violently back and forth. I would guess that whatever bugs are still around were hiding somewhere more secure than on a windblown leaf.

Actually, of the bugs I saw today, almost all of them were on the lawn chair. I looked there first when I went out to find bugs, and was surprised at my success there; it was not equaled elsewhere in the yard. I might as well have spared myself a very cold walk.

Amazingly, I found something new for today. Backyard Bug of the Day:

 This might be a springtail, which means that not only is it not a bug (i.e., a Hemiptera), it is not even an insect. I am not clear on the reason why springtails are not insects, but the scientific powers that be have determined that they are not an I take their word for it (even though I reject their decision that Pluto is not a planet. Though those would be different scientists). I could be wrong - there isn't a springtail in my book that looks like this except for an aquatic one, but I still think that might be what it is. I am trying to figure out a way to convey to you how tiny this thing is, but I can't, really. Maybe you can get an idea if I say that this is as close as I could get to it with my lens, and yet it is still tiny in the picture. Looking at the periods at the end of the sentences of this blog, I think that they might be bigger than this tiny creature. This was so small there is no way I would ever have seen it if it was not moving. And bright yellow on a blue surface.

See? Tiny. But believe me, it's still tinier than this makes it look. Actually, come to think of it, if you watch THIS VIDEO, my ladybug video, right around the 1:55 mark you can see something really, really tiny crawling around a little above and to the left of the ladybug. That might be one of these. You can compare it to the size of the ladybug and the aphids.

There aren't many Random Bugs today:

 Here is the one aphid I saw today. On the lawn chair.

 The wind blew open the top of the garden hose winder, and I saw a few things inside. There were several of these cocoons...

 And this, which I am guessing is also a cocoon of some kind.

 I think this is a bug?

 If it is, it is one I have never seen before. But since I am not 100% sure it's a bug, I couldn't make it Co-Bug of the Day. But it sure looks buggish.

 Hey, look who's still hanging around? Only one wasp today, on the usual flowers. I almost didn't bother to look, because I didn't think there would be anything there, but I did, and there was. Then I was sure it had to be dead, but it moved one of its legs very slowly, so it's not dead. Yet. This weather can't be all that comfortable for it.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Curled up on the lawn chair.