Young Ones

The front porch is off limits for a while:

 The birds that built the nest on the porch have finally decided it's the right place to raise a family, and the egg laying has begun.

Robins, obviously. Two eggs so far. Two more expected in the next two days. So for the next couple of weeks, we'll be going in and out the back door.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 The ladybug larvae are hatching!

 I thought at first that those two at the top were dead, because they were a different color, and weren't squirming around like the others, but then I saw they were moving a bit. I think they were more newly hatched.

 As you can see, baby ladybugs don't look anything like their parents.

To begin with, they larvae were all crawling around on their own eggs.

 Then they went after each other. I don't think they were trying to eat each other, even though they are predators.

 I came back to look at them a couple of times during the day. Notice that the two that were lighter before have darkened. Also, the three 'older' ones were crawling all over one of the 'younger' ones.

 Finally they were all in a ball.

 These were lower down on the tree. I am guessing that they hatched yesterday at least.

Larvae were all over the yard today:

This thing was attached to the stick, and and holding onto that bit of root, and waving it around. Frankly, it kind of creeped my out. That sucker was strong.

 Sawfly larvae

 I haven't been able to find the tent caterpillars for the last couple of days, but I finally spotted them today, and they are at least twice the size they were a couple of days ago. Still no tent, though, so I wonder if these really are tent caterpillars.

Two different kind of larvae on the same leaf. That's a pretty unusual sight. I think these are both caterpillars, but I didn't get a good enough look to know how many prolegs the one on the left had - or if the one on the right had any at all.

Sometimes beetles will play dead as a form of self defense. If they are crawling on a branch or something, and I get too close with the camera, they will drop to the ground, and then just lie there as if they were dead. My guess is that there are things that might like to eat them that wouldn't eat them if they found them already dead. Anyway, I spotted this beetle walking on a rock:

 As soon as it spotted me, it hurled itself over on its side. HURLED itself. It was one of the most dramatic things I have ever seen a bug do. And I wasn't even close enough to take a picture of it yet. So, I leaned in to take a picture of this drama queen of a bug, and of course it turned itself over and started walking away. Now, it's pretty annoying most of the time when bugs do this play dead act, because if I am trying to take a picture of a bug on a plant, and it drops off, often I can't find it again when it falls in the grass or whatever else is on the ground. But this one was on a rock, so it playing dead meant at least that it was staying still, so I figured I'd get a good picture of the underside at least. But no, it had to get up and start walking, which makes if very hard to get a picture. So, I put my finger down beside it and it tossed itself over again. That's when I got this shot.

 At that point it evidently decided that I was not a threat, so it turned over and started walking around again.

 Photobombed again!

 I found this tiny beetle crawling on the back of my neck. It wasn't really welcome there, but a beetle is better than a tick at least.

It flipped over, too.

Here's some flowers before we get to the Random Bugs:

 Here was a surprise for me - the wisteria over the arbor is blooming.

 It was windy today, which helped along the process of the petals falling from the crab apple tree. It's so delightful when they drift through the air, and then litter the ground.

Random Bugs:

I don't know what this is, but it looks like a bug.

 Lace bug

Sawfly?

I couldn't really tell what this thing was, because it was so small, and moving so fast I could not get a really close shot. Note the weird larva on the right.

 I think this is a robber fly.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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 No spider here, just a cool web.