Getting the Job Done

It's nice coming home from a trip, even if you were only gone for one night. You get back to your own bed, your own pillow, your own porch with bugs on it...

Backyard Bug of the Day (Photographed just before midnight):

 It's not often a moth does multiple poses for me.

I only had a short time to attract bugs when I got home, because we had not left the porch light on when we left, but it was nice to have at least a few bugs come to wish me welcome home.

Love Bugs

Today's blog, which is being written in a massive hurry, is dedicated to my wonderful husband, to whom I have been married 24 years as of today. There is a very good reason for dedicating this blog to him, and that is that without him I would probably not have a blog about bugs. He gave me my camera as a gift. He also gave me the macro lens as a gift. And the 2X extender that makes the macro lens even more macro. He also gave me the ring flash. And a brand new monopod, because I broke the previous one (and the one before that). He has made my bug photography possible, and so today I salute him, and all of the ways he has made me happy - not the least by not thinking his wife is crazy for being so fond of bugs. (He is also uploading the pictures for this post while I rush to get ready to go out).

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I think this is a dragonfly. My knowledge of the difference between dragonflies and damselflies has to do with how they hold their wings, and this one is sort of in between. But I think it's a dragonfly. So amazingly delicate...

Random Bugs:

 This is the baby bug that hatched on the picnic umbrella. None of the others have hatched yet, and today is the first time this one has moved away from the eggs. It looks like its color has darkened.

 Young assassin

 There were four bees here, until the second I got my camera ready...

 I only had time to see bees on the milkweed.

 Caught in the netting over the blueberries

Here's to love.

1,2,3

Well, this won't take long.

I was resigned to not being able to do a bug walk today because the forecast was dire and rainy, but the rain let up before we went out for the day, and I got to go out looking for bugs. Yay! But I barely found any. Boo!

I saw a lot of raindrops...

... But not a lot of bugs. Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I think this is a young tree cricket, but it could be something else, I don't know enough to be sure. It is quite small, about 1/4 inch, much smaller than a similar bug I posted a while back.

 In contrast, this is somewhat bigger than a similar bug that was Backyard Bug of the Day a few weeks ago. It could even be the exact same bug, having grown. Not very likely, but it could be.

Then there's this. And that's it for the bugs I got pictures of today. I saw several moths, but that's all. Nobody was even on the milkweed.

I found this, though. I think it is some sort of insect egg.

So, that was it for the day. Not much to tide you over, but there will probably not be a blog for the next two days; sorry about that. Instead, go out and look for bugs in your own backyard. You may find something amazing.

In Order

It's late, I procrastinated too long, and I have a headache, so let's just do that thing where I post pictures in the order I took them (and I am not looking anything up), and maybe I won't miss my deadline two nights in a row. Except I'll still put the spiders at the end... Wait, did I even get any pictures of spiders? I don't remember... I don't think so... It was not a very fruitful day of looking for tiny, living creatures in the backyard...

 Hopper

 Bee and click beetle on a tree

 Weevil

 Some sort of Hemiptera

 Some other sort of Hemiptera

 Borers of some kind

 Those awesome hopper nymphs

 No idea what the fluff is all about

 These were on the same vine.

When I took this picture, I thought the spiky nymph was just on some sort of protrusion of the vine... But seeing it on the computer, that's no vine!

I wish I had paid more attention, because that looks like a young ambush bug... I believe the name tells you why I should have kept watching...

 Most of what I saw on the milkweed today was bees.

I spotted these eggs laid in a branch on a tree last fall. I can't tell if they have hatched or not, as weird as that sounds. They look completely different than they did last time I looked at them, but not in such a way that I can tell if they are getting ready to hatch or if they already have.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I realized too late that I featured an immature katydid as Backyard Bug of the Day already, and not that long ago, and that it was even probably this same species, but this one is MUCH bigger, so I am rationalizing my choice based on that fact. Katydids almost always look angry...

 Here's how you can tell it's immature - the wings are not fully developed. I think the one that was BBotD before didn't even have wings yet.

Brace yourself for a lot more bees on milkweed here...

 It was on the cool side today, and very cloudy (it started raining just before I went inside), and this bee was in a bit of a stupor on the milkweed, which makes for easy photography (well, easier than usual. It was still kind of breezy).

 It had something stuck to its feet that tried very hard to remove.

 This is a different bee. For a very long time I think I assumed there was only one kind of bumblebee, but now I can tell that that's not true. This one is bigger, and a different color.

 A common mullein flower full of thrips

 Sharpshooter

 Sharpshooter getting ready to shoot a drop of honeydew

 Same as above, but oriented the other way

 Hoverfly

 I had to rescue this moth from drowning in a pot soaking in the sink. This is the second time recently I have had to do this. I wonder if it's the same moth...

 Don't you just hate when your antennae get wet?

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Oh, right, I did get a picture of a spider today.

I didn't see the mite when I was taking the picture.