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.