The Bugs in the Backyard: Up, Up, and Away!

While we're on the subject of flying, today was the big day for the robins on the front porch.

I noticed when I went out to get the newspaper that one of the young ones was sitting on the edge of the nest. I went in and got my camera, and took this picture. Shortly after, the baby flew about 20 feet and landed under a nearby tree, the very tree where one of the parents was sitting and calling to it. When I saw that I checked the nest, to see if that had been the first or the last baby to fly, and the nest was empty.

I didn't see either of the babies after that, but I surmise they are still nearby, because the parents still get snippy when I approach the porch area. The parents will continue to look after the babies - now fledglings - for a while until they are better fliers and able to look after themselves.

And we came in the front door when we got home this evening.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

Little Wood Satyr. I see these a lot, flying just above the ground, hardly ever stopping for anything. But this one needed a rest for a few moments today.

Hopper of some kind

I am pretty sure this is a moth, but while I can find several that look sort of like it in my books, none look exactly like it. Which brings up another subject: I was at a bookstore tonight looking at field guides of moths, butterflies, and caterpillars (well, I wasn't looking AT field guides of caterpillars, I was looking FOR field guides of caterpillars. There weren't any), and I find the entire collection to be terribly unsatisfactory. None of them have enough species in them, the butterfly books don't always show dorsal and ventral views, which can be extremely different on some butterflies, and they don't show many caterpillars at all. One guide had a single page of caterpillars, about ten species in all, including the Monarch caterpillar, which they don't even need to include because everyone knows that one. It's very frustrating. Someone should publish a better Lepidoptera guide, with each moth or butterfly pictures from both sides, next to pictures of their caterpillars, in each instar, and pictures of their chrsalides or cocoons. Hmph.

Ladybug

Ladybug with fungus on its elytra, and eating something spiky (some sort of aphid, I presume, since that's what ladybugs eat).

A couple more hoppers:

Beetles making more beetles

Saying goodbye

The female landed nearby after she flew away.

Here she is waving goodbye before flying off again.

To give you a bit of size context, besides saying I could barely see this by the naked eye, this is on the tip of a daisy petal.

No idea what it is.

Another instance of me taking a picture and not noticing that there's a critter in it until I check it out on the computer. I think that's a thrips hiding there. Do you see it?

Meanwhile, in Caterpillarville:

Another Bug Spotting Eye Test

Caterpillar Close-Ups

Yes, this is a close-up of a caterpillar's butt

This is a pretty big caterpillar. I had hoped to find a good caterpillar field guide so I could find out what this (and many others I have seen) is, but no such luck. It is impossible to look at a caterpillar and not want to know what it is going to become later in its life cycle. Whatever this is, it will be a pretty sizable Lepidoptera.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This feisty, little jumping spider came in with my morning newspaper. I consider it a sign of personal growth that when I saw it I ran to get my camera instead of grabbing another section to squish it, which is what I would have done years ago. After the photo session I brought it outside.

This is an aggressive stance, I believe, but I am not sure what it's all about. It was obviously not being aggressive towards me, because it is facing the other way (though I think some of its eyes could see me, I am pretty sure it would have faced me if I was the one it was peeved at). I can only assume it did not like what it was reading in the paper.