The Bugs in the Backyard: Mesmer-eyes

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am really running late, so no time for science fiction stories tonight.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

I don't usually take pictures of flies, because they are so commonplace, and sometimes unlikeable, but when I got a good look at this one...

... I not only took its picture, but decided those eyes made it a perfect Backyard Bug of the Day. They are stunning! And this fly was extremely obliging, as well, letting me take plenty of nice close ups (though it did fly away before I got as close as I wanted).

Here's a zoomed in crop of those gorgeous eyes.

Do you remember back a few weeks ago when I posted a bug that looked like this:

The real bug was green, and this is a discarded exoskeleton from a moult. The bugs moult so they can grow and change.

Now do you also remember the thorn mimic hopper I have posted pictures of recently? I think that that is what the above bug grows into. And I think this:

... is the link between those two forms. It's obviously becoming a thorn mimic tree hopper adult, but its wings are not fully developed, which means it's not an adult yet. It's still the green color of its earlier stages in the back, and has remnants of those spikes on its back.

Here's another perspective.

I found some new eggs:

And a cocoon?

Random Bugs:

Young assassin, I think.

Moth in the wild

I think this is a new caterpillar for me. It's hard to know for sure, given the 47 billion green caterpillars that exist (that's a massive exaggeration, in case you don't get sarcasm over the internet), but I don't think I've seen it before. Funny how for a while I was seeing tons of caterpillars, and then nothing for a while, and now I am seeing them again.

Larva

Those aphids are in danger from two directions.

Fuzzy hopper nymph

I know I have been posting a lot of these lately, but how could I not post this?

The probably hopper nymph above is another new one for me.

Baby stinkbug

I sometimes see leaves on trees stuck together, where some bug or other has made a hideaway - to pupate, I always assume, or a place to hide from potential prey. Well, I spotted a hole in a particular such structure, and noticed something moving around inside. I figured caterpillar or spider, the usual tenants I see in leaf tents. I did not expect to see a stinkbug. I can't tell what that other bug to the right is.

Who's On the Milkweed Today?

A lot of pictures of bees coming up - and not a lot of bees, just a lot of pictures of two bees.

Sometimes I think that bees are photovoltaic, powered by the sun. On cloudy days, whether hot or cold, they can be found in a stupor on plants. This makes them charming photography subjects (If you look closely I think there's a spider in this picture, too. If you are an arachnophobe, don't look closely).

There's another bug on this bunch of flowers with you, Ms. Bee...

Here's the other bee. The great thing about bees in a stupor is they stay very still to have their picture taken.

Another hopper that I didn't see the other day - there are so many species of hoppers in my backyard!

In addition to the bee picture above that might have a spider in it, there was another picture, of a hopper (well, two hoppers, actually), that had a more noticeable spider. I put them in with the regular bugs, hoping not to give anyone the heeby jeebies. The rest of today's spiders are in their proper place - Arachnid Appreciation:
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I was taking a picture of a mushroom and moved a dried leaf that was on the ground next to it, finding this underneath. I think this is a spider egg sac. If you flip back and forth between this picture and the next to see what's different, I think you will find what I believe to be the spider, lurking underneath.