Out of Season

The seasons seem to be confused.

Today I found:

 A wild strawberry...

 ... a pussy willow about to bloom...

 ... and a Japanese beetle.

All things that had their time months ago, and should be done by now. The wisteria started blooming again a couple of weeks ago, too. All these spring and early summer things are suddenly emerging again. I can't think of any reason why. It's been hot and dry, not exactly the conditions to coax in springtime. 'Tis a puzzlement. Add to all of that the premature falling of leaves, and the whiplash of 90ºF days and 58ºF nights, and I don't know what season it is anymore. Two days ago it was too hot to go outside. This evening I had to go inside because I was too cold sitting outside.

Speaking of things coming in their correct seasons...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

In case you've been wondering how my adopted Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars are doing:

 They have about doubled in size since last week, and turned green, from their original brown. They spend most of their time hanging out in their hammocks. I hardly ever see them eating, thought they have produced a remarkable amount of frass. They each have a silk mat on separate leaves, and they occasionally go eat a bit of leaf and then return to their mats.

Random Bugs:

 This definitely is the season for white hickory tussock moth caterpillars. In this shot you can see three of the four on this particular tree. I saw others elsewhere, too.

 Hopper

 I had been wondering why there were pieces of grass sticking out of this broken metal post...

 Still trying to get a good picture of the cabbage white butterfly...

 The praying mantis was back in the same spot for a while today.

 Assassin bug AND an aphid!

 This wasp enjoyed my mother's tuna salad. My mother didn't enjoy sharing her lunch with the wasp.

 Moth in the garden shed

The currently ubiquitous American dagger moth

 Katydid

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 The last couple of days I have found several jumping spiders hiding out in silk bowers.

Except this one. I guess for spiders, the "Never eat anything bigger than your own head" rule doesn't apply.