Scentsless

Of my various senses, my sense of smell is the least acute, mostly because I have allergies, so whether or not I can actually smell anything at all on any given day is sort of iffy. But today in the backyard there was a very strong floral smell, and I don't know where it was coming from. The goldenrod is the predominant blooming plant at the moment, but does goldenrod have a smell? I have never noticed it having one, but is that just because I don't have a very good sense of smell most of the time? I have no idea... If you have goldenrod around, go give it a whiff, and find out if it smells like flowers.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I don't know what it is, but I am impressed with its bravery - I first spotted it as it walked directly under a spider! Of course I didn't get a picture of that, because I couldn't react fast enough (the spider didn't react at all), but I thought that this was a pretty bold bug! Or stupid.

Checking in on the caterpillar in the dining room:

 It has been much more active, and eating a lot more, since last night.

 It even ate part of the leaf where it built its hammock! You can see the silk hanging off the eaten edge.

Random Bugs:

 Assassin on the picnic table

 A lot of bees around today, and interestingly enough it was mostly honeybees. I hardly ever see honeybees in my backyard. Today there were hordes of them. Not as many other bee species as the last couple of days.

 Carrion beetle. Not on carrion, thank goodness.

 Assassin

 You'll have to look around for the bug in this one. I am including this terrible picture because I think it is kind of funny. The bug was on the stem of the plant when I tried to take its picture, and it flew off just as I clicked the shutter button. I thought I had missed it altogether, but I did get it after all. Buffalo tree hopper

 Moth on the porch

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I found several of these today. It is probably extra terrifying if you are afraid of spiders AND clowns.

Funnel web spider living behind the rain gauge

 This is the spider the BBotD walked under.

Spider AND assassin bug on the same stalk...