Grumble

I had a rotten, frustrating, disappointing day, and my bug walks were part of what was disappointing and frustrating, even though it was a gorgeous day, so I am not going to talk about it, I'll just show you what I was able to get pictures of.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 A charming moth attracted to the porch light. The front porch this time, and only a couple of moths, in spite of the fact that today was such a warm day.

Random Bugs:

Woolly aphid. There were several on this tree, and a few more around the yard. Nothing like the abundance of aphids found in other years, but suddenly, here they are.

 And ladybugs, which eat aphids. Whether they arrived at the same time the aphids appeared by design or coincidence, I don't know. There were a handful of ladybugs crawling on the side of the house, but nothing like the swarms of past autumns.

 Bee

 Snowy tree cricket - male

 I think this is a bug. By the time I took this picture it was really too dark to see to focus, or to see if this was actually a bug. But it looks like one...

 Also attracted to the porch light. This picture is deceptive - this moth was so dark in color it was almost black.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Spider, with prey, on a tennis ball

 Spider, with prey, on a web

 Spider, with prey (that might be another spider?) on a plant

Spider, without prey, on the back porch. I think this is a bold jumping spider (as in, that is the species, not a description of its personality).