Seizing the Day

Today was the kind of day when you feel guilty if you don't spend the day outdoors, because it was too beautiful a day to waste, and yet I wasted a good portion of it. I did do my bug walk, though, and ate my lunch outside (and was eventually forced to cede the arbor to a very persistent bee). It was really a crime to waste such a day knowing that there is some cold weather headed our way, and that I should savor every moment of such gloriousness, but call me a criminal, because I wasted hours of such loveliness. However, I appreciated every moment of the day's beauty while I was out there.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 A wasp dressed up in the colors of the season

Random Bugs:

 A beetle on the same plant as the wasp.

 Case bearing caterpillar

 Random larva dangling in the air

 White hickory tussock moth caterpillar, showing its face (not a view I get a lot).

 Looper caterpillar

 Grasshoppers (I assume you can see two). The grass is wet because it was really, really dewy last night, and the dampness persisted most of the day.

 Ant on common mullein flower

 The bumblebees were busy on the flowers today, but quite a few of them took some time out to bask in the sun, in this case on top of the mail that I set down on a chair.

Prepare for a ton of pictures of jumping spiders in Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Another jumping spider with a gnat. How many is that this week?

Don't want your picture taken?

Okay, that's better...

Much better.

I'm going to break a rule here...

 We went out to get some lunch, and when I was about to open my door I noticed this jumping spider sitting on the rear view mirror. I can only assume that it rode (in a more sheltered spot than right on top of the mirro) from our house, and came out when we stopped. I suppose it could have come from the parking lot, but it got up onto the mirror too fast to have done that, so I think it must have been from home. Which means that even though this picture was not taken in my backyard, it is one of my backyard's bugs - I took the picture with the camera I keep in my purse (yes, I keep a camera in my purse. For photography emergencies), so no macro lens.  Then...

 ... The spider rode back home with us. It obviously was able to hold on, I think in a groove on the roof - the aerodynamics of the car kept it from being blown away, I guess. So, this and the next several pictures are of the spider on the car back home, taken with the macro lens.

 I look at that sweet face and wonder why everyone doesn't love jumping spiders.

 I couldn't decide which were the best shots of this beauty, so you're just getting a bunch of them.

So cute and fuzzy!