Litter Bugs

Back in the autumn I wrote about a news story that was going around about scientists from the National Wildlife Federation trying to convince people not to rake their leaves, because leaf litter is a vital habitat for lots of creatures. Today's Backyard Bug of the Day may be a vindication for the Leave the Leaves campaign. One of the reasons they said you should leave the leaf litter lying around is because caterpillars pupate in there over the winter. So, in the fall some caterpillars crawl into the leaf litter on the ground and make their cocoons, and in the spring, they emerge as butterflies or moths. I think that today's Backyard Bug of the Day had done exactly that.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I found this moth crawling around on the leaf litter, and I am only guessing, but I think maybe it had just eclosed (which means emerged from its cocoon). My very uneducated guess is based on the fact that its wings are curled under, and I have never seen a moth with wings that do that. So, I am thinking they have not fully unfurled from being in the cocoon. I could be totally wrong about it having just emerged as a moth, but it was crawling around on the leaf litter anyway, so obviously leaf litter is habitat for it.

 Blending in nicely.

Another moth:

 I've been seeing quite a few moths the last few days, but I haven't been able to get pictures of them because they have all been tiny moths that fly past me and land high in a tree.

 A couple of winter fireflies:

 A wasp that was looking for something on the ground, flying from place to place.

More spider species today for Arachnid Appreciation:
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 A spider on leaf litter. I saw several of them, but the others all scurried under the leaves before I could get close to them.

I guess this is not a good picture (of the same spider as the one above it), but I liked the dramatic lighting.