Fuzziness

What kind of day was today? The kind of day when you can't find any bugs and then it starts raining, that's what kind of day it was. And yet, it wasn't enough rain to even wet the ground, so it was enough to be inconvenient, but not enough to be helpful.

Backyard Bugs of the Day:

 I am pretty sure that these are leaf hopper nymphs. The white fuzz is something they secrete - I haven't been able to find information that tells me why. Speaking of which, it is very disheartening that most of the time when I do an internet search about an insect, the majority of the information that comes up is how to "control" or kill the insects. In many cases the insects in question are completely harmless, and often they are actually beneficial insects. I have clicked some of those links, and the articles do sometimes mention that the insects are benign or beneficial, but they will still explain how to destroy them. Because to many people, the only good insect is a dead insect, and even then they don't want them around. If it's a bug, they want to kill it, and kill it now. It's stupid, really. Even if we ignore the fact that we NEED insects, the idea that you can eradicate them all, never mind without dire consequences is ludicrous. They rule the world, and outnumber us by unfathomable numbers. If they're not hurting you, just leave them alone!

Random Bugs:

 A pair of stilt bugs. They can move surprisingly fast like this.

These next two may be male and female of the same species, but I am not sure.

 This would be the female, small eyes, large body.

 

 Male - large eyes, small body

 Beetle

 This tree suddenly has a lot of lace bugs on it. Unfortunately, the leaves are mostly quite high, so it's hard for me to get pictures. As you can see, this leaf had three lace bugs on it, but some had two, and a lot had only one.

 So weird and wonderful

 The most cooperative bug in the backyard, and it's not even a whole bug, it's just a discarded exoskeleton from a molting hopper.

 Two VERY uncooperative bugs.

 I didn't get a good enough look at this to know if it's a caterpillar or some other kind of larva.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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