What's the Buzz?

Today we're more about quality than quantity. I found a really good bug for Backyard Bug of the Day, and it was involved in a brief moment of drama as a bonus.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Just kidding, though, this is not the best picture...

 Neither is this. I took 88 pictures today, and 55 of them were of this moth. Most of them are worthless. Some of them are okay. A couple are pretty good. I am going to show you more than I probably should, because I think they might give you a sense of what it's like to see this moth in an area full of blooms for it to feed on.

 Wings so fast you can't see them here!

 I heard this moth before I saw it. It makes quite a loud buzz as it flies, so when I heard the buzz, I looked around to find out what was making it. I was thrilled when I found out what it was. My lifetime sightings of these moths are not numerous. This is the second time I have seen on this summer, though, but the first time I didn't even get a chance to take a picture. (And speaking of buzzing, I went to an outdoor concert today, which had an extra accompaniment of a cicada in a tree nearby. I haven't heard any at my house yet, though. I did hear a tree cricket tonight).

 Very funny, Moth.

 If you ever see one of these moths you will understand why it is called a hummingbird moth; you can probably tell just by looking at it, but when you see it in motion, it moves just like a hummingbird. It's really fast, too, and sometimes you can't even see it well enough to know that it was a moth, and not a hummingbird, that flew right past your face. But one thing I think is really a nice detail is the fuzziness at the back of the moth that looks a lot like the feathers of a bird's tail.

 Check out that proboscis!

 Here's the moment of drama. This huge wasp swooped in and chased the moth away! It came back shortly after, and was chased away again, zooming directly over my head. After that the wasp did a few laps around the flowerbed and then flew off. This is the only picture I got of the wasp.

When we got home last night it was well after midnight, so the bugs that had gathered around the porch light are considered bugs for today. Random Bugs:

 I don't think I have ever seen this moth before. It's about half an inch long, maybe less.

 Beetle

 Green lacewing

 

 Stinkbug

And in the backyard today:

 Flower Longhorn Beetle

 This is the first female gypsy moth I have seen. Yes, it's a dead moth, on the ground. When I started taking pictures of it, I saw it move, and thought maybe it was alive after all, but then I realized that it was moving because there were ants under the wings.