Hot, Hot, Hot

We're having another heatwave - today was day 3, making it official - and unlike yesterday, when I toughed it out and went outside in the afternoon, today I waited until evening. It was still in the 90s when I went out (it was still in the 80s at midnight!), but at least the entire backyard was in the shade. It meant I did not see bees and butterflies, but it also meant I did not melt into a puddle of goo in the grass.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 This is some kind of Hemiptera that is not fully mature yet - note the under-developed wings. It's going to be a pretty big bug when it grows up. I am thinking maybe a leaf-footed bug, but there are a lot of bugs that look very similar, so especially with a nymph I can't really say.

Random Bugs:

 The monarch caterpillar was an eating machine today - it ate several entire leaves, and if you know what milkweed leaves are like, they are not small.

 Close-up view of furcula caterpillar eating.

The other furculas (I think). It is becoming definite to me that these are a different species than the one above.

 Hopper nymph

 Tree cricket

 Moth - and those tiny, dark dots on the leaf are...

 ... really tiny beetles. At least, I think they are beetles - they are really too small to tell.

 Hoverfly larva. These are so weird, and so much bigger than adult hoverflies.

 Stilt bug, or that bug that looks like the stilt bug.

 Wasps?

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Watch where you're going, beetle. There's something waiting for you...

No visible spiders here, but I thought this was interesting - this is two different kind of spider webs. There is one that looks like just a tangled cloud of silk, but underneath it is a small orb weaver web, just inches away. I guess that's a good spot for spider webs.