Ups and Downs

As you may have surmised after my coneflower tirade yesterday, I have been kind of frustrated with bug searching lately. All summer, in fact. After last summer, when I felt there were not as many bugs around as there should have been, there have been even fewer this year. I went out today feeling pre-defeated in my search, but then, within steps of the back porch found a few things that fueled my optimism.

I found a brand-new (to me and my backyard) species for Backyard Bug of the Day:

 

  This is a red-headed bush cricket. I have never seen one before, but it is very likely that I have heard one before; Kaufman's Field Guide to North American Insects says that it is common in the eastern part of the country, and that it has a "surprisingly loud, high-pitched trill," that can be heard from "low shrubs, grasses, and short trees." It's a pretty small cricket, as crickets go. I didn't get any really good pictures of it, so I am going to post several so you can get a look at various features of it. First, note the palps, which are those things sticking out from its face that look like antennae with knobs on the end. Those are not the antennae. Kaufman's FGtNAI also says, "The palps, looking like little boxing gloves, are in perpetual motion when the insect is excited." It was pretty excited about having its picture taken, because those palps were moving. Unfortunately, so was the rest of the cricket, which is why I didn't get any really good pictures.

 You can see the antennae better here.

 I love the patterns on crickets

Second amazing thing I found right outside today:

 This is the first scorpionfly I have seen all year.

Third amazing thing I have seen all year:

 This probably doesn't look all that amazing, but it is amazing to be because I have had these flowers in my little flowerbed by the side of the house for a few years, and I don't think I have ever seen a bee on them. It has been a great mystery to me why these flowers never attract any bees. In fact, they hardly ever attract any bugs at all, except for ants and the occasional katydid. And here's a bee on these flowers (I can't remember the name of them... autumn something...), which are called autumn joy sedum (and thank you to my cousin Sharon for the id).

After that, the finding of three cool things within ten feet of the back door, my bug walk was pretty much a bust. I took fewer than 70 pictures today, and about half of them were of the cricket. On the bright side, I did find two new species in the last couple of days, and that is always a thrill.

And one amphibian:

Hard to see little toad. Not cooperative.

Random Bugs:

 There were even fewer of these caterpillars around today.

 Assassin bug with prey

 Eastern tiger swallowtail, male, missing about half of one of its hind wings.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 You're really going to have to look for this one. I know that the pictures I take never give a good idea of scale, but what you need to know here is, these are small flowers. That is a small bee. So when you find the spider, realize that it is TINY.

I think you can see it a little better here.