Alas

I read somewhere that consumer versions of DSLR cameras (as opposed to professional level cameras) are good for about 100,000 shots. Some time after that, for some reason, they go wrong. I have had my current camera for over three years. That is over 1,000 days. I don't take pictures every day in the winter, but I take from 50 to 500 pictures a day from spring through autumn. I have not kept a count of how many times my camera has started over at 0001 (it numbers the files, and after it reaches 9,999 it starts over again), but I think it has been more than ten times. With every click of the shutter, the camera inches closer and closer to malfunction. And in this day and age, unfortunately, it is as expensive to fix a camera as it is to buy a camera. Every out-of-focus bug, every mistake in exposure, every mistimed click is a step closer to the camera's doom.

Here is the last picture taken by my camera today on my bug walk:

 Alas, my camera has photographed its last bug. I didn't finish my bug walk today. Fortunately, I found a enough bugs before this to have things to show you. And in case you are worried, I can borrow my husband's camera until I get a new one. So there will still be bugs, and there will still be a blog. However, I am ruing all of the bad pictures I took today, each one bringing me closer to this.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Barklouse. Which is the singular for barklice. Here's what I found out today when I did an internet search for "tree louse." Search engines assume that is a typo, and you really wanted to look for "tree house." Even when I corrected this assumption, I still didn't really find anything about this insect - but I did see a lot of cool pictures of tree houses.

 Magnification of a very cool eye.

Random Bugs:

 These are everywhere lately. No wonder the Brussels sprouts in the garden look terrible.

 Moth. I did a double take on this one when I walked by the tree. This time of year a brown leaf on a tree is not an usual sight.

 Taking pictures of another White M hairstreak butterfly...

 ... and I was photobombed by this bee.

 I spotted two insects on this milkweed plant. Can you see them? I'll give you a hint - a milkweed bug and a grasshopper.

 Tree cricket. In a tree.

Long-legged fly

 Copper butterfly

 Stilt bug

 I swear, I don't post pictures of every white hickory tussock moth caterpillar I see. I just love their stoicism.

 Can you see both flies? I think one of them was trying to impress the other with his wing waving.

 THIS is the last insect my camera photographed.

Tiny beetle. I am not sure if it was even alive.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 There were several of these tiny crab spiders on the grill cover today.

 This one had caught a gnat.

 Crab spider

 This is a new spider species for me.

 

 I think this is an ant mimic spider, but I didn't get a good look at it before it scurried away - and then jumped off the leaf.

A magnified look at its face

 Crab spider eating robber fly