Winter

Today was the winter solstice here in the northern hemisphere, also known as the first day of meteorological winter, and the shortest day of the year. It's not my favorite day, as you can imagine, because I like long hours of sunlight. But tomorrow the days start getting longer (though it will take a while to noticed), and that makes me happy. We've had a bit of actual wintery weather lately, cold, a bit of snow (that was mostly washed away by rain), and it has been too cold to find bugs, which is why you haven't seen a new post in a while. But this evening while I was wrapping Christmas presents on my dining room table I found an insect crawling among the ribbons.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Ladybeetle. It's not uncommon to find these in the house in the winter, because they try to come inside to keep warm. It's a little bit surprising that this is the first one I've found, but we didn't have the big swarms outside in the fall, so I don't think there were as many around this year. Not that I am complaining. One year we had a bit of an infestation, and even though they are generally considered one of the cuter and more charming insects, having hundreds of them in your house is unpleasant. They bite, they smell, and just nobody wants insects crawling all over the place, not even me. But I didn't mind this one. It is possible that it came in with the Christmas tree last weekend - sometimes I will find insects a few days after getting the tree.

Whatever holidays you may be celebrating, I hope they are happy!