Differences

I don't think I mentioned it yesterday, but it's been hot here the last couple of days. Yesterday was in the mid-80s, and today we came close to 90ºF. This is a tough time of year to deal with heat because though the trees are starting to leaf out, most of their leaves aren't big or numerous enough yet to actually provide shade.

 

 Very pretty, but those leaves have a lot of growing to do.

However, it's been sunny, which is a nice change, and buggy. Not as buggy as I expected, maybe, but most of what I saw today were things I have not seen so far this year (including a pearl crescent butterfly, which you won't be seeing because it wouldn't sit for a picture), and I always love seeing different things.

 I have a rarity for Backyard Bug of the Day today. Not that it's a rare insect, according to my bug books it's pretty common, though it's an insect I've only seen a few times in the years I've been studying my backyard bugs. But it is rare in that there is a very obvious sexual dimorphism in this type of insect (a difference in shape/body between male and female), and I actually (I think) saw both male and female today.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Velvet ant. This is the female. Velvet ants aren't really ants, they are wasps (with a reportedly horrifically painful sting), but the female has no wings. She makes burrows in the ground for her young, and feeds them other bugs.This one in particular was scurrying at an impressive pace, occasionally disappearing under bits of moss on the ground, and then coming back out. But she never stopped moving, which is why I don't have a closer picture. That and the fact that given she has such a painful sting, I didn't want to annoy her by trying to make her sit still.

The male is also hard to photograph.

 Here is the male.

 Just kidding. I got a slightly better picture. The male has wings and flies low to the ground, looking for females, and feeding on flowers. The male (as with most wasps, I think) does not sting. Nor does he pose for pictures very often. I should say that while I am 100% sure that the picture above is a female velvet ant, I am not sure this is a male velvet ant. Or if they are the same species. But I think this is a male velvet ant. And given the presence of a female in this vicinity (I found them in the same patch of backyard), I would guess they are the same species.

It's just really hard to get a picture of these, male OR female!

Usually when we have a lot of rain, we then get a lot of mushrooms. That hasn't happened yet this year, but I did find one really cool one today:

Random bugs:

 I spotted these two beetles (some kind of flower longhorns?) when I went out to get the mail, and had to go right back in to get my camera.

 Assassin bug nymph

 I think this is some kind of weevil, and one I don't think I've seen before, but this is the best look I got.

 There are some really big ants on some of the trees in the backyard.

Sometimes I try to take pictures without bugs in them, because I just want a picture of a flower, but I have a hard time doing that:

 Trying to photograph dandelions, and I get ants...

 Do you see the bug in this picture?

 It's gone here...

 ... and back again... Photobombing bug.

 This formidable specimen was on the front porch. I shooed it away after I took the picture. This is not something I want building a nest on my front porch.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 This is a terrible picture of a beautiful spider. This is a bold jumping spider, bold being the name and most definitely NOT the personality. This one was quite shy. Which is why I only got terrible pictures. But it had chelicerae of the most gorgeous blue that I had to share the two least horrible pictures I took with you.