Eye of the Dragon

After the last two days of insect amazingness in the backyard I had pretty low expectations for today–I mean, it couldn't be so amazing three days in a row, right? Well, it wasn't, but it was still pretty respectable, given that it rained most of the day and the high temperature was in the low 60s (Seriously, this is July? We had a heat wave a few days ago). The thing that is so impressive again is that I am not just seeing the same bugs every day–today was full of different bugs than the ones I saw the last two days. There were even several solid contenders for Backyard Bug of the Day.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 

 Since the dragonfly was denied yesterday, today's dragonfly has been chosen. Plus, it's blue, my favorite color. I tried to look up what kind it is, but it didn't look quite like any of the ones in the books. It most resembles those in the skimmer family, I think.

When I first spotted it, it was on the side of the house. I always prefer to take pictures of bugs with natural backgrounds )I'm posting it because it gives the best full overview of the body), so...

 I was very pleased when it flew off the house to a nearby flowerbed. But then it landed like this. Not helpful.

 It was surprisingly clumsy, and struggled to climb on top of the leaf.

 But then it was very cooperative!

 Beating wings

 What a face!

Eye closeup

Other life in the backyard:

 I love the way mushrooms spring up out of the ground.

Other Bugs:

 Leaf hopper nymph. I don't know if that is a droplet of rain on its tail end, or just a huge drop of honeydew.

 Case bearing beetle larva, in its case made out of its own poop.

 Moth

 Immature tree cricket

 Beetle

 Leaf hopper nymph. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that it is a young candy-striped leaf hopper based on the markings. The white spikes are waxy secretions, but I don't remember what they are for.

 I found another white hickory tussock moth caterpillar.

 Weevil

 Fly

 Looper

 I found another green lacewing larva with a fluff disguise. Well, I suppose it could actually be the same one, because I found it on the same tree.

The monarch caterpillar I adopted has about doubled in size in the last two days.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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