The Bugs in the Backyard: Lovely Lepidoptera

Yesterday was a great day in the backyard, so of course I was expecting something of a letdown today, but today was even better. At one point when I was outside observing the bugs, I got goosebumps. Goosebumps! Not because it was cold, but because I was so overcome by what I was seeing, what was zooming around me.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

It is possible that these are both the same species of moth, but they looked very different in color, pattern, and body size and shape. However, that's not so unusual with moths, or insects in general, so I don't know. The #1 I have seen before; it was BBotD almost a year ago to the day. The #2 is new to me. One or both of them could be a snowberry clearwing moth. Or at least clearwing hummingbird moths. I think they fall in the family of sphinx moths, which might also be called hawk moths. This is a very confusing genus. Anyway, they are amazing, and what was most amazing is they were both there at the same time, and there were actually two of the #1 kind. The #2 was only around for less than a minute, and I got 5 pictures I think, and this is the only passable one. The #1s came and went a couple of times, but they were there, feeding like mad on these flowers, for a pretty long period. And I was just absolutely amazed by the experience of these incredible, beautiful insects. Another fun thing to consider is that there was a snowberry clearwing moth caterpillar in my backyard last fall–for all I know, one of these is the adult from that caterpillar.

Now for a billion pictures of moth #1 (I took over 200. Not kidding):

Not a great shot, but check out the curly proboscis.

Another nickname for this moth is flying lobster, and what's funny about that (to me) is that my niece was visiting today, and I made her come out and look at this (it was there long enough for me to do this) and her comment was that it looks like a flying shrimp.

Check out the shower of pollen (or... something).

Today the backyard was a showcase for amazing Lepidoptera; the two Backyard Co-Bugs of the Day, and I think the most different species of butterflies I have ever seen in my backyard in a single day. Of course, if you read my blog, and know anything about butterflies, you know I didn't get pictures of all of them, but here's what I got:

Cabbage white, my husband's least favorite butterfly.

Some kind of swallowtail

Skipper

Great spangled fritillary.

I also saw another species of swallowtail, a red-spotted purple, a red admiral, and something that may have been a monarch. Eight different butterfly species today.

Before we move on to the other bugs I saw today, my brother asked me to post pictures of milkweed. So, here you go, Steve, pictures of milkweed:

The plant

The buds

The flowers. Usually there are a lot more flowers in a cluster, so that it looks like a ball of flowers. Also, there are a number of different species of milkweed, and I think the flowers are quite different in some of them, in color, and shape and arrangement of blooms.

Seed pod. This will turn brown and open up, releasing the seeds with their silky threads onto the wind.

And here's yet another species of mushroom.

Here's what's amazing about my backyard. Yesterday I saw a slew of different species of bugs. Today I saw a slew of different species of bugs. On both days they were different species of bugs. Aside from the regulars like those huge bumblebees that love the pink flowers I don't know the name of, and hover flies, long-legged flies, and a few other things that I see on a more or less daily basis, today's lineup of bugs was totally different from yesterday's:

Beetle

Immature cricket

Looper on black-eyed Susan

Stink bug, or shield bug... some kind of Hemiptera

Looper dangling from a leaf

Robber fly

Look at those amazing eyes!

Sweat bee

On any other day this dragonfly would have been Backyard Bug of the Day, particularly since I have seen so few dragonflies this year, and photographed even less.