Reading the Signs

I didn't keep track of what days the various caterpillars in my care turned into chrysalides, so I have not been able to guess at all when they would be emerging as butterflies. I knew when the first one chrysalized, but I didn't really remember how many days later the next one did, and then I completely lost track of most of the rest of them, until last week when I started marking on the calendar what days it happened. I still don't know which ones are on which days, though, because they're mostly kind of grouped together, and lets face it, they pretty much look the same (though they are not the same size). Even if I did know what day each one chrysalized, I still wouldn't know when they would eclose, because the number of days varies, according to my research (and my limited experience) from 10 days to 2 weeks. Still, it's not a situation where, SURPRISE, there's a butterfly; as you know from last week's eclosure, the chrysalis changes from an opaque, jade green in the last day to show the butterfly inside.

Like so:

 This was taken in the mid-afternoon; it has progressed further since then, and so there will be a butterfly in the morning. Or rather, there will be 2 butterflies, I think. There is another chrysalis that I thought was probably gearing up for a Friday eclosure, but now looks like it will also be emerging tomorrow morning. Also, note the caterpillar in the J pose in the foreground of the picture. That one is now a chrysalis, and there is another in the J pose.

 And there are still more caterpillars.

And speaking of caterpillars, Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Newly hatched snowberry clearwing hummingbird moth caterpillar. I saw this egg laid on Tuesday of last week and have been noting changes in it since then. Today I looked at its leaf and the egg was gone and there was a small hole on the leaf. So I looked on the underside of the leaf, and there was the caterpillar. I was a little surprised to see that it already has the black tail spike. I would have thought that was something it would develop in a later instar. The caterpillar is kind of boring-looking now, so I hope that I will be able to keep track of it for a while so you can see what it will look like later. I am not bringing it in the house because I already have monarchs, and don't really have antoher place to keep it–and I don't think I could easily keep its food source (honeysuckle vines) fresh. Also, I think it overwinters as a chrysalis in the ground, so outside is the best place for it.

Other Bugs:

 Dragonfly

 

 

 Some kind of swallowtail butterfly

 Assassin bug nymph with prey

 Leaf hopper

 Assassin bug nymph

 I found several white hickory tussock moth caterpillars on one of the flowering crab apple trees, which suddenly made me feel like it's autumn. Not a joyful moment.

 I found this green lacewing larva, complete with fluffball of camouflage on my kitchen window and captured it in my bug vacuum for removal outside, which is a much better place for it. Being in the bug vacuum made it more visible for pictures of its underside.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This is a huge web that I missed yesterday because I didn't do a full bug walk. However, from the state of it, and from the fact that my husband said he saw it yesterday, and it was beat up like this then, it has probably been there for a couple of days in a really obvious place and I just didn't see it. Funny thing about spider webs, even a big one like this can be kind of invisible if the lighting isn't right, and there's nothing stuck to it.