In the Pink

Because I started writing this blog knowing very little about bugs, and though I have learned a lot since then, still very little about bugs compared to the vast amount there is to know, I am frequently wrong when I say things here. I am wrong about insect identifications, I am wrong about random bits of information about bugs, I am wrong about... well, just a whole lot of things. Sometimes I have just made wrong assumptions, but a lot of times I have read things (mostly on the internet) that I have misunderstood or were just wrong to begin with. Of course, wrongness can be relative. For instance, I am pretty sure that more than once I have said that there are not many bugs that are pink, that it's an unusual color for insects. In fact, I am fairly certain I have already said that at least once, if not more than once, this year. But I am noticing that there are actually quite a few insects that are pink–I have found several pink caterpillars this year.

And two of today's Backyard Co-Bugs of the Day are pink.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 Two-spotted tree cricket

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 I don't know what this is, but I think it is something new for me, which is why it is a Backyard Bug of the Day. In spite of how the picture may look, this is not the other pink bug, it's really brown, but sometimes taking pictures in the shade with the light from the camera makes the colors look off.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day:

 This is the other pink bug, a leaf hopper that is also a new species for me. It was on the front porch, attracted by the light.

This is the time of year when the rock garden is full of grasshoppers. It's fun to walk by there and see them hopping around like popcorn popping.

 A couple on a rock

 Another one on another rock

 I think this is a tree louse.

 There were wasps all over the flowers in the backyard today, but this was the only one I managed a picture of.

 Katydid

 I took this picture as another bug-spotting test, which I apparently failed. I took it thinking that there are three leaf hoppers in the picture...

 ... and when I looked at the shots on the computer, I realized there are four.

 There were a couple more further down the vine.

 Caterpillars

 You can't really tell in the pictures, but this tiny insect has a slightly pink hue to its wings.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 This net-winged beetle was struggling to get out of the spider's web. The spider was occupied with another prey. In case you're wondering why I didn't help it, it's because I believe in non-interference in these matters, and why should I choose the beetle's side, and not the spider's? And it is possible that the beetle has already been bitten and envenomated, which means it would die anyway, and I would be robbing the spider of its meal for nothing.

 Do you know what kind of spider this is?

 Here's a hint... It has six spots, and an orb web...

 Yes, that's right, it's a six-spotted orb weaver!

 This was a fun spider. I found it on the car–well, there were several. When they feel threatened, they flatten themselves out to look invisible (which clearly doesn't work).

 But then one of them did this. I don't know what this behavior is all about–trying to get some height to get a good look around, perhaps?