Uncontrolled Nature

One thing about raising monarch butterflies in my dining room is that it is a closed system. Aside from the fact that the caterpillars can be infected by something before I bring them in, the system is pretty well controlled; I know where the caterpillars are, they can't go anywhere, so I can keep observing them. Granted, I sometimes can't find all of them (not as much of a problem right now, since I only have one), but they eventually always turn up, usually when I put new food in there, and at the very least when they crawl up to the top of the enclosure to pupate.

Outside, however, I can't always be sure of being able to keep observing the caterpillars (or other insects) that I find. In fact, I can't ever be sure. Sometimes I can observe the same caterpillar for weeks in the same spot, but ultimately, there comes a time when they wander off somewhere else to pupate, and I don't know where they've gone (this obviously does not apply–yet–to that one caterpillar that never does anything). At the very least, though, I have kind of expected that if I keep an eye on Lepidoptera eggs after I have actually seen the moth or butterfly lay the egg, I will be able to observe the caterpillar when it emerges. This turned out not to be true of the hummingbird moth egg that I checked up on every day, actually seeing the caterpillar just after it hatched. I figured that one would start out by eating its leaf and then make its way up the vine, but after that first day, when it nibbled two tiny holes in the leaf upon which it hatched, I never saw it again. I don't know if something ate it or if it crawled off to eat leaves somewhere else. Caterpillars at that stage are tiny, and hard to track if you don't know exactly where they are. Since then I have continued to check the plants in the area where it hatched, because by now the caterpillar would be much bigger, but I have never managed to find one.

And that brings us to this:

 The swallowtail egg is empty. It could have been eaten by something, but based on the changes in the egg the last couple of days I think it probably hatched. There was no sign of the tiny caterpillar, though, either on this leaf or any others nearby. I am disappointed. Notable also is that the other caterpillar that had built itself a tent at the end of the leaf is gone, too.

As for the other eggs I've been keeping an eye on:

 They have turned a darker color, and gotten very tangled. The also have tiny droplets on the filaments they are hanging from, which I think is probably dew. A note about those filaments: they are not simply threads. They have a stiffness to them, so that if the leaf is turned to the side, or even upside down, they still remain in the same position, held away from the leaf.

 Something is visible inside...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Honeybee, in honor of the fact that after being scarce all summer, there are suddenly honeybees all over the flowers in the backyard. There are several things blooming, and I think I have seen honeybees on all of them. This is autumn joy sedum.

Backyard Amphibian of the Day:

 

 Suddenly the backyard is very froggy. I have seen (and almost stepped on) frogs of a couple different species this week. Unfortunately, they always hop somewhere I can't get a picture of them. At least I got this shot today.

Other Bugs:

 The back-legless caterpillar is still hanging around in the same area.

 And nearby...

 Another (smaller) looper caterpillar on purple coneflower

 Katydid

 Stinkbug nymph

 Fly

 Scorpion fly

 Assassin with prey

 Leaf hopper nymph

 Cricket

 Candy striped leaf hopper

 Moth. I actually tried to look it up in all of my books, and couldn't find it.

 Crane fly. These are suddenly all over the place.

 Looper caterpillar

I think this is an eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar. It is some kind of swallowtail, anyway. Hopefully it will stick around long enough for me to see it in later instars. I have given up trying to adopt these, because they overwinter as chrysalides, and I have never had luck with them eclosing in the spring.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Finally, a dorsal view of a six-spotted orb weaver, so you can see the six spots!

Jumping spider and assassin bug