Swarming

I think today was probably one of those days that makes people say, "Ugh, bugs." Not that I'm saying that, but as I spent my entire bug walk passing through either swarms of March flies or spider threads, I can see why people who don't already have a certain enthusiasm for insects would decide to just stay inside until January to avoid them.

Because the March fly numbers have exploded, and they were flying today:

 Well, these weren't flying. They were resting on the kitchen window. That's how you find out before even going outside what kind of day it is.

 These were flying...

 

The morning glories survived the last couple of cold nights, and were glorious today, which attracted the attention of a lot of insects:

 Hover fly

 Honeybee

 Sweat bee

 Flower fly

 Bumblebee

 Sweat bee

 There were several species of sweat bees...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I'm not 100% sure this hasn't been Backyard Bug of the Day already this year, though I did check. It's a western conifer seed bug, I think. [Edit: Tsk. I should know better] Squash bug. Hemiptera.

 Wasp

 As the number of leaves, particularly green ones, diminishes, leaf hoppers have to learn to share. There's five on this leaf.

 Lopper caterpillar

 Stinkbug

 Cuckoo wasp

 Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Jumping spider

 Same spider just before it jumped onto my camera, and then onto my hand, and I sort of lost track of it after that...

I thought that maybe this was a male spined micrathena, but neither my books nor the internet back that up:

 

 Here is the female spined micrathena. She is several times larger than that other one.

 Orchard spider with March fly prey