Bugs At Dusk

I haven't quite adjusted to the shortening days and the time change, so I sometimes forget that if I wait until after 4:00 in the afternoon to go out and look for bugs, the sun will be setting and I won't find much. Such was the case today, though it was more a question of opportunity: it was raining in the morning and I was out for most of the afternoon–the opposite of yesterday, when I went out in the morning, and by the time I came back in the afternoon, it was raining (which is why there was no post yesterday).

This is a roundabout way of saying I didn't find many bugs.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Looper caterpillar snug up against a tree trunk. I'm surprised at how many of these I am finding lately. It made sense to me when the weather was warmer, but it's pretty chilly nowadays, and downright cold at night. And what are they eating? There's no leaves left. Caterpillars live to eat. So I would think they would either be pupating or hiding somewhere in leaf litter for the winter, but they're still crawling around. Except this one didn't move, and I don't blame it. The reason the picture is not better is because it was on a tree trunk above my eye level, so I had to take the picture angling up at it.

The bugs I saw today were all bugs I have seen the last couple of days. I am just posting them so you can see what was out there on an icky, cold November day:

 This twice-stabbed lady beetle was also over my head, on a tree branch. This could be the same one from a couple of days ago, same tree, but different spot.

 Winter firefly. It was quite a small one.

 

 One aphid crawling up a tree.

I saw a LOT of spiders, little ones, a couple of different species, including one that I found dangling from my camera lens. Here's a couple for Arachnid Appreciation:
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