Nothing to Complain About

 I saw a butterfly today. I didn't get a picture of it, in fact, I barely got a look at it, it was about twenty feet away, flying with a purpose among the trees. I lost it when it flew up and over the garden shed. From what I saw, and the time of year I would guess that it was a mourning cloak. And here's where it feels very satisfying to know things. I went into the insect photography thing knowing next to nothing about insects, and I still know very little in the grand scheme of things, but I have picked up bits of information about certain things. And one thing that I know is that mourning cloak butterflies overwinter as adults, unlike many other species that overwinter as caterpillars or pupae. And they don't do this by migrating to someplace warmer, like monarch butterflies, they find a place to hide out from the weather for the winter, the one place that is generally mentioned when you read about them being wood piles (which makes me wonder where they overwintered before people came along making wood piles). This is why they are often the first butterflies I see in the spring; they come out when the weather gets nice and they are already butterflies, they don't have to finish pupating when the weather turns warm, or even start the process like those that overwintered as caterpillars. But it also means that they can be the last species of butterfly you see in the fall; they are not at the end of their lifespan, and they haven't migrated somewhere else. They're just looking for a nice woodpile to cozy up in for the winter. And I like knowing this.

It feels weird not to be complaining about the weather. Generally around this time of year the weather has turned cold, usually precipitously, and since it takes me a while to acclimate, I complain about the cold. But it's been in the 70s for the last 2 days. I like weather in the 70s. I have nothing to complain about.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Dragonfly. This is a pretty small dragonfly, only about 2 inches long. I've seen them around the last few days, but today was the first time I got decent pictures of it (I got bad pictures a few days ago, I don't remember if I even posted them in the blog that day).

Are you tired of pictures of bees on morning glories? I'm not.

 You can't see it in the picture above, but this insect was in the same flower as the sweat bee above. It's pretty small, and from the shape of it, and the sinuous way it moved I assumed it was a rove beetle...

 

 ... but it actually appears to be some kind of wasp.

 Sweat bee

 Sweat bee

 

 Honey bee

 Katydid

 The gatherings of candy striped leaf hoppers are growing.

 Stinkbug

 Leaf hopper

 Weevil

 Beetle

 Pupal case, made from pieces cut from leaves, and attached to another leaf. There's a very tiny chrysalis inside here, and some day a tiny moth will emerge from it. I would love to someday find a leaf with those oval shapes cut out of it.

 Leaf hopper

 Grasshopper

 Cricket

 To see the Backyard Reptile of the Day you'll have to get past the spider...

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Jumping spider

 This terrible picture is the second just before it jumped on my hand.

Backyard Reptile of the Day:

 I am pretty sure this is a northern black racer, but it's a pretty small one. This is the third species of snake I have seen in my backyard in the last couple of weeks. That is a lot of snake species for my backyard. Funny thing is, just a couple of days ago I was thinking that it has been years since I have seen a black racer. And not only did I see this one, but there might have been two, it was hard to tell once it went under the plants in the rock garden, but I think there were two there. Also, is it asking so much for the Backyard Reptile of the Day to be a tortoise for once? I have never seen a tortoise in my backyard.

Peeking out at me