Mysterious Things

The lack of blogs lately is not entirely because I have not done bug walks. I have been doing bug walks, though not every day. I just have not been finding anything to take picture of, since I don't want to just post pictures of winter fireflies every day. And some days that's all I see.

Today I found something, and I don't know what it is, and I don't know if it has been there for a while and I have just not noticed it, or if it just got there in the last day or two. I don't think I can make it Backyard Bug of the Day, having so little idea of what it is, though looking at the pictures it does definitely seem insect related. When I saw it outside I thought it could just be something growing on the tree, like a fungus. But you can have a look for yourself:

It looks kind of cocoonish, or at least like some kind of pupa. But it also looks like a larva.

Long range forecasts are never very accurate, but there could be a snowstorm later in the week. I guess that would be the end of hearing crickets in the backyard. I heard one today, singing very faintly. Once the snow falls, everything under the leaf litter will be in their own little world.