Art

The arts center in the city where I live has an annual art show which I have entered for the past few years. The first year I entered I submitted a couple of bug pictures, and a picture of a dandelion. My dandelion was accepted. The bugs were not (and they were pretty mainstream bugs–a close-up of a butterfly, and a bee). Most of the pictures I have submitted since have been nature pictures, and I think all of my pictures that have been accepted have been nature pictures from my backyard. I haven't submitted anymore bugs, but I have entered close-ups of feathers and leaves, and last year won third prize for another dandelion picture. This year the show's theme is Nature, which I was pretty excited about when I found out about it. And I have been enjoying looking at pictures to decide which ones to submit, because nature is beautiful. I was very tempted to use all three of my entries this year on pictures of bugs, to make a statement about what is beautiful in nature, but I am chickening out on that plan. I am going to submit pictures of flowers and moss... and one picture of a spider. Because I still have a statement to make, and I may be too cowardly to make it with all bugs, but I will try to give a spider its day in the art gallery.

I don't have a Backyard Bug of the Day today. There were surprisingly few bugs to be found in the backyard today. I did see a chipmunk for the first time since last fall. It is strange that I have not seen them so far this year, but I have a feeling they did not fare well this winter. The last couple of years there was a population explosion of chipmunks, because of mild winters and bumper crops of acorns, but while we did have a pretty mild winter overall, there was a very poor acorn crop in the fall (possibly because of the gypsy moth caterpillars, the little fiends!), and I fear that many of those chipmunks may not have had enough food to survive until spring.

But here's what I have for you:

 Ants

 The baby tent caterpillars have built their first tent.

 Candy-striped leaf hopper

 Brown marmorated stinkbug