Go Outside

This blog is not really a true representation of what bugs are in my backyard. There are SO MANY more bugs out there than I get pictures of. It frustrates me, and I know that if I didn't tell you it would just look like I am showing you everything I see, but on days like today especially, where I missed more shots than I got... well, I wish I was better at capturing all of this. Because boy, you are missing a lot today! The only solution is for you to go outside and have a look around. And plant some flowers to make sure that a lot of bugs want to come and visit you.

So, here's what I CAN show you...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Caterpillar

Other Bugs:

 Beetles on leafy spurge

 A couple of click beetles:

 

There were a lot of species of bees in the rock garden today, including bumblebees and also carpenter bees, which look almost the same:

 Gorgeous green eyes!

 This carpenter bee was patrolling up and down the front walk–they are territorial, and males will do this to find mates but also to protect their nests. I also saw several of them chasing each other around, and in one case I saw one grab onto another and fly away with it. I wonder if that was a mating thing. It was a pretty extraordinary sight.

 Velvet ant, I think, which is actually a kind of wasp, the female of the species being flightless and looking like an ant. This is a male, though, and they fly around, low to the ground, looking for females.

 Can you spot the butterfly?

 Arachnid Appreciation:

 

I was so happy to see this spider had caught a gnat...

So happy I took a lot of pictures of it.

This was one of those days where you get a cloud of gnats following you around and flying around your head, and one bit me, so I am happy to see one being eaten by a spider.

Jumping spider on moss

 Bowl and doily spider