Sorry I'm Late

 THIS IS THE BLOG POST FOR MONDAY, MAY 21, 2018. I was only about halfway through loading my pictures last night when my internet went out. It didn't come back until this morning. I couldn't even post what I had already loaded. So... Here's yesterday's blog:

Here's what you need to know about my backyard today:

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 There are three lovely things in this picture. Wait, no, there are four lovely things in this picture. There is a lovely flower beetle of some kind (there are a lot of beetles that look more or less like this, so I can't identify it farther than that), there are blooming flowers, there is greenness, and... there is sunshine!!!!!!

It was such a beautiful day today that I did two bug walks. I did the first one, then I ate my lunch outside, and then when I came back from some appointments I spotted a bug on the way into the house; I went in and got my camera to take its picture and then just did another bug walk because it was so lovely out there. And there were bugs.

Today, there were also:

 Chipmunks! In the plural! This was the first time this spring that I have seen more than one chipmunk in a day, much less near each other. I think the lack of acorns from last fall caused the chipmunk population to crash after that last couple of boom years, and they have been a rare sight in the backyard in the last few months. Today I saw a few of them chasing each other, as they normally do this time of year (and a couple of days ago I saw one go down one of the snake holes on the little hill where I saw all the snakes the last few months). This one obligingly sat for a picture.

 The mourning dove is still sitting on her nest. I cautiously check on her every couple of days.

Other Bugs:

I found an interesting scene with ants and aphids:

 Note the aphid excreting a drop of honeydew...

 ... and an ant taking it.

 On my second bug walk, in the same spot, there was another aphid. There are also baby aphids.

 March flies I think that is the male on the left, and the female on the right.

Many caterpillars around today:

 

 

 

 

The wisteria is still the place to be if you're a bee, at least when it's sunny. I couldn't see any bees at first, but I could hear them.

Some bees get kind of combative.

Sawfly larvae:

 Before I touched the leaf...

 ... and after.

 There were a LOT of flies around today.

And moths:

 

 Two days in a row spotting an adult of this kind of assassin bug! This was tricky to photograph; it was on a leaf, and the wind was blowing. In such a case I usually steady the leaf with my hand, but the bug didn't feel comfortable with my hand there and kept walling around. Sometimes it walked toward my hand, and knowing that these can give you a really painful jab with their proboscis, I didn't want this anywhere near my hand when it was feeling agitated!

 Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Six-spotted orb weaver, I think. I have never seen one with a cepaholothorax shaped like that. I wonder if I have been seeing one gender all along, and this is the first time I have seen this gender, whatever it is.

 Bowl and doily spider

 Jumping spider

Spider and stinkbug