The Scourge

My bug walk today was incredibly underwhelming. I saw more gypsy moth caterpillars than anything else. They are big and fat, resting on tree trunks, probably getting ready to pupate. Too bad for them if I find them before they can. I sometimes find them wandering around on the ground, too, probably heading off somewhere to pupate. A few weeks ago I was trying to confirm the identification of some other caterpillars and came across a website that compared eastern and forest tent caterpillars, and gypsy moth caterpillars. For each species they listed the host plants; for the two species of tent caterpillars it listed about half a dozen kinds of trees, but for gypsy moths it listed about half a dozen and then said, "and about 250 other species." I was amazed. That is a lot of tree species, and it is a big part of the problem with gypsy moths–they'll eat pretty much anything. I have found them on just about every species of tree in my backyard. I can't even identify most of the tree species in my backyard, but I have killed gypsy moth caterpillars on most of them. It's a real downer to my bug walk, and the really ironic part of that is it cheers me up when I see dead gypsy moth caterpillars that have been killed by the fungus. And I am a person who likes insects!

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Some kind of tree hopper. This particular species was not in my books, although there was a similar one in a different color, and I supposed it could be the same thing. It's weird that I never see tree hoppers on trees...

There were not many other bugs:

 Black firefly. Lately I have been seeing a LOT of these, which is kind of amazing because I don't remember having had them in my backyard before this year.

 Ladybeetle larva...

... and ladybeetle pupa.

 Plant bug on common mullein

 I should really look this up...

Robber fly with prey

Arachnid Appreciation:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Six-spotted orb weaver with prey.

This picture has to be in Arachnid Appreciation because the caterpillar is sharing the daisy flea bane plant with a jumping spider.