The Bugs in the Backyard: Exciting Little Things

This is the blog post for Wednesday, August 15, 2018. I had extreme difficulty in getting pictures loaded, and didn't get it posted on time for the date to be correct.

Due to an inconveniently scheduled dentist appointment, I couldn't do my bug walk until evening today. That's not a terrible thing; it was hot today, and I think after spending so much time in deserts and places that are experiencing drought I lost my acclimation to humidity, such as it was. So even though it had cooled down a bit by the time I went out looking for bugs I still had to spend the whole walk wiping dripped sweat off of my camera. I know, you didn't want to hear about that.

I get excited about really small things, like finding a new flower blooming in my backyard, and it's a bonus to find that insects like it. Today I found a new flower (I think, at least, if it has been here before, it has not been for years), and on it I found one of today's Backyard Bugs of the Day.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Bald faced hornet. I have always thought this is a beautiful insect.

I don't know what the flower is, but the hornet is not the only one that liked it. The other bug is too small for me to see what it is (I didn't even notice it when I took the picture), but it looks like a gnat, maybe.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

I think this is some kind of sphinx moth caterpillar, but it could be a prominent. And I did go downstairs to get my caterpillar book, but when I was down there I got distracted and forgot to get the book, so now I am upstairs again and too lazy to go back down for the book. It's probably a sphinx moth caterpillar.

When I disturbed it, it did this, possibly trying to look dead, which a lot of insects do in self defense.

It stayed that way when I flipped the leaf over for a better look, and now it looks like it is doing yoga.

Today was another day with a lot of caterpillars in the backyard:

Woolly bear, aka isabella tiger moth caterpillar.

I don't know what this one is; it was tiny, less than a quarter inch long.

This goldenrod plant was host to...

... can you see how many caterpillars? When I took this picture I thought it was three, but there are four there.

When I disturbed them they decided to pretend they were twigs.

And elsewhere on the plant was one more:

Using bits of the flowers as camouflage.

White hickory tussock moth caterpillar

Today I found what I wanted to find:

Two monarch caterpillars. They were on different leaves of the same plant. This one is a little over an inch long...

... and this one is less than half an inch long.

Closer look at the little one.

This might be a new species for me. I can't tell what that is stuck to its back, whether it's another insect or just a bit of debris. There seem to be more on the leaf underneath it, and they look a little bit like lacebug nymphs, but I didn't notice them when I took the picture, so I didn't get a closer look.