This is the first week of school for most town around here, and summer has decided to reassert itself in its last week (of meteorological summer. The equinox, which starts astronomical autumn, is a few weeks away, but meteorological summer ends at the end of August). We're in another heat wave. Yay. I've given up trying to figure out the habits of insects regarding the weather, but I didn't find a lot of bugs today. If they are anything like me (and let's face it, they're not in most ways), they did not want to be out in the heat. I was out there nonetheless.
I love butterflies, as you probably know, but there have been some lately that have a really annoying habit. They zoom right past my head, as if they want me to notice that they are there, but will the land somewhere so I can take a picture of them? NO. And if they have landed, I can't get anywhere near close enough to take a picture before they fly away. So they are so unafraid of me that they can fly within inches of my face, but if I walk within twelve feet of them on a flower, away they go. And how come none of them are interested in the purple cone flowers this year? Those used to be bug magnets in general, and butterfly attractors specifically. This year... hardly any bugs on them at all, and no butterflies.
Sorry, the heat is making me cranky. You should have seen what I was like in Death Valley when it was 126ºF.
Backyard Bug of the Day:
Leptoglossus oppositus, a species of leaf-footed bug. Order Hemiptera
Buffalo tree hopper. I saw a lot of buffalo tree hopper nymphs earlier in the summer, but I have not seen many adults, less than usual, I would say. In fact, I think I have seen fewer leaf hoppers, tree hoppers, and plant hoppers in general this summer.
Blending in with your surroundings is about more than just being green:
Stinkbug nymph
Closer look
Different species of stinkbug nymph
Cicada. I only got one shot before it flew away. Usually they fly really clumsily and loudly, but this one just disappeared while I was refocusing my camera.
I got better pictures of the furcula caterpillar today:
White marked tussock moths have been ubiquitous lately.
Another ailanthus webworm moth has eclosed:
It looks like that one chrysalis is a lighter color now because it's empty and light is passing through it.
It appears to have a hole in the top, so maybe that's how the moth gets out? Seems weird, but other than that it looks intact.
When I looked at the pictures on my computer I noticed something I had not seen in real life:
There are tiny caterpillars crawling around in the webbing.
A new generation of ailanthus webworms?
Arachnid Appreciation:
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