Forecasting

You've probably heard the folklore that you can tell how bad the coming winter is going to be by comparing the relative lengths of the brown and black sections of a woolly bear caterpillar. It's not true, of course, but there is one way that you can use caterpillars to determine the weather:

 You can tell if it has just rained by looking at fuzzy caterpillars.

 

 But we all know that no weather technology is 100% correct.

You can also tell if it's cold by looking at wasps:

 Hanging onto a plant and not moving at all? Must be cold out. There were a couple of these thread-waisted wasps, and a bumblebee, hanging onto this plant when I went out to do my bug walk (while the temperature was 52ºF).

But insect liveliness is also not a foolproof method of figuring out the weather:

I didn't bring my camera with me when I went out to check the mail because it was cold and dark out (the clouds had not cleared up yet from the morning rain), but I happened to see a caterpillar on a black-eyed Susan flower. I debated about going in to get my camera, but I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and didn't want to do my bug walk at that time, and I figured, hey, it's cold out, that caterpillar isn't going to go anywhere (not to mention it's pretty common for a caterpillar to sit in the same place for DAYS). So I went inside, ate my breakfast, read the newspaper, and then got my camera and went outside to look for bugs. The first place I went to look was on that flower, because I knew there was a caterpillar there. Except... it wasn't there. It had wandered off! Fortunately, it hadn't wandered too far, and I was able to find it on a grass stem nearby, as you can see here.

 And here. I think this is the one with the boring name, the common tan wave, or wavy, or something like that.

Yesterday on this leaf there were aphids being tended by large, orange ants:

 Today they were being tended by small, brown ants.

 And I have a question about what's going on here...

 ... What is THAT? I wish I had seen it while I was out taking pictures, and not just when I was looking at the pictures online, because I would have taken a closer shot of that.

There weren't many insects out basking today, but that could be because there wasn't much sunshine to bask in.

 Most of the time when I find one of these katydids it involves a double-take.

 

 Several days ago I saw two of these striped garden caterpillars on this plant. I kept looking for them in the days after, and there weren't any there, but today one was back.

 Weevil

 Stinkbug

 Crane fly

You may have noticed that I didn't choose a Backyard Bug of the Day today. That is because most of the bugs I found today have already been Backyard Bug of the Day this year, or are just too common to be considered. There is one bug, though, that would be a good candidate...

 

 ... IF I could get a decent picture. I have been trying for weeks to get even an okay picture of this wasp/sawfly(?) to no avail. I am not going to reward it for being intractable, though. Without a good picture, this insect will not be named Backyard Bug of the Day.

 

 It's pretty, though.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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Several times late last night I walked through my kitchen, and every time I saw this spider dangling from the corner of the kitchen table. It would be a different heights each time, so it was going up and down for some reason. I debated capturing and bringing it outside, but I didn't, and then I forgot to look for it when I got up in the morning, so who knows where it is now...