Riding the Wind

It was ferociously windy today, and since it is autumn that means there were leaves blowing everywhere. Looking up at the sky I could see that there were leaves that were probably 100 feet in the air. Somewhere there is someone raking leaves in their yard from trees that are far away. I got to thinking about leaf litter, and all the bugs that live in it, and even all the bugs that are on the leaves of trees. Imagine being on a leaf and being blown all that way. If an insect can fly, it could just let go, but what about pupating larvae? What about spiders? It must be very strange to be transported that way. Most insects probably wouldn't really care where they ended up, but what if it happened to a social insect, like an ant?

The flowers in the rock garden were less popular today, and the rest of the backyard even more so. Here's what I've got for you:

 Today it was mostly hover flies who were on the chrysanthemums.

 There were also a couple of sweat bees and some gnats (I don't have pictures of the gnats).

 Twice-stabbed lady beetle

 Wasp on the side of the house.

Tree cricket on the back porch