Today was colder and wetter than yesterday, and also less buggy. I found something interesting, and I am not sure what it is, other than Backyard Bug of the Day:
I think it is a springtail nymph. I spotted some springtails on a patch of moss on a rock, and while I was taking pictures of them, I happened to notice a few of these tiny larval-looking things around them.
I have seen tiny, obviously young, springtails before, and they look just like the adults, but smaller. I am not 100% sure that's what these are, but they are definitely tiny.
Note the springtail at the bottom of the picture, and compare with the tiny nymphish things. Remember also that adult springtails are tiny.
The body doesn't look very springtailish, but the face does.
There were springtails all over again today, but maybe not as many as yesterday. Today, though, I did find them on puddles of water:
There were a lot of them on this small puddle, and they would drift together into a clump and then suddenly spring apart. They did this several times, in different spots on the surface of the water, until this group bunched together and stayed that way.
Sprung apart.
Note the nymph, the tiny yellow speck on the outskirts of the clump.
Other than the springtails, some winter fireflies, and a few crane flies and other small things I saw flying around, there wasn't much to see.
This is much bigger than the winter ants, but I don't know if that means it's another species, or if there are some that are larger?
And speaking of winter ants, I saw some, but they will be in Arachnid Appreciation today:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well, it appears that the spider from yesterday is dead, given that it was covered in ants today.
I have found a surprising number of spider species the couple of days.
No comments:
Post a Comment