Learning

It's weird sometimes that I now kind of take for granted knowledge that I did not have a few years ago. As little as I feel I know about insects now, I know a great deal more than I used to know, and a lot of what I used to "know" was just vague assumptions and wrong information. In a way, just my complete lack of understanding of how many different kinds of insects could be found in a single acre of land was a form of misinformation I was living with. Of course, given that I used to be, shall we say, negatively disposed toward insects it is just as well that I was not aware of how many of them were around. And it is possible that there were not quite so many before I started actively promoting habitat for them–though there were still probably WAY more than I realized. But now I know a few more things, so that I can see an insect I have never seen before and even though I don't know what it is, I can discern certain things about it.
Take today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I don't know what this is. I think I saw one last summer. But from what I have learned about bugs, I can guess that it is a Hemiptera nymph, and therefore it has no stinger, so waving that pointy back end at me was just posturing and threatening, and it could not sting me.

 It was really small.

 And given how small it is...

... what looks like a parasite on its face must be REALLY small. Also, notice the cool eyes.

Now for a lot of mostly not very good pictures of what was going on among the black-eyed Susans today:

There were a lot of bugs hanging around the black-eyed Susan patch today, but predominant among them were hoverflies. I think that there were a lot of males, and they were jousting for territory. This picture shows a moment in a confrontation that had been between three hoverflies.

I read somewhere once that as part of their mating ritual the males will find a territory, and will hover around flowers in the territory, looking out for a mate, and occasionally taking a rest on a flower.

It seems the required territory is not large.

Can you spot the thrips in this picture?

Hovering...

Hoverfly and hopper nymph

As I mentioned, there were a lot of bugs in this part of the backyard (which includes maybe two square yards or so) today:

When I took this picture I saw three of the insects in it...

I saw the hoverfly on the flower, the caterpillar, and the fly on the flower petal. I did not notice the two other hoverflies and the hopper that is hidden between petals.

Trying to take a picture of a fly, photobombed by a hoverfly

Cool eyes

This, of course, was the goal for all those hoverflies. It is somewhat surprising that among all of that activity, I only saw this single mating pair.

And...

A very busy bumblebee

A few more caterpillars

Not sure if this is a fly or a tiny wasp.

Long-legged fly

I took this to show how many bugs were around. I saw four when I took the picture...

I saw the two caterpillars, the fly, and the hoverfly. I did not notice what I think is a tiny beetle on the lower left.

Grasshopper nymph

Leaf hopper

Assassin bug nymph. It's actually surprising that there were not more predators around (other than  the many spiders, which you'll see later).

Possibly a newly hatched white marked tussock moth caterpillar?

Flower fly and, what I didn't notice at the time, I think a spittle bug

(Don't tell the arachnophobes, but I think there is a spider lurking under one of the flower petals).

Coccoon

Thick headed fly, and can you find the other tiny fly?

Katydid nymph

I spent most of my time during my bug walk around the black-eyes Susans, in part because I spent a lot of time there, and in part because it started to rain before I could finish my bug walk, but that patch of flowers was where I saw most of the bugs today. Here are all the Other Bugs:

 The monarch caterpillar resting, probably getting ready to molt.

 The eggs look like they have developed inside.

 Small wood satyr

 Crane fly

 Moth that landed at my feet

 This leaf hopper looks like the moon.

One of the things I love about this particular species of katydid nymph is their tendency to be found on brightly colored flowers. It makes them fun to photograph, when they will sit still for it:

 These two flowers were within a couple of inches of each other, with these three nymphs all together. Interestingly, the three nymphs differed a lot in size, and therefore age/development.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This one caught a thrips.

Lately I haven't seen a lot of spiders other than the crab spiders that hang out on the black-eyed Susans, so it was nice to spot this one.