Flight

Looking at my pictures today, you're going to think that I didn't see a lot of bugs in my backyard this afternoon, but it's not true. I did see a lot of bugs in my backyard today. However, they were almost all flying when I saw them, which makes photography almost impossible. Which is not to say that I didn't try.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 This bee might be a female sweat bee of the genus sphecodes.

 She flew around very close to the ground; I don't know what she was looking for, but she did not appear to have found it.

Then there were other insects I tried to photograph on the wing:

 Some kind of fly

 A swarm of something; I didn't get close enough to see what they were.

Other Bugs:

 This looks like a contracted datana that has lost most of its hair. I am guessing that's what it is, and that perhaps they lose the fuzz before they pupate. I found it on the foundation of the house, about 50 feet away from the tree where I have been seeing them for weeks.

 There's only one left on the tree, obviously the one that was significantly behind the others in size and development. I wonder if the one I saw on the house is the one who was on the leaf with this one yesterday.

 Spotted apatelodes

 Robber fly

 Flower fly. A lot of flies today.

 I am going to keep an eye out for this caterpillar, a banded tussock moth caterpillar. It looks odd, and I wonder if it's getting ready to pupate, too.

Today I was working in my backyard, picking up wood scraps, pieces of plywood left from a home repair project. I picked up the first piece and put it in the wheelbarrow; I picked up the second piece and underneath it was a cricket. I picked up the third piece, and underneath it were two crickets. I picked up the fourth piece, and several crickets were exposed, quickly scurrying away. When I picked up the last piece there were about ten crickets that dashed away. Some of those could have been ones from other layers of plywood, having scooted further down the pile. They dispersed instantaneously, and of course I wasn't holding my camera, because I was working. I did go and get it, though, and managed to get pictures of a couple of the crickets where they were hiding among the moss and other plants:

 Candy striped leaf hopper

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I have posted pictures before of this funnel web spider in the rock garden. It's unusually un-timid for a funnel web spider; usually it's almost impossible to photograph them because they dart back into their lair when you try.

For some reason I find it funny that its web is built on the bunny statues in the garden.