Okay, internet problems resolved, pictures loaded, I am ready to write yesterday's blog! I am going to write it as if I had written it yesterday (September 6), when it was supposed to be written and posted.
Backyard Amphibian of the Day:
Backyard Bug of the Day:
Contracted datana caterpillars on an oak tree
I walk by this tree every day on my bug walk, and since a lot of the branches are about at my eye level, I check it for bugs. Somehow I have managed to miss this huge mass of fuzzy caterpillars every day until now. I am telling myself that they just moved to this branch from somewhere else on the tree, and that is how I didn't notice them before now. It doesn't look like a lot has been eaten, so that could be true.
I think this is the third species of datana caterpillar I have seen this year, all new to me. The one on the right here isn't quite as fuzzed up as the others.
When alarmed they get into this pose. Note one that is an earlier instar. There were a couple of less developed ones in the group.
It's funny to see the whole group like this. They did this when I brushed against the branch they were all sitting on.
So, somehow I missed that huge crowd of fuzzy caterpillars for it looks like days. And yet, I can spot this for what it is:
The smaller parasa caterpillar really does look like just a dried up bit of the leaf at first glance. And for context, I would say it's less than half an inch long.
Hover fly
A couple of moths:
Bumblebee on autumn joy sedum. This patch of flowers is very popular with bumblebees lately.
Flies:
Sawfly larvae:
And a hopper
How to spot a tree cricket:
Look for the antennae...
... and when you see them, look under the leaf.
Squash bug, I think.
Crane fly
I think that droplet may be all honeydew excreted by this hopper.
Hopper nymphs on purple coneflower
Ant and aphids
Arachnid Appreciation:
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