Caterpillary

Today was a very caterpillary day in the backyard. That is a word if I say it's a word.

First, I checked up on the caterpillar whose silk webbing I accidentally destroyed yesterday. I was very careful about observing it:

 The leaf was much more pulled-in.

 I could still see the caterpillar working inside, though.

This one was still on the same plant from yesterday:

 I don't think I mentioned yesterday that this is about half an inch long. Early instar, based on how big these eventually get. I realize I should look this up, because I don't remember what it's called, but it's late, and I don't want to.

 Usually around this time of year I am seeing a lot of these, and they are all over the goldenrod. This year I have seen very few, and the goldenrod didn't have a great year; I am mostly seeing them on asters.

Several of these caterpillars are the same ones I have seen in the last few days, like this poor woolly bear that has been on the side of the house for a week:

 Those definitely seem to be larvae, not eggs. This caterpillar is not going to become a moth.

This woolly bear is in better shape. Here it is curled up in a ball, a defensive posture because I disturbed it by moving a piece of grass so I could take its picture.

Brown hooded owlet moth

I did not see any tussock moth caterpillars today, not even a banded tussock moth. I have seen very few white hickory tussock moth caterpillars this year, which is odd, because usually they are everywhere around now.

Backyard Bug of the Day used to be a caterpillar:

This looks a bit like an eight-spotted forester, or a grape-leaf roller, but much smaller than either of those.

We came very close to a freeze again last night, but it was warm-ish in the afternoon, and there were quite a number of bugs out and about. Interestingly, the night-time temperature when I started writing this blog near midnight was 65ºF. 34ºF one night, 65ºF the next. We have such variable weather.

Other Bugs:

 Cuckoo wasp

I saw several katydids today:

 Female

 

 Male

I saw a couple of tree crickets, too:

 I think this is a male.

And this one's female, I don't know if they are the same species, though.

So there I was, trying to take a picture of a spotted cucumber beetle...

...when I was photobombed by a bumblebee.

Bee-less view

I found another one later:

 

 Assassin bug nymph feeding on a small fly

Hoverflies:

 

 

 I can't tell if this is a bee or a fly. I think fly, but it's a very good bee-mimic.

Candy-striped leaf hoppers:

 One here...

 ... six here (one is just a shadow seen through a leaf, but I think you can see all the others).

Bumblebee. There are still a lot of these active in the backyard, but I haven't seen a honeybee in a few days.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I thought this spider was gone, because there was no web in its spot the last couple of days, and I could not find it, but it was back in place this morning. I still have not been able to get a good picture of its dorsal side.

 I have done better from this side, because its eyes are on the top of its head, so from this vantage point it can't see me and get spooked.

Flower crab spider