Frost

We had our first freeze of the season last night? But did the bugs care? The crickets were singing this afternoon, and there were bugs to be found, so many of them didn't mind it. They might feel a bit differently if the long range forecast for snow next week comes true, but even so, if the snow melts because the temperature goes back up into the 40s or above, there will be bugs around still.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 Beetle

I was out before dawn today, when the temperature was below freezing, but when I got home in the afternoon I heard the crickets as soon as I got out of the car, so I knew there were bugs around. I went inside to get my camera, and as soon as I walked out the back door I found my first insect:

 Springtail. Of course, you see those on the warmer winter days, so clearly a bit of cold isn't much to this critter.

The rock garden is by the side of the house that gets the most afternoon sunshine, and that side of the house is very popular for basking:

 Mostly flies, of various species, and one grasshopper.

 They like the foundation, too.

Caterpillars like to bask, too.

 Grasshopper

 Tree cricket

 And rounding out the three kinds of insects in the order Orthoptera, a katydid.

 

 Some insects just bask on the rocks in the rock garden, like this grasshopper.

 Every year around this time I take almost this identical picture. Small red dragonfly on a dead leaf near the mailbox.

 Tree cricket, female

Tree cricket, male. Different tree. I'm not sure if it's the same species of tree cricket.

 March fly

I realized today that I hadn't seen any of the milkweed bug nymphs since I got home, and so I went looking for them on the plant where they'd been hanging out for weeks. They were inside one of the open seed pods. When I touched it, the seeds all fell out, with a couple of the milkweed bugs:

 I found a bunch more in another pod. They are in various stages of development, but I still can't tell which kind of milkweed bug they are. Note the object next to the one on the lower left: that is an exuvia from one that has molted.

 This one has recently molted, and hasn't developed its full color yet.

We went out this evening, and though it was cold, there were a few bugs on the porch when we got home:

 

 Cockroach

 Woolly bear with interesting coloring–mostly black, with an unusually narrow brown band.

 Tree cricket