Helping Hand

I have a policy of non-interference in nature when it comes to predation–I may not like to see an insect struggling in a spiderweb, but it is not for me to decide that the insect should go free and the spider should go hungry. But I do lend a helping hand in other situations, like the other day when I saw a tiny wasp struggling in the water in the bird bath; I gently moved it out of the water, and it thanked me by immediately flying away without letting me take its picture. Insects, in general are remiss in giving thanks for such assistance. But that did not stop me from trying to help again today, when I saw a similar scene...

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 I spotted this tiny weevil in the water, or on the water, and it looked like it was struggling. I took some pictures, and then used a twig to remove it from the water. And it promptly disappeared. It was small, but not so small that I should have been unable to see it on the rock. Anyway, like I said, I took pictures of it...

 Note the tiny things to the right on the surface of the water. We'll get back to those.

So, after the weevil disappeared, I continued on my bug walk. When I walked past the rock with the puddle about half an hour later I looked at it again, and there was the weevil on the puddle again! Obviously, it wanted to be there, and was capable of handling it, even if its movements looked very clumsy.

 I had checked the puddle in the first place trying to find springtails. There weren't any the first time around, but I saw this one the second time.

 The weevil was very interested in whatever that thing is, some kind of berry or seed.

 That thing on its back appears to be a mite. Mites sometimes are parasitic on other insects.

As for the specks on the water...

 

 They were incredibly tiny. I assumed from their color and the way they were clumping together on the water surface that they were very young springtails, but looking at the pictures on the computer I think they are mites.

 

 Next to the weevil

 It's hard to tell if they have six legs and two antennae, which would mean insects, or eight legs, which would make them mites. They don't appear to have the body segments of insects, so I think mites.

I did find some springtails today. They weren't all over the backyard like that day last week, but I found numbers of them in a few places, like on the stile, and on the front walk:

 I saw the ones on the front walk as I was on my way out to an appointment, so I don't have pictures of those, but there were a lot of them.

 

 Another species of springtail

 It's ironic that after all these weeks of freezes, now I am seeing ticks.

 Stinkbug

 It wasn't sunny this afternoon, but the candy striped leaf hoppers were out on their favorite tree.