Mowing

Two years ago I hurt my knee, and it took a long time for it to get better (with physical therapy, and surgery, and more physical therapy, and just a lot of time...), so last week was the first time I was able to mow the lawn in about two years. Well, I tried it once last summer, and my knee didn't like it, so I should say that last week was the first time that I was able to mow the lawn without pain in about two years. I have missed it, which probably sounds crazy to a lot of people who hate mowing their lawn, but I kind of enjoy it. I have one of those old-fashioned reel mowers, which is a lot of work, but it's a good time to just live in my own head. It's also often a good time to see bugs. I keep my camera on the back porch while I mow, and many's the time I have had to pause in my work to go get my camera to take a picture of a bug (or a frog. Usually when I see frogs in my backyard it's when they are hopping out of the way of the lawn mower). I didn't happen to see any bugs (or frogs) while I mowed last week, but I did this week, and it felt just like old times.
I'll get to that bug in a minute, but first, Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

 Praying mantis nymph. It's not newly hatched, but it has a looooooong way to go to adulthood.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 Beetle of some kind. Really small. I couldn't find it in my books.

Other Bugs:

 Some kind of Hemiptera. I didn't get a look at the other side to be able to identify it.

 Looper caterpillar. Note only two pairs of prolegs, at the back.

Another caterpillar with two sets of prolegs. You can't tell from these pictures, but this one is about a tenth the size of the other one.

More of the katydid nymphs:

 

Last year I hardly saw any aphids. This year they are all over the multiflora rose plants:

 And so are the lady beetles. Last year in the fall I didn't see a lot of lady beetles like I normally see. They are all over the place now.

 Lace bug. On an oak leaf, not the tree where I usually see them.

 Long-legged fly

I saw these ants gathered on this sapling, and thought it was strange...

 ... until I looked at the other side of the twig and saw the aphids they are herding. (I later noticed that there are some on the other side of the twig, but they are tiny, so I didn't see them at the time).

 There are tiny ones, and bigger ones. The bigger ones probably gave birth to the tiny ones. I find the aphid reproductive situation confusing.

 Sawfly larva. I think this species looks like tiny cucumbers.

A moth with an interesting camouflage:

 It looks just like a curled up leaf.

This is one of the most exasperating moth species there is:

 

 It's nearly impossible to get close enough to it to take a picture...

 ... and when it lands it has a tendency to land on the underside of things.

 Longhorn flower beetle covered in pollen

 Four-lined plant bug

 Fly

I spotted this on my forest walk. It might be a fish fly.

 Now for the bug I saw while mowing the lawn. The thing about stopping to go get my camera while mowing is that I have to be sure that the bug will stick around until I get back with my camera. I was pretty sure this one would be hovering in the vicinity for a while:

 The Nessus sphinx moth was back.

Arachnid Appreciation:
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 I think this is an orchard spider with its own exuvia that it shed.