Concert Season

When I was growing up, the extent of my knowledge about insects in relation to seasons was that in the summer there are bugs, and in the winter there are not. As it turns out, that is not only untrue (there are bugs in the winter), but a very incomplete understanding about insect seasons. Even now I am still learning. When I was a kid, I associated crickets with summer, and knew that you could hear them at night in the summer months, and I may have even known that their song was part of attracting a mate, but what I didn't know was that there are multiple species of crickets and they have different mating seasons, and only sing during their seasons, which do not last the whole summer long. It was only a couple of years ago that I asked on a facebook group about insects why there were suddenly no crickets singing at night in July, worried that something had happened to them, and someone said that it was between seasons for different species; one species had finished, and the next had not started their nightly singing contests. This was news to me. I also didn't really notice when I was a kid that fireflies are not an all-summer nighttime light show. I just kind of thought they were out there the whole time. Also not true. So now, I go out at night for my sky time, and enjoy the sights and sounds of summer night insects, but for the last few nights it was silent outside, no insect sounds at all, or tree frogs, or anything, and there were very few fireflies, the last stragglers, I suppose. It's strange. A couple of nights ago I went to open the window and was surprised to see that it was already open. Not having heard any insect serenade from outside, I assume the window was closed. Now, I could still be totally wrong, but it is a comfort to know that it is probably not because there has been a sudden mass destruction of the insects in my backyard, it's just the end of the season for the fireflies and the crickets that have been singing for weeks, while the next season of summer insects has not fired up yet. Except... tonight I heard my first katydid of the season. Still, I miss hearing the crickets through my open window, especially because what I am hearing right now is the sound of night work construction down on the highway.
Backyard Bug of the Day:

This is a tachinid fly, of the genus Tricopoda. My book doesn't specify the species.

It has really interesting hind legs that look like it is wearing fringed chaps.

Other Bugs:

Dragonfly

Looper on black-eyed Susan

Hopper nymph

Sweat bee on sumac

Our street was chip sealed today, which, if they don't do this where you live, means that they coated the street with oil and then covered it with gravel. Eventually this packs down to make a solid road surface. In the meantime, it's a mess, and this poor beetle would no doubt ruefully agree if beetles had the capability of experiencing ruefulness. I found it like this, on its back, struggling, and with its legs covered in the oil from the street:

I righted it and got it out of the road and onto the grass, where unfortunately it got leaves and grass stuck to its legs. I felt bad about that, and then didn't know what was the best thing to do to help it. I decided that leaving it alone was best. When I went by a few hours later it was gone; I assume it could still fly, but I also hope that it was able to get the stuff off of its legs. It's a pretty big beetle, but only about half the size of that one I found last week.

Hooktip rose caterpillar. Finally a good shot of the patterns on its side. It would have been a little easier for me to identify it (but not much) if I had been able to get this view from the start.

The chrysalis has changed since last night, having twisted to the side. I have seen them like this before. I wonder if it is supposed to make it look more like... well, what it looks like, which is bird droppings.

I could only find one of the monarch caterpillars today. I hope the others are okay.

Sometimes as I am walking around in my backyard, something catches my eye and I have to look closer, because I can't tell if something is there, or if it's just a trick of the light. In this case...

... something was there. Hopper nymph

Moth fly, which looks like a moth, but is a fly. This is tiny. I think it is drinking from a pool of honeydew, which is the waste product of hoppers and other insects that feed by sucking fluids out of plants, and then expel what is more or less sugar water. There were several hopper nymphs on a vine just above this, and I think they created that tiny puddle.

Leaf hopper

Red milkweed beetle. It landed on the milkweed for about a second, and then flew away to land on the storm door.

Why am I not finding spiders?