March, October, Whatever

 I don't know why this didn't publish last night...

  The day looked somber today as I went out for my bug walk, and it affected my mood. As often happens lately, I had trouble finding any bugs, but today I really couldn't blame them; the temperature was much lower than in has been the last few days, and with so few things in bloom, I pictured all of the insects curled up in little beds somewhere, opening their eyes and looking at the kind of day it was, and saying, "It's too cold, and there's nothing to eat, why bother even getting up?" Having anthropomorphized all of the insects this way, I began to think about how many people probably say that at some point every winter. And how many more are going to say it this winter, when a global pandemic has made it hard for people to buy food, and pay for heat, or even afford a place to live, and has been such a burden on people's mental health as well as financial security. For some people it is too cold to get out of bed if there isn't even anything to eat, especially if their struggle has brought on a depression. The pandemic hasn't just brought a deadly virus, it has hurt people in a great many other ways. This has nothing to do with bugs, of course, and I don't even know what point I am trying to make, except to say that we need compassion more than ever right now. If you know of someone who is struggling, and you have the means to help them, please do.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

March fly. Male. If this turns out to be a normal year, and frankly, there is no reason to suppose it will be, at some point I will be able to post male and female photos showing the sexual dimorphism of these flies. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between females and males when you see both of them.

March flies are very specifically seasonal insects; they're not just hanging around for months. I have always seen them for a couple of months in late October or early November, but I have read that in some places they have two generations per year, and so they will be seen for short time in the spring and again for a short time in the autumn.

Soon hopefully there will be literal swarms of these in my backyard. Today I found two.

 Other Bugs:

Aphid

Having been thinking such somber and gloomy thoughts about the coming winter, it seemed almost comical to find a couple of winter fireflies on a tree:

Of course, winter fireflies aren't just active in winter. And despite their name, they won't come out if it's really cold.

Of course, the lack of flowers in bloom is really only a problem if you eat nectar and/or pollen. Flowers that have gone to seed are still a source of food for some insects:

The case moth caterpillars aren't just using the goldenrod fluff for adornment, they are also feeding on the plants.

I posted a picture yesterday of candy striped leaf hoppers on a few leaves of this black birch branch. Today there was only one leaf left on the branch, along with a couple of catkins ready for next spring. There's a few candy striped leaf hoppers, too.

Meanwhile, on a leaf on the back porch tree:

There haven't been any for the last couple of days, but today the ants finally showed up among the aphids.