Regularly Scheduled Caterpillar

 I talk to bugs sometimes, not expecting a reply, mind you, but in the same way I talk to myself, or rather, the same way a person might talk to plants, or their shoelaces that just won't stay tied. Just because I have something I wish they understood. I don't have any actual illusions that they understand me. Still, I am pretty sure that when I saw today's Backyard Bug of the Day I said, "Ah, there you are!" I have been looking out for it, you see, because this is the time of year when I always see this insect.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

The prosaically named striped garden caterpillar. I find one every year around this time, always in the same part of the yard.

Other Bugs:

Planthopper

I don't understand why people in general don't this wasps are adorable.

This photo is a victory, and a sign that persistence pays off. I have been trying to get a photo of one of these tiny plant bugs for WEEKS. And here it is. Finally.

 There is a fungus growing on a tree in the woods that I have enjoyed seeing develop from day to day:

Today I found a rove beetle on the fungus. 

Arachnid Appreciation:

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Bowl and doily spider

The currently ubiquitous goldenrod crab spider:

Nursery web spider

Funnel web spider. This photo is another triumph, just because I have never been able to get a photo of a funnel web from this angle before. It's hard to get pictures of them in general, because they spook easily and run back into their lairs. And most of the ones I have seen have had webs near the ground, so getting a shot from the side, and without scaring it away, would be pretty much impossible. But this one is on an arbor, at close to my eye level. Ultimately I did scare it back into its lair, when I tried to get closer than this. Spiders have a lot of eyes; they are hard to sneak up on.