Welcoming Committee

 I've been traveling again, and got home tonight, after dark. I wasn't about to do a bug walk, but a bug came in the house to greet me, so it is Backyard Bug of the Day:

My husband found it as he was bringing something in from the car. He thought he may have stepped on it, but it was alive and kicking, as they say.

Here it is playing dead as I try to get it outside.

We went for a short walk, and saw a few bugs, and a really big slug:

We also had to find our way around a few big spider webs that stretched across the paths. Here's one of the spiders for Arachnid Appreciation:

Night Night

Last night I was sitting on the couch next to an open window and I could hear rustling in the rock garden, so I got my flashlight to go outside and see what was there. Whatever it was had scurried off by the time I got there, but I found one of my favorite bugs on the screen door on my way out. Since it was after midnight it's today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

Green lacewing

 We did our woods walk just before ten p.m., at which time it was 79ºF. That's warm for daytime; it's horrible for nighttime. I didn't bring my camera, because we were not going to spend two hours walking in the woods, but if I had brought it I would have had many subjects to photograph: beetles, ants, moths, moths, and more moths, leaf hoppers, and lots of spiders. 

I only took pictures of a couple of things, because flashlight and phone are not the best tools for the job, but sometimes I could not resist.

Moth

Mushroom

Backyard Amphibian of the Day:

This frog was in the middle of the path, and it did not move when I took its picture, when I stepped over it, or when my husband stepped over it.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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Terrible picture, but I am posting it anyway, because I love finding these big spiders building big webs in the woods in the night.

I saw many species of spiders, and only photographed the bigger ones.

Backyard Reptile of the Day:

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Of course it's a snake, it's always a snake. I assume garter. It was fast and feisty. I have never seen a snake at night before, although I know that they are sometimes nocturnal hunters. It was certainly warm enough for a cold-blooded animal to be active.

Far Away Bugs

 This bug is not from my backyard:

It's not from my woods, my city, my state, my country, my continent, or even my hemisphere. I took this picture in Zimbabwe last week. I spent ten days in Africa, and while my time on safari was mostly notable for seeing rhinos, elephants, lions, and many other African mammals (and a couple of reptiles, and a lot of birds), I naturally kept an eye out for interesting African bugs. I saw a lot of butterflies, and a cricket, a really cool mantis, and a few spiders. I didn't get pictures of most of them, because I packed my telephoto lens, not my macro, and in Africa the butterflies are no more cooperative than they are here. I was enchanted by seeing different bugs, though. This one was a thrill to see, because I knew immediately that it was a Hemiptera, but it is one I have never seen before, because it lives thousands of miles away from my backyard. I can see the similarities to bugs in my backyard like the large milkweed bug, but its coloring is completely different. However, I bought a book of Insects of South Africa at the airport in Johannesburg, to try to identify some of the butterflies I saw (without success), and from that (even though I took this picture in Zimbabwe), I think this is a Cotton Stainer. 

Now, I am back home, and while I was gone new things came into bloom in my backyard, including lavender. I always check flowers to see if anything is feeding, and lavender is very attractive to bugs. There are specific ones I tend to see there, like today's Backyard Bug of the Day:

Thick-headed fly. This is a rare shot for me, usually they don't land long enough for photos, and I have to try to get pictures of them hovering. It rarely works.

Better be careful where you land, fly, because there is something lurking on that plant. Can you see the assassin bug nymph?

When I left for Africa the eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar looked like it was about ready to pupate. It was nowhere to be seen when I looked for it after I got home, so it is probably a chrysalis now, somewhere in my backyard...

Here's another insect from Africa:

Our safari guide said was was a stick mantis. It is apparently a juvenile, because the insect guide says they are much bigger than this.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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My first white micrathena spider of the year! I guess now I need to start watching the paths in the woods to avoid walking through the webs that will inevitably be built across them.

An Intermission

 I didn't intend to post today, but... here I am, posting. I didn't intend to do a bug walk, either, but I did a little bit of one because I found some cool bugs while mowing the lawn. When I found the first one, in the garden shed while I was getting out the mower, I said, "Ugh, I need to mow the lawn, I don't have time to take pictures of bugs!" Then when I saw the next one, on a milkweed plant in the garden, I said, "Fine! I'll go get my camera!" So, there was an intermission in the mowing of the lawn. Time well spent.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

I think this might be a camel cricket. It's some kind of cricket, anyway. I found it in the garden shed, and moved it outside.

I think it's a male, because I think those pointy things on the back end are for clasping purposes during mating.

Other Bugs:

Here's an update on the new ladybeetle pupa. The color darkened, it developed spots, and its features are sharper. By this time next week it will be an adult ladybeetle.

Meanwhile, in the milkweed patch:

One of my favorite bugs: Red Milkweed Beetle:

Candy striped leafhoppers

I can never remember the name of this species of leaf hopper.

Furcula caterpillar:

It was alarmed by a gust of wind.

After I mowed the lawn I sat on the back porch to rest for a while, and when I took off my hat I discovered a stowaway.

The eastern tiger swallowtail went for a walk around dusk, just like it did last night. And just like we did last night and tonight. A few minutes later it was back on its hammock.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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I think this is a spider that died from a fungus infection.