The Bugs in the Backyard: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

This is a spotted lanternfly nymph.

I found it in my backyard yesterday. I emailed a picture to an entomologist to confirm the identification, and in answer to my question, "Is this photo of a spotted lanternfly nymph?" he responded with a single word. "Yes."

Perhaps you are wondering why I am so dismayed about this cute, little creature? The spotted lanternfly is an invasive insect that is causing devastating damage in several US states. I have been dreading finding it in my yard, because I now have almost 36 acres of forest under my stewardship and if this insect takes hold, I won't be able to do anything to stop it. And here it is. I feel doomed. This is even worse than when I found an emerald ash borer in my woods, because the ash borer only kills one species of trees. It's worse than the nematode that causes beech leaf disease for the same reason. I feel helpless, frustrated, and angry that this little monster is here. When I first noticed it I was suspicious of what it might be, but it's small, so it was hard for me to tell. I quickly went and got my camera, and then searched on the internet on my phone to find out what the nymphs of the lanternfly look like. Through the macro lens on my camera I could see it much better, and my heart sank. After I took a couple of pictures I tried to squash it, which is what you must do when you find one, and I don't know if I succeeded and it fell to the ground, or if it hopped away. I hate to think it's still out there, thriving. And the thing is, this is a nymph. It probably hatched around here, potentially with a hundred brothers and sister, or even more. I am overwhelmed just thinking about it.

I have reported the finding to the state on their entomology website, where they have a form for reporting sightings of the spotted lanternfly. If I see any more, I will kill them, even though I hate killing insects. Better to squish a few bugs to save a forest. If only it was so easy...

I didn't bring my camera on my walk yesterday. I brought it into the woods today, with the zoom lens on it, which is why I was able to get this picture of Backyard Bird of the Day:

Turkey vulture. There were two of them on top of a cliff that took flight when we approached, but this one didn't fly very far; it landed on a tree close to where we were walking. I wonder what they were doing on the cliff...

I took a few pictures of insects (and frogs) on my walk, and then when I got back to the house I switched to the macro lens and went out in my backyard to do a bug walk.

But first...

I took a peek at the wren's nest on the back porch. There are now four eggs. There was no bird in the nest at this point, but later on there was.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

Juvenile praying mantis

It's looking at me... behind it...

This is not a native insect in Connecticut, but it is our State Insect (although I don't know if this is the right species). I have heard different opinions of whether it is invasive or not, but I think it is called that by people who just think anything introduced is invasive, especially something predatory. I get the impression, though, that it is not really invasive. Anyway, cool as they are, it's not a good thing that people import them to the US (which they do to control garden pests). It's just generally not a good idea to import insects and release them into the wild, whether mantises or lady beetles. Sure, they will eat the pests in your garden, but then when they have done that they are going to go elsewhere and keep eating insects. I did tell this one that it was welcome to eat any lanternflies it finds.

Other Bugs:

Dragonfly. This was when I had the zoom lens on my camera; it was fine for this shot, because I wasn't able to get very close to this dragonfly, and it's pretty big as local insects go, so I don't need a macro lens for this!

Female ebony jewelwing. She's a drab brown color, unlike the bright, metallic green and blue of the males. And she has that white spot on her wings. This is another zoom lens shot, and I was lucky to have that lens, because this dameselfly and I were on opposite sides of the stream in the woods.

Hairstreak butterfly. I saw this in the woods, and I couldn't get near it due to where it landed, but since I had the zoom lens on my camera I was at least able to get some shots of it.

Hopper nymph

Caterpillar

Katydid nymph

Some kind of insect egg mass. I should know what this is, but I can't remember.

Beetle

Ants tending their aphid herd.

I came across some tumbling flower beetles on fleabane; I've seen a lot of tumbling flower beetles there this year...

I couldn't figure out why these two didn't hide when I came close with my camera...

Or when I came even closer...

... and then this happened, and I realized that they had ignored me because they were in the midst of courtship!

Missing a leg...

Tachnid fly

A different species of katydid nymph

Beetle on my basil plant

Now that the small pond has dried up, the frogs like to hang out around the old bathtub that was used as a watering trough when my woods were a farm. There is a pipe that leads from a spring in the cliff to the tub, and so it has a nearly constant flow of water into it, albeit sometimes just a drip. There were four frogs on the edge of the tub when I arrived; two of them dove in the water when I approached: