Close to Home

 All of the bugs I am going to feature in this post today were taken within a few steps of my house. I did go for a long walk today, without my camera, but I didn't need a long walk to find wonderful things–they were right outside my door. Actually, some of them were on my door.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #1:

Dragonfly. This beauty was flitting around the old vegetable garden when I came back from picking up the mail, and landed on this dead plant stem. And stayed there, more or less, occasionally zipping off and coming back. I asked it if it would stay if I went inside to get my camera. It didn't answer, of course, because it's an insect, but I went inside, and when I brought my camera back out, it was still sitting there. And it stayed while I took lots and lots of pictures.

It did fly off for a few seconds, but came right back with what appears to be a thick-headed fly in its mouth. 

So now, here's just a bunch of pictures of this very cooperative and photogenic dragonfly.

Love those compound eyes.

This dragonfly was still sitting in the same place about an hour later when I went out to go for my walk. It must have been a good place to find food–it was very close to the milkweed plants, which attract a lot of bugs. Dragonflies hunt on the wing–from what I have read, they will only go after flying insects, so sitting on the top of a plant stem and waiting for lunch to fly by was basically this dragonfly's plan for the afternoon. Dragonflies like to perch on stakes and dead plant stems, and such things. Interestingly, I saw A LOT of this particular species of dragonfly today, in various places on my walk.

Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #2:

 

I noticed this big beetle on the screen door this evening. It is a brown prionid beetle (I know this because it was BBotD a year and a day ago, and I identified it then. I have no idea where I found that identification, because I tried finding it in my bug books before I happened to see that old post, and it's not in them). Not as big as the broad-necked root borer that was BBotD yesterday, but still quite a large beetle by my backyard standards. This seems to be the season for big beetles–there's another one crawling around on the window near where I am currently sitting as I write this. Oh, wait, you probably want a better look at this...

 

This was a hard-won photo. This beetle was not especially interested in having its picture taken.

While I was out on the porch taking pictures of the brown prionid beetle, something else interesting landed on the screen door...

 Backyard Co-Bug of the Day #3:

Some kind of planthopper...

I wish I'd been able to get a better picture, but I am making it BbotD because this is a new species for me.

 Other Bugs:

A similar bug was only a few inches away:

I am pretty sure that the dragonfly was eating one of these, thick-headed fly

Sawfly larvae devouring a leaf on my hazelnut tree. One of the many things I have learned through experience in my life is, don't stand directly underneath a leaf covered in these larvae, because when they are extremely alarmed they will let go...

Ailanthus webworm moth on milkweed leaf

Milkweed tussock moth caterpillar

Bee on milkweed buds

I did take a couple of pictures on my walk in the woods, using my phone:

There's hardly any water left in the stream now. I found these little gelatinous blobs in it. I have no idea what they are.

I don't see frogs much lately... 

There's a small patch of milkweed near the small pond, and this one was popular today–how many bugs can you see?

I saw three at the time, but there's more...

We went out tonight and came home to find the front porch teeming with insects. Mostly it was June beetles, but there were a lot of moths, too:

I think this is a dagger moth.

No idea what kind of moth this is. It's quite small.

 

There were also lots of leaf hoppers.

And, on the back porch this afternoon:

These two babies will probably fledge in the next day or so. I will miss them.

Arachnid Appreciation:

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This spider lives in a corner on the front porch, and it must be a very successful location for her, because she has several egg sacs in her web...

... and a lovely little ball of spiderlings that has hatched from one of them.