This enlargement of an insect covered in artistically created camo was crawling on my leg. It or its friend dropped down from a white mulberry tree later and bit me. I thought I’d been able to ID it last year but now I can’t find it. I’m afraid I reacted too quickly to being bitten to figure out if the stick thing in lower left is a leg or a camo stick thing.
I cannot resist jumping spiders! This one looks like it came directly from a Star Wars set! Magical metallic monster! (Remember they are not insects.)
What could be more wonderful than lilacs and ladybugs in bloom?!
Where else would a bee be but at Tudor Place, DC where spring comes early in February? I had no idea! My mouth fell open at the sight! It was definitely a banner year for this early bloomer. The fortunate tree and the gleeful bees took advantage of a shocking break from winter as temperatures hit the 80s. We stood there amazed, in a late February snowfall of pink petals.
So exciting to open my kitchen door on 1/27/18 and see my exit blocked by a dangling spider! It is climbing up its web to a Chinese fir. Seems like a warm January though it is actually average. I assume many of you are happily enjoying this most bug-free time of year. For that reason I haven’t shown you the beetles I saw on 1/1/18, snuggled up under dead tree bark, in diapause. But I plan to share them eventually…
As I stared at the sweet gum ball, trying to figure out how to draw it, I could suddenly hear dozens of screaming baby birds! All those mouths would be a mother bird’s nightmare!
I never dreamed of anything as lovely as a dogwood hung with frozen spiderweb chandeliers melting in this morning’s advection fog!
Oh the joy of insects! Lost to the frost! Can’t imagine what I will find to photograph for my blog now that my favorite subjects are hidden away for the winter…
Those of you who don’t care for insects are welcome to celebrate. It’s difficult to imagine how you can resist those fantastic legs and feet and antennae and…
Weird black bug with a furry red square on its back/abdomen has been enlarged A LOT. It is a Lady bug larva!!!!! Really!!!!!
The Asian lady beetle (AKA Asian Lady Bug) larva resembles a small, spiny alligator with a blue-black body and two rows of small, orange to reddish spots on its back. Newly hatched, they are about 1/8 inch long and grow to about 0.5 inches.
When fully grown, the Asian lady beetle larva molts into a pupa then transforms itself into an adult beetle. The pupa is usually attached to a leaf or other substrate near an aphid colony. The pupa is orange with black spots and similar in size and shape to the adult.
Halloween may be over but daring jumping spiders are still out there! Meet phidippus audax! (Try saying his name! It’s fun!) Does he look like a little tarantula to you?
Note identifying yellow dot on top of abdomen/back.
Per Wikipedia: Phidippus audax is a common jumping spider of North America. It is commonly referred to as the daring jumping spider, or bold jumping spider. The average size of adults ranges from roughly 13–20 millimetres (0.51–0.79 in) in length. They are typically black with a pattern of spots and stripes on their abdomen and legs.
carriestaples 