The weather is getting colder, which means bugs are looking for nice, warm places to congregate. As many of them were out from their normal hiding spots, I used the opportunity to take some photographs of exposed bugs on concrete in the backyard, and even found a few I had never seen before.
Jumping spiders are by far the most photogenic critters I’ve found in the backyard.
I think they were also taking advantage of the mass-exodus of bugs, although I never found a spider with a catch.
This spider kept running toward the camera, so I let it crawl onto the rag I was setting underneath the lens. It finally stopped long enough so I could get a photo. Did it see its reflection or something?
This is the biggest weevil I’ve ever seen.
It looks like a cross between a hippopotamus and an anteater…
…that can fly!
I had never seen one of these before, but after some research, I think it might be a giant water scavenger beetle.
That would explain why it was not the most elegant of creatures on land, as it looked like it was dragging its face along the ground as it moved.
This tiny bug happened to walk by the black one. I don’t know if it is an aphid or something else.
I’ve seen a lot of these insects on flowers but have never identified them.
A random, tiny, unidentified bug, crawling into the shadow of my camera lens.
A two-spotted stink bug – this was a new find for me. According to Wikipedia, they are predators of potato beetle larva.
At first I thought this shield bug was injured, but it was just sunbathing.
And it didn’t seem to care about me at all.
The dreaded boxelder bug.
Dreaded because they all want to hang out in your cozy house.
Other than that, they’re pretty cool.
Hopefully a very low percentage of these invertebrates will discover ways into our homes! If anything, a few jumping spiders would be okay to help get rid of everything else.
Macro Mystery #23 reveal:
Last week’s clue.
Answer – the top of a glass bottle!
Macro Mystery #24 clue:
Macro Mystery #24 clue.
Do you think you know what this is? You can write your guesses in the comment section below. The answer will be revealed next week!
