This wasp was on the window in the entryway last fall, and sadly, it died when I put it in the refrigerator to cool it down for photography.
It appears to be some type of Ichneumon wasp, based on the fact that (a) it looks wasp-like, and (b) its hind trochanter[1] is divided into 2 segments (the next picture is a close-up of the point where the hind leg meets the body).
OK, I’ve got to do this one. Any insect-themed blog eventually has to have an entry about Monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus. It’s required[1]. So, here we go. Last summer, S_ and Sam caught[2] several Monarch caterpillars and raised them in a terrarium. While this made it easy to watch them, the glass made it hard to get really sharp photographs.
I’d like to say right now that, if you want to get pictures of all the bugs in your house, you really can’t beat having a 2-3 year old child helping you find them. Sam found this spider on the rug just a couple of weeks ago (in January)[*], and brought it to me alive and undamaged. It even has all of its legs for once!
S_ was growing some petunias in pots on the south side of the house last spring, and one day noticed that she had quite an infestation of some pretty eye-catching caterpillars. You can see three of them just in this one picture[1], there were probably a dozen or so in total:
And, in the “Things found under rocks” category, we have this specimen from back in May[1]. It is a “pillbug” (also known as “potato bugs”, “sow bugs”, “woodlice”, “roly-polys”, and probably dozens of other names).
Back in April, while planting some more rhubarb[1], I found this about an inch underground. It had evidently overwintered as a nearly-adult caterpillar
It was still dormant, and wouldn’t unroll for anything. In retrospect, I should have gotten a picture of its back, because it looks like there is a row of black dashes running along the back in this picture, but it is hard to tell for sure with only a side view.
There are no uninteresting insects, only insects that are insufficiently magnified
S_ found this little larva while cleaning out a cupboard. It was in the back of the shelf, happily chowing down on a dead ant.
This is a species of spider that has successfully colonized the dark corners of our house: so far S_ found me three specimens to photograph in December and January (two females and a male). I could tell that one of them was male because he had enormously swollen pedipalps, which I understand means he was ready to mate. He was within a few inches of one of the females, so we suspect that he was courting her when he was caught.
Last Saturday (Jan. 12), we had all just stepped outside the door when S_ said, “Hey, there’s a bug in the snow!” It was this little fellow, who was merrily scampering across the surface of the snow just like he knew what he was doing:
S_ found this one back on June 1. It’s been a while, and she forgets the details of how she found it now[1], but she thinks it was hanging by a thread from one of the apple trees[2]. It was a bit over an inch long.
