Sam found this in town on July 27, 2014, when we went to Culver’s for ice cream. She said the long jumping legs were missing when she found it (which was probably why she was even able to catch it).
This is actually a species we’ve seen before, Roesel’s Katydid. The difference is that last time we had the short-winged, flightless form, while this is the long-winged, migratory form. Aside from the long wings, it has the same pattern of yellow marks on its thorax as we saw last time.
Rosie found this moderately colorful true bug out back somewhere on July 22, 2014.
While it looks a bit like a standard stink bug (aside from the reddish-brown cross-like markings on its back), it turns out to actually be a Red Cross Shield Bug, Elasmostethus cruciatus.
Sam found this tiny insect in her room on July 27, 2014. It was so very small (only a few millimeters long, including the wings) that I’m surprised that she spotted it at all.
It looks like one of the Moth Flies, family Psychodidae, and more specifically in the subfamily Psychodinae. These have semi-aquatic, scavenging larvae, and are well known for breeding in and around sink drains (particularly if they are partially clogged).
Sandy and I were out snowshoeing in the woods behind our house on January 3, 2015, when I spotted this little insect slowly pacing across the surface of the snow. For reference, it was only about 25 degrees F (-4 deg. C) at the time, so we were well into freezing conditions. For scale, that’s my fingertip in the upper right corner.
I caught a couple of these with a net out of the pond back in the woods on July 11, 2014. They were clearly nymphs of some type of predatory water bug, and I decided to keep one to see if I could raise it to adulthood.
I’m still calling this one a “June Beetle”, even though Sandy found it in her new raised-bed garden on July 12, 2014[1]. While it looks a lot like the big beetles that come to our porch light in May and June, it was only about half as big (closer to half an inch long than to an inch).
Assassin bug with green legs and red abdomen
On July 16, 2014, Rosie presented me with this rather spindly, delicate-looking true bug. It was about a centimeter long (half an inch).
Unfortunately, she kind of mangled it in the process, with the wings all disarranged and tangled up with the long hind legs. She didn’t kill it, though.
When I opened the hatch into the basement of the old house on July 12, 2014, there were a number of these camel crickets hopping around on the steps. So, since the last time I photographed one of these was way back in 2008 (and my camera has been considerably upgraded since then), I caught two new ones for photographs, a male and a female.
At first, I thought that this was another midge at the porch light on June 29, 2014, but on closer examination it looks like one of the smaller parasitic wasps (it was only about 3-4 mm long).
From what I can see of the wing veins, I think it is a Braconid wasp, not an ichneumon. And, from the substantial, spear-like ovipositor, I think it is pretty safe to say it is a female:
This midge from the porch light on June 29, 2014 is similar to one posted earlier, except that it is a darker shade of green, and its eyes are smaller and not so red.
