November 3, 2024

Well, yes, Autumn is progressing nicely if you call yellow drying leaves all over the ground nicely.  The net is still over the Pond, and the once-hungry fishes continue to swim around, not showing too much interest in food now.  (They haven't had any for a few weeks now.)  I still like to peel the net off so as to admire the beauties as they swim by.  I was reading that the fallen leaves on the ground provide a lot of nutrients to the ecosystem as they decompose.  All right, no raking for me. :-)

The Fall that we associate with huge colorful trees is about over.  The colorful leaves are now drying in the streets.  Neighbors have largely raked up the ghosts of the colors, and the city has mostly collected the sacks of leaves.  But the Euonymus with its red berries and deep pink leaves decorate the houses.  In the deep winter, the red berries (seeds) will feed the birds that nestle in the bushes for a little warmth and a bit of winter food. 

The other day I had sent in to iNat this little Plant Bug with white eyes.  "Plant Bug" was as far as I got with identifying it.  But the next day I spotted this whiter version and got a half-dozen identical pictures of it.  So far that hasn't helped move the ID forward, but who knows what will happen now?  I think it will end up in something like tribe Ortholytini.

The Eastern Boxelder Bug rolls into view.

We've seen a lot of little leafhoppers, but here's one I haven't seen for a good time.  (I first spotted this one a couple of weeks ago but only today got an ID for it as genus Agalliopsis.)  This is a fairly young nymph.  Despite the difference in coloration probably caused by taking these pictures from different angles, these are all of the same individual.

This next Leafhopper is a new one for us: it is the Three-banded Leafhopper (Erythroneura tricincta), spotted here on October 29.  (I've seen it in other years.) The second one was first seen here on October 17, but spotted again on October 30.   

Here's a new Beetle seen on October 30: one with a goodly amount of copper-metallic markings. The second also has a hint of metal to it, but the shape is different.  Third is so wooly, it may be a kind of Weevil.  And fourth is an Asian Lady Beetle - a pupa!  

Here are a couple of shots of an unidentified Crane Fly.  I think Stephen Luk diagnosed this one last year.   It was a fall species as I recall.  Have we really come all the way round the year so fast?

What's this big red-eyed Fly?  And this huge-legged one?   And this little one with the little white marks?

There really are a lot of Flies, aren't there?  You know what we haven't seen yet this blog.  Well, for a couple of days, the Pond was fairly clear of leaves.   Here is a Froggette (I think), on October 29.  And Froggy the same day.  Third is Froggy on the 31st, wishing that net would evaporate.

I'll be so glad when those leaves are all down, so that I can pull the net for the winter.  This is a messy time of year.  I'm going to have to pull the net at least once more, to trim back all the plants I can reach - they aren't going to be growing during the winter.  You can see that the plants are sparse now already.  I've already stopped running the pump for now.  

Well, friends, I hope you are getting ready for a couple of months of rest out there.  Keep on doing what is best for our planet!  Love, Martha