Blake

I'm not quite sure what kind of an insect Blake is. Is he a fly? Is he a bee or wasp? Is he even a he? That's why I have given Blake a name that could be either he or she.

I find his wings to be very interesting with the pattern of such definite black, brown and transparent sections. He is about what size you would imagine him to be, that is, about the size of a honey bee. One of these days I will have to carry a ruler with me at all times so that I can have that next to the bug when I snap a photo.

Oriel

This cute little bug is Oriel. She is quite shiny and has all these beauty marks, symmetrically placed, on her back and legs. It was a bit breezy the day I photographed her and I had to hold the stem of the plant that she was on so that I could get a still picture. Oriel is about 15 inches long. Ha ha. Just joking. She is about 1/4 inch long, so it's easy for her to hide in the flowers and trees.

Vincent

This may be a little bit difficult to figure out what this is, so I'll tell you. It's an outdoor umbrella for deck or patio furniture. And hiding up in the seam of the umbrella is a little bat. I'll call him Vincent. This is not exactly what you want to see when you open up the umbrella on a sunny day. I'm not opposed to bats, in fact, I think they are cute and provide a valuable service by eating lots of bugs each night. However, one that is this close to the house could easily make its way inside just as the door was opened. And I worry a little bit about rabies. Did you see that episode of "The Office" where Meredith was bitten by a bat? Well, then you know what I'm talking about.

Oh, and before you complain that a bat is not a bug, note that the blog is called Bugs Etc. So, Vincent the Bat falls in the "Etc." category.

Arianna

This cute little bug is Arianna, a friend of Larry's. She is on the railing of the deck deciding if she should stay a while or explore the back yard. Typically she and Larry spend their time on my yellow mum plants where they easily blend in with the flowers and leaves. In this photo she appears to be more yellow than green, but trust me, she hides quite well in plain sight on my flowers.