Ambiguity about Assassin Bugs

On November 18, I found a Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus - a member of Assassin Bug family - by our patio. She didn’t seem to be in great shape, but I moved her to the Rudbeckia plants and went in to get my camera. When I came back out she appeared to have made herself comfortable, centered on a remaining bloom, legs spread out (maybe to keep her balance in the breeze…)

Back when I was in school I managed to keep a small assassin bug alive in a terrarium until January one year. I thought the long proboscis - or beak - must be for piercing plant material, so I gave him a grape…

I’m not pleased with the reality that these bugs stab and drain hapless nectar seekers.

I’m generally quite fond of insects - including bees and wasps. I have a sort of respect for mosquitoes… I just wish the mosquitoes didn’t love me so much.  But assassin bugs - especially large Wheel Bugs - give me the heebie-jeebies. I was afraid I’d have unpleasant dreams about this one after taking macro photos of it. The beak of a Wheel Bug is like a dagger, and the fact that this ones beak is blood-red doesn’t make it less scary. (I’ve read that one will inflict a nasty “bite” in defense if manhandled.) They frequently feast on bumblebees here, which is a bummer. But assassins are considered beneficial bugs because as nymphs they eat aphids, then webworm caterpillars, sawflies, and locust borers.

Creepy as I find this insect’s piercing-of-pollinators lifestyle to be, I sympathize with almost any creature who is just trying to survive. So I apologized to this one for disturbing her and I left her alone, wishing she could find a good meal and that she didn’t have to die soon.

Rowdy Downy Woodpeckers

Two female Downy Woodpeckers, Picoides pubescens, were like pinballs around our patio and pergola a couple of days ago. One was noticeably showing more white on back of her head. At first I thought it was because she was raising her crest (or lack there of), which is something I don’t think I’d seen a Downy do before.  (sorry, no feather-raising photo yet)

The first made her way down to the ground/patio and drank from the rim of an overturned half-barrel. You can see the “tuft of nasal bristles” (Sibley) around her beak, at right.

Above is the second female, showing more white. She seemed more nervous also, but in my brief reading I haven’t found the white (crown line?) as a juvenile indicator.

Look at that wicked long toe. Very handy for clinging.
I’ve been hearing these little woodpeckers knocking at the back of the house around the roof trim. I hope they're culling the Carpenter Bee larvae.

Brown Creeper

I’m refraining from saying “jeepers creepers,” at least for now. This cool little bird, a Brown Creeper, Certhia americana, - on the Sugar Maple tree in our yard today - was doing less creeping and more hopping and tumbling, Chickadee fashion, than I’ve observed a Creeper do in the past.

Peeking under the bark for food.

As you can see - or not - a Brown Creeper is quite well camouflaged against the bark of a tree.

may contain nuts

A few days after Trick-or-Treat, I noticed this squirrel bouncing up our driveway with a little silver package in his mouth - A special treat he wanted to savor while sitting in the River Birch.  He saw the writing "may contain peanuts..." and hoped for the best.

Just what we need, a squirrel on a sugar high.

He tried two bites of the 3 Musketeers Bar and then buried it in a pile of leaves.

An Adorable Wasp on the Wahoo

I'm still working on this, but I'm certain this must be one of the Ichneumon wasps...