night

Sitting outside at night in late summer is not for the delicate. 

Apart from biting insects, there are some awesome true monsters out there in the darkness. The large size of some insects can create bizarre rustlings in the dry leaves and undergrowth just outside the lamp light. They sound just like the footfalls of some much larger creature. Also, there is a wide range of shrieks, buzzing, and clicks in the warm August nights. A few are birds, like owls. Some are clicks from bats.

Most are from insects, like this katydid. Of course, the scary animals are usually silent, and look boring, like this black widow.

This male is brown, and not dangerous. But usually, the more skittish and distinctive black and red female is often nearby.

There have been many reports of preying mantis hunting black widow recently, and where there is a wide variety of spiders there are usually no widows, so this spider's reputation is probably a little undeserved.

The coyotes have been calling often in the middle of the day and they sound a lot less scary than the same coyote pack calls in the evenings.Great horned owls and other raptors can be seen as dusk falls, and are absolutely silent as they hunt.

These fearsome ground beetles look tough, but are many are likely to be eaten by those coyotes.

This dobsonfly is a fearsome large hunter, with large jaws, but only is looking for small moths. I still stay clear of them.

The bagworms are now behemoths compared to the size they were in spring just a few months ago.

These insect larvae, species unknown, are tiny, but they have six actual legs, so are true insects and not worms.

These guys are huge in the world they live in , which is thick mud. Usually they can't be seen, except when the frog's water needs to be replaced. There are other parasites in this water. But I haven't been able to see them yet. Working on it.