Bugs to Find on a Cold Florida Morning

October 1, 2016

The zipper spider, Argiope aurantia, is a common inhabitant of suburban gardens.

You don't need to leave the trail to find cool bugs in Florida. Even when it's cold, arachnids and insects are never in short supply. Some, I confess, are not particularly pleasant. The lumps on the back of my neck are a testimony to mosquitoes.

However, the vast majority of Florida bugs are stunningly beautiful. In October, there are still a lot of crigs (crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids) to be found, and the large Schistocerca (which the locals call "locusts") are especially obvious, buzzing from tree to tree when they are approached.

The spider webs are just gorgeous in the early, golden light of morning.

Certainly among the most interesting bugs are the spiders. On this morning, the web-spinners are easy to spot. With silk speckled by morning dew, and their creators suspended optimistically in their centers, everyone notices (except for, apparently, that passing moth that is also now suspended in the web). Spiders are remarkably colourful. The bright yellows of banana spiders and zipper spiders can give the impression that this is the tropics. And I suppose Florida is subtropical, but it hardly feels that way when the temperature is down in the 40s (Fahrenheit).

Josiah Shade admires the colours of Nephila, the banana spider.

Traditionally, wooly-bear caterpillars have been seen as indicators of the coming winter months. Unfortunately, there isn't much scientific basis for this old wive's tale but the caterpillars do turn up in the fall in significant numbers as they search for a place to hunker down and spend the cooler months. My friend spotted this fantastic variety of the wooly bear caterpillar of the Virginia tiger moth. There are a few different colour phases of this caterpillar but the snow-white variety that we found is particularly stunning.

Spilosoma, the wooly bear caterpillar. This particular variety of the Virginia tiger moth produces snow-white caterpillars.

Bugging (the act of seeking out bugs) is an extremely rewarding exercise. As a classic naturalist, it never lets me down. When I can't find the reptiles I'm herping for, I can always find bugs. When the birding is bad, there's a bug. Sometimes, I just ditch the other kinds of wildlife that could be found and focus on bugs alone. No other group has so much diversity and colour.

The shadow of a large female Nephila is cast on the cheek of Josiah Shade.