Minnesota Bugs

You can take the bug-loving gardener out of Wisconsin, but she'll still check out the local insects no matter what. So far the most populous insect in the Twin Cities seems to be this Eastern Boxelder Bug, Leptocoris trivittatus...

...they gather in large numbers every fall and make their way indoors, the same way asian lady beetles do at my place in Wisconsin.

This exquisite creature is a Daring Jumping Spider, Phidippus audax, found in the garden gazebo at work.

She didn't think much of the attention I was paying to her, and preferred to hide. My what big eyes you have!

This beautiful moth was resting on the building at my workplace, in broad daylight.

After much research I've concluded this is an Ash Tip Borer Moth, Papaipema furcata (the name doesn't do this pretty thing justice, IMO).

And this poor battered butterfly is likely a Red Admiral , though it's hard to tell with those tattered wings.

The variety of nice insect life in this area has helped me feel more at home for sure, but I still miss my home and gardens. But as my "about me" says-Wherever you grow, there you are. So here is it, for awhile, until whenever. Me and my new bug friends will be just fine regardless :)