I had never heard of this insect until Michele sent her sighting in. She wrote, "I kept getting fooled by what I thought were little Western Toadlets, but I knew they would be much bigger now. These toadish creatures hopped like a toad, swam like a toad, but much faster and smaller. It wasn't until I zoomed into one of my photos that I realized it was an INSECT not a toad. It's called the Big-eyed Toad Bug.

It's colored like a toad, but the size of my pinky fingernail and I have small hands. It even has big eyes on its head just like a toad. They eat insects. I suppose if something thought it was a toad and had sampled a toad before with unpleasant results, it would avoid it. They eat other insects and they swim. They are really cool!”

To see some other photos of this insect, here is a link to iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/370350

Their genus name is Gelastocoris oculatus and it means laughable bug or ridiculous bug.

Thanks to Michele for allowing me to share her photo with you here, and for introducing me to this bug!

It was sunny this morning but with quite a bit of wind. Clouds have moved in and the wind has increased. It feels like we might get some rain!