Bugs in the News – Field Station

Note: All links leave to external sites.

Howdy, BugFans,

As usual, the BugLady’s “Bugs in the News” folder runneth over, so here’s a collection of articles to chew on. Many come from the wonderful Smithsonian Daily Newsletter, which not only posts a lot of good stuff, but it doesn’t put articles behind a paywall. Support your Smithsonian!

THANKS, POLLINATORS –
8 Reasons to ‘Bee’ in Awe of Pollinators by Donna Stockton

SMALL BUT MIGHTY (get in line, Ben Franklin) –
Honeybee Swarms Can Produce as Much Electric Charge as a Storm Cloud by Sarah Kuta

JUST MIGHTY –
This Ancient, Nine-Foot-Long, 100-Pound Millipede Could Be the Largest Invertebrate to Ever Live by Rasha Aridi

HOW SPRINGTAILS SPRING –
Springtails Are Nature’s Tiny Gymnasts, Videos Reveal by Sarah Kuta

SPIDERWEBS TRAP SOUND –
Orb-weaver spider uses web to capture sounds by Krishna Ramanujan

ANTS MAKE MILK –
Scientists Just Discovered That Ants Make Milk by Will Sullivan

AND THEY SERIOUSLY OUTNUMBER US –
The number of ants on Earth has a mass greater than all birds and mammals combined by Ayanna Archie

BUMBLE BEES PLAY –
If bumblebees can play, does it mean they have feelings? This study suggests yes by Vanessa Romo

MOTH NAVIGATION (AND ain’t technology grand!) –
How Migrating Death’s-Head Hawkmoths Fly Along a Straight Path by Margaret Osborne

The BugLady

About the BugLady

The BugLady (aka Kate Redmond) is an Environmental Educator who has been having “close encounters” with insects all her life. She has worked and/or volunteered at Lac Lawrann Conservancy in West Bend, the Mequon Nature Preserve, and Riveredge Nature Center near Newburg and spoken at other area Nature Centers. At Riveredge, she has had the wonderful assignment of being the “sturgeon paparazza” at their annual sturgeon release. She leads field trips in the Cedarburg Bog, is a founding member of the Friends of the Cedarburg Bog, and is a current Board member of the Lake Michigan Bird Observatory. When she’s not appreciating insects, she’s enjoying prairies and wetlands.

Her 40 year addiction to photography is (almost) her only vice. She's gone through a number of cameras in the last 40 years, and now she packs a Pentax K-70 with a 70 mm macro lens.

The BugLady is a Wisconsin native, presently living in Sheboygan County. Most of the photos in Bug of the Week were taken in southeastern Wisconsin. Her Mission Statement is “Less stepping on bugs.”