Bugs in the News XI

Note: All links below go to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, Hawks are still flying; bugs, not so much. Lots of grasshoppers along the trail, and a variety of flies and some sweat bees on the late-blooming dandelions (and just two …

Bi-colored Striped Sweat Bee

Howdy, BugFans, Isn’t this a pretty little bee! Sweat bees are in the family Halictidae, and the star of today’s show is in the Striped sweat bee genus Agapostemon (which means “stamen-loving”). It’s a New World genus totaling 42 species …

Flying Ants rerun

Greetings, BugFans, Life has been busy – fantastic week for migrating raptors – so here’s a rerun from the summer of 2017. Back live next week. The BugLady got a very special request from almost-5-year-old BugFan Jolene, who is curious …

Forked Fungus Beetle Redux

Note: All links below go to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady has been out counting migrating raptors. Here’s a rerun of an episode about an amazing beetle that the BugLady encountered in the late spring of 2014. Every once …

Therion Wasp

Note: All links below go to external sites. Greetings, BugFans, The BugLady stood on a boardwalk in a wetland for about half an hour trying to photograph this amazing wasp as it dodged through thickets of sedges, ferns, and orchids, …

And Now for Something a Little Different XI – Pitcher Plants

Note: All links below go to external sites. Greetings, BugFans, The BugLady was on a wetland walk years ago when someone asked the leader “Why do pitcher plants grow here?” His answer, simple and elegant, “Because they can.” Indeed, there …

Late Summer Reflections

Note: All links below go to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady has been out looking for bugs as the summer winds down; her dragonfly and butterfly surveys have been yielding fewer and fewer species these days. It has been …

Two-spotted Tree Cricket

The BugLady had a visitor at her front door the other day – a Two-spotted tree cricket. When they think of tree crickets, most people picture a delicate, flat, green member of the genus Oecanthus. Oecanthus tree crickets, with a …

Have you seen this fly???

Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady was poking around in a wetland toward the end of May when the Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) was in bloom. As she photographed its flower, a syrphid fly or two buzzed in. Any flower shot is …

Northern Amber Bumble Bee

Howdy, BugFans, This one’s dedicated to BugFan John – it was an honor. The BugLady has been enjoying an abundance of bumble bees on the prairie recently, despite the fact that, along with the start of the tree cricket chorus, …