The Clover Leaf Weevil and Other Tales

Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady has been playing outside, and she had trouble coming in long enough to write these stories. Story #1 – The Clover Leaf Weevil. The BugLady took a few “throw-away shots” of this little (3/8” long) beetle as …

Lined Buprestid Beetle

Howdy, BugFans, BugFan Freda photographed this astonishing beetle while she was on vacation Up North. It’s in the family Buprestidae, the Metallic wood-boring beetles, aka the Jewel beetles. The larvae, which have a flat area behind their heads, contribute another name—the …

Stirrings of Summer

Greetings, BugFans Here are some of the bugs that the BugLady found in June, which was, overall, a hot and wet month (7.97” of rain at the BugLady’s cottage). Lizzard Beetle – the BugLady doesn’t know why these striking beetles …

Slices of Spring

Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady and her camera have been out scouring the uplands and wetlands for insects that will sit still long enough to have their portrait made. Many of today’s bugs have starred in their own BOTWs over the years, …

Closed for June 3 – More Pollinators

Howdy, BugFans, A pollinator is an animal (not all pollinators are insects) that visits flowers and carries their pollen to other flowers.  Bees, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, and wasps are all practitioners to some degree. Hummingbirds pollinate a few flowers (like …

Wetlands Month IV – Water Scavenger Beetle Revised

Note: Most links leave to external sites. Salutations, BugFans, We’re wrapping up National Wetlands Week with a beetle that you don’t even need a magnifying glass to see! This is a revision of an episode that first aired in the summer …

Wetlands Month I – Crawling Water Beetle

Howdy, BugFans, May is National Wetlands Month, and the BugLady is celebrating by re-posting episodes about aquatic critters from deep in the BOTW archives (this one is from 2012, with some new words added). The BugLady heard an interesting interview …

Parnassia Miner Bee – a Bee and its Flower

Note: Most links leave to external sites. Howdy, BugFans,  A while back, BugFan Matt asked the BugLady if she had ever photographed a small bee on a Grass-of-Parnassus flower. Grass-of-Parnassus (not really a grass) is one of her favorite flowers (despite …

The 12 (or 13) Bugs of Christmas

Note: All links leave to external sites. Greetings of the Season, BugFans, (13 bugs, because once she’s got her selection down to 13, the BugLady just can’t cut one more!) A Cheery Thought for the Holidays, the average home contains …

Sand-loving Bembidion beetle

Note: All links leave to external sites. Greetings, BugFans, The Ground beetle family (Carabidae) contains some large and spectacular species [ 1, 2, 3 ] (including the Tiger beetles), but today’s beetle is neither large nor flashy. It’s pretty fast, though.  With 2,440 species …