Deer Fly at Last

Howdy, BugFans, Way back in 2008, deer flies appeared briefly (two paragraphs) in a BOTW episode called “A few Flies,” sharing the spotlight with mosquitoes and horse flies. Amazingly, that’s the only time deer flies have appeared in BOTW, and …

Ants 101 Rerun

Howdy, BugFans, 2025: This episode is a Golden Oldie, first/last posted in 2008. Despite her feelings of ambivalence about ants, the BugLady continues to photograph and write about them. See https://uwm.edu/field-station/bug-of-the-week/flying-ants/, https://uwm.edu/field-station/bug-of-the-week/the-ants-of-cesa/, and https://uwm.edu/field-station/bug-of-the-week/western-thatch-ant/, and more. For this rerun, the BugLady added a bunch of random …

Comet Darner Dragonfly

Note: All links leads to an external site. Greetings, BugFans, The Holidays are hurtling toward us at an astonishing speed, so the BugLady figured that a Christmas green and red dragonfly would be fitting. It’s one that she’s seen, all too …

Blue Blow Fly

Howdy BugFans, It’s gotten cold here in God’s Country – abruptly – with overnight lows in the high teens/low twenties, and daytime highs below freezing. The water in the birdbath froze solid for a few nights in a row before the …

Little Yellow Butterfly

Howdy, BugFans, When the BugLady was on the trail recently, a small, yellow butterfly flew by, just above the ground. It was noticeably smaller than the ubiquitous Orange and Clouded Sulphurs, but it zipped out of sight pretty fast. Mike Reese, …

Zebra Jumping Spider

Greetings, BugFans, The BugLady was moseying around her cottage, photographing doodlebug digs, when she spotted this very small (maybe ¼”) jumping spider with its prey. It was on a sunny, south-facing wall – right where it was supposed to be! Zebra …

Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp

Howdy, BugFans, A while back, BugFan Laurel shared this picture of a wasp that was photographed by her friend, Joel, who gave the BugLady permission to use it. Thanks, Joel.  This is one large wasp. In an article about it on the …

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 …

Rosinweed Moth

Howdy, BugFans, First off, today’s vocabulary word is “microlep” (short for “microlepidoptera”). What’s a microlep? The (somewhat squishy) term applies to moths with a wingspan under 20mm (about ¾”). It’s not a taxonomic or a lifestyle designation – there are microleps …