Bugs in the News

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 …

The Twelve Bugs of Christmas 2022

Note: Some links leave to external sites. Greetings of the Season, BugFans, Wow! The 10th annual installment of The Twelve (or Thirteen) Bugs of Christmas! The Bugs of Christmas features shots, taken throughout the year, of insects and spiders who …

Bugs at the End of Summer

Note: Some links below go to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, The general rule of thumb is that if you want to find insects, look at flowers. Even though summer is fading, there are still flowers in bloom. Some Liatris/blazing stars …

Lichen Moths

Note: All links below go to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady sat on the hawk tower today, watching the start of the fall migration. She was surrounded by the start of the dragonfly migration – there was a big …

Great Blue Skimmer Dragonfly

Note: All links below go to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady was looking for bugs in Kohler-Andrae State Park in late July when a large dragonfly flew across the trail and landed about 12 feet up on some shrubs. …

Straight-toothed sallow moth

Howdy, BugFans, The BugLady found this velvety, deeply maroon caterpillar at the Land Trust’s CESA site on a fine June day. It’s the larva of a Straight-toothed sallow moth (Eupsilia vinulenta) (probably). (Full disclosure – the experts caution us that the …

Two Wetland Moths

Howdy BugFans, The BugLady has been neglecting moth lovers (again), and she offers these two delicate beauties in apology. The handsome but, in the BugLady’s opinion, potentially-invasive Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica) (aka Tuckahoe and bog arum) is an eastern species …

Tufted Bird-lime Moth

The BugLady was visited by another moth recently, this time a Tufted Bird-lime/Tufted Bird-dropping Moth/Cherry Agate (Cerma cerintha) that appeared in her bathroom and, later, in her kitchen. It’s a lovely little moth with a one inch-ish wingspan, in the Owlet moth family Noctuidae.

Bugs without Bios IX

Bugs without Bios celebrates the small-but-mighty insects that, mostly unsung, sneak below our radar daily. Today’s catch have three things in common – their identifications are all “probable;” they’re all carnivores; and on each of the three, the BugLady’s Google search ran out in fewer than ten pages.

Small Magpie Moth Mystery

A few days ago, the BugLady was mulling over which insect she was going to feature in the next BOTW. She headed out the door to hike to the mailbox, and there, on the inside of the storm door, trapped between it and the back door, sat this beautiful Small magpie moth.