Goldenrod Watch – Act III

Howdy, BugFans, The places where the BugLady walks are yellow now – goldenrods (Solidago sp.) are at their peak on the prairie (so are brown-eyed Susans, sneezeweed, and wild sunflowers). She’s been poking around in the goldenrod, an exercise she recommends, …

Black Thorn-footed Mason Wasp

Howdy, BugFans, Heads up – We’re venturing into the weeds taxonomically in this episode, but we’ll take it slow, and the BugLady is confident that BugFans can handle it.  The BugLady was enjoying the prairie flowers at Riveredge one day …

Mid-summer Stories

Howdy, BugFans, It’s August!!! Or, to put it another way, it’s August – yikes! Halfway(ish) through summer. Here are some of the sights that the BugLady has enjoyed so far. Many of these have already starred in a BOTW of their very own – …

Pussy willow Pollinators

Salutations, BugFans, 2026: The pussy willows near the BugLady’s lakeshore home are in bloom. Here’s a BOTW about pussy willows from late March of 2012 – a few new words and pictures. 2012: People get excited when pussy willows whisper the spring. The …

Goldenrod Watch redux

Howdy, BugFans, It’s the start of December – and of meteorological winter – and it’s cold out, and the BugLady is still wondering what, exactly, happened to August. Here’s a little slice of August, from 15 years ago. The BugLady’s advice …

Bugs without Bios XX

Note: Links are to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, We’ll ease into 2025 with a few short pieces about bugs for whom there is very little info available — and yet they are lovely. They spend their lives doing their jobs …

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 …

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 …

Bugs without Bios XIX

Note: Most links leave to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, Bugs without bios – those humble (but worthy) bugs about whom little information is readily available. Today’s bugs check those boxes as species, but they have something in common – their lifestyles …