Author Archives: p-porter
Butterfly talks in Austin
I normally don’t post every entomology related event I learn about in Texas; however this notice from Mike Quinn, President of the Austin Butterfly Forum, is intriguing enough to pass on. If you live in the Austin area, or are fanatical enough to travel for butterflies, the Austin Butterfly Forum would like to announce a pair of back-to-back stellar meetings and field trips next month. For the first time ever, all the remaining principal folks involved in the discovery of the monarch’s overwintering grounds, Catalina Aguado, John Christian, Bill… Read More →
Dallas zoo invents peanut butter jellyfish
It’s true that jellyfish are not insects, but I couldn’t pass up sending this tasty news morsel to Insects in the City readers. My own local (Dallas) zoo recently conducted an experiment that began partly as attempt to find an economical and sustainable food source for captive gelatinous invertebrates. In the process it appears that zoo staff have created the first-known “Peanut Butter and Jellyfish.” According to the article at GrindTV.com, P. Zelda Montoya and Barrett L. Christie of the Dallas Zoo proved that “scientists are not all left-brain… Read More →
Carpenter ant season is now
Many social insects periodically do something called “swarming”. Swarming occurs when reproductively mature, but unmated, kings and queens leave the nest to mate. These mating couples are winged and are referred to as alates, or swarmers. The earliest swarmers to emerge in the winter are carpenter ants. This week my youngest daughter, home for the weekend for a visit, informed her entomologist dad that the upstairs shower was covered with large ants. A quick inspection confirmed that we were being invaded by carpenter ants. A few years ago… Read More →
Care with bed bug insecticide
With the growing incidence of bed bugs being found in homes and apartments, the potential for pesticide misuse is up. Evidence of the potential for harm came out last week in a report from the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (By the way, I’m absolutely sure that with its current title this periodical will never make Amazon.com’s Best Sellers in Magazines List). The study reports on acute illnesses associated with dichlorvos is the active ingredient in no-pest strips. If you’ve been around awhile like me, you… Read More →
Rubbing alcohol not a good solution for bed bugs
The quest for home remedies for bed bugs appears to be never-ending. However, in the latest revelations from researchers, it seems that very few home insecticides are worth the time or trouble when battling bed bugs. That’s not to say that some of these products won’t kill some bed bugs, but the ideal product for killing bed bugs just isn’t out there, experts say. A recent article in Science News gloomily summarizes some of the most current information about DIY bed bug control, based on papers presented on bed… Read More →
Ladybug ladybug
Certainly one of the most beloved of all insects is the ladybug, or more correctly, lady beetle. And a new citizen science web project may be just the thing for adults and kids with an interest in lady beetles or cameras or both. The Lost Ladybug project started because of concerns about dwindling numbers of one kind of lady beetle, the nine-spotted lady beetle, in New York state. It appears to have evolved into a bigger project where people from any part of the country can participate. Find… Read More →
Homeless insects and energy audits
When cold weather comes knocking, it should be no surprise that hundreds, or even thousands, of insects may be waiting for you to open the door this fall. It’s not like you can really blame them. They are just temporarily homeless critters looking for a warm place to spend the winter. I was staying at a hotel this week in Austin for the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting, and on my 23rd floor window I looked out and saw dozens of hackberry nipple-gall maker insects on the… Read More →
The sky is falling… oh it’s just spiders
“Fairies with gossamer wings, bring forth beauty, grace and joyful things.” Dallas television and radio stations yesterday were obsessed with reports of strange white silk dropping out of the skies over north Texas. Although this is an annual phenomenon, it always seems to catch many unawares. The silken strands falling from the skies are spider silk. The English called it “gossamer”, the Germans call it the “flying summer”. Whatever you call it, this silken shower is evidence of a massive spider dispersal that takes place every year, especially in… Read More →
A berry bad pest
As if we needed more insect pests! Now there is a new pest of berries that is spreading rapidly around the U.S. The spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a native of Japan and was first discovered in California in 2008. It has spread quickly to berry growing areas on the west and east coasts, as well as Canada, Michigan and the northeast. It showed up in Colorado last year, and the first specimen in Texas was found by a faculty member in the entomology department at Texas… Read More →
