Category Archives: News
Bug bombs bomb
For many years the go-to solution for DIY pest control was the bug bomb. Got fleas? Get yourself a bug bomb. Cockroaches in the kitchen? Bug bomb! Most recently, it’s bed bugs. See a bed bug? Reach for the bug bomb. But do bug bombs (also known as total release aerosols) really work? Not very well according to a recent paper was published last month in the Open Access journal BMC Public Health. Researchers at North Carolina State University found that not only did bug bombs under-perform (not even… Read More →
Good news about monarchs, but…
News headlines often bear a second look. And this week’s “good news” about monarch butterflies is no exception. News sources this week are reporting that monarch butterfly colonies covered almost 15 acres of Mexican mountainside in 2019, a 144% increase from last winter. Colony sizes are based on estimates of the total acreage of trees covered with monarchs in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico–the main overwintering site for eastern monarch butterflies. Acreage estimates provide an index as to how many butterflies survived the previous year’s… Read More →
Giving Monarchs a hand
Where have all the butterflies gone? If you think there are fewer butterflies, and just plain bugs, on your windshield compared to a few years back, you’re probably right. Recent studies point to alarming declines in both insect and butterfly populations. Most scientists think that the primary causes for these declines are the many changes we humans are making to our environment. As we replace plant-diverse rural landscapes with simplified urban and suburban streets and lawns, we reduce habitat abundance and food supply for butterflies, among other insects. … Read More →
Good Sams discover exotic borer in Tarrant County
Last summer Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist, Sam Kieschnick, was going through pictures on iNaturalist and saw a picture of an insect taken by someone he knew. It was a shot of a shiny green beetle that 10-year-old nature enthusiast, Sam Hunt, had snapped in his own driveway near Eagle Mountain Lake in west Tarrant County. Something about the picture bothered biologist Sam, so he forwarded it to colleagues who were experts in a group of insects called buprestid beetles. The expert consensus seemed to be that 10-year-old… Read More →
Monarchs passing through now…don’t miss them
In case you haven’t seen your first monarch butterfly of the fall migration, you should start looking now. Mid-October is peak monarch observation month in Texas. So what is fall migration and why all the fuss about monarch butterflies? Monarchs are one of relatively few insects that have true migration. And one of the few migrant animals who instinctively travel thousands of miles to an overwintering site they have never seen before. The monarch migration starts each spring with old butterfly adults that have overwintered on a dozen… Read More →
Miller moths
If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, or any other place that has had a recent outbreak of fall armyworm caterpillars, you may have noticed an increase in fast-flying, grey-brown moths. I started noticing these last week, and they appear to be growing in numbers today. If you drive early in the morning, or in the evening, you might even catch these moths in your car headlights. It’s all part of a circle of life: moths lay eggs, which turn into caterpillars, which pupate (think of a… Read More →
Emerald ash borer makes a move
Ever since the dreaded emerald ash borer (EAB) showed up in Arkansas and Louisiana, tree lovers have braced themselves for its inevitable arrival in Texas. Then, in May 2016, the insect was discovered in a single surveillance trap near Caddo Lake in Harrison County in east Texas. In 2017 all was quiet, with no officially reported sightings; but this summer the beetle has been found in possibly three new counties. What is EAB? The EAB is a small but powerful beetle pest–an enemy of ash trees. Adult beetles… Read More →
Insect ID via mobile device
I get lots of images in email and on the web for identification. I get to see some amazing insects and good pictures this way, but I also receive a lot of really bad insect pictures. And since bad pictures don’t help your chances of getting a successful identification, it’s in everyone’s interest to take better pictures. So here are five tips for improving your chances to get an insect identified via email, your cell phone or other mobile device. Focus on the insect, not the background. Corollary… Read More →
Chigger season
If my phone calls are any indication, this appears to be a whopping chigger season. Don’t know what I’m talking about? You should count your blessings. Chiggers are my personal worst nightmare. They are tiny mites, barely visible to the eye, that live on the soil surface and, in their larval stage, are parasites on humans and other vertebrate animals. Chigger bites itch terribly for 1-2 days, then slowly shrink to mildly itchy red marks that take 1 or 2 weeks to disappear. The only good thing I… Read More →
