Category Archives: Interesting insects
Largest Texas Dragonfly
I had a question from a woman this week who wanted to know what the largest dragonfly in Texas was. She said she had recently spied one that was 8 cm (3.2 inches) long and had a 13 cm (5.1 in) wingspan. She “figured if anyone would know the answer to the question it would be someone at Texas A&M.” While I was flattered that my correspondent would think that as a representative of Texas A&M I would have all the answers, I had to admit that I… Read More →
Forget honey bees, worry about Monarchs
Don’t misunderstand me. I like honey bees. And like most people I talk with, I’m aware of the threat to honey bees posed by the latest calamity facing beekeepers, the “colony collapse disorder”. Managed bee colonies in our country and around the world are dying off at alarming rates. And this is not good. But honey bees are not native to the New World. If all the honey bees in the U.S. were to die tomorrow, agriculture would take a devastating hit, and we would see an immediate… Read More →
Damselflies of Texas
Any damselfly lovers out there? If you’re not sure what a damselfly is, it’s the dainty cousin of the dragonfly. Anyone who’s sat next to a Texas river or lake has likely been visited by one of these colorful beauties. Now there’s a field guide for Texas damselflies from the University of Texas Press. Called Damselflies of Texas, it is the latest offering from John Abbott, entomology curator at the Texas Natural Science Center, Brackenridge Field Laboratory Insect Collection. John’s one of our premier insect photographers in the… Read More →
Preview of new Disneynature film
If any of you are of the approximate same age as me, you may have grown up watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. My siblings and parents and I always looked forward to the chance to watch Disney animation or movies like Mary Poppins, or highly entertaining nature films. My how things have changed. I would be surprised if a 1960s era Disney production could hold the attention of a media-savvy child of the 2000s. Fortunately, Disney has evolved with the times, and the quality… Read More →
The Mother bug
Sehirus cinctus (see HERE us SINK tuss) is usually an obscure little bug, bothering nobody and noticed by few humans. The past week, however, I’ve received several inquiries about thousands of little black “beetles” (actually bugs) crawling over lawns, driveways and even dogs. Also known as the white-margined burrowing bug, Sehirus cinctus is an example of one of those insects that can go along for years unnoticed, then all of a sudden, BOOM. They’re everywhere. Sehirus is particularly interesting for its behavior. The adults and nymphs feed on… Read More →
Stopping catcus moth
Texas is under attack. From lake-hogging zebra mussels and giant salvinia, to chilli thrips (a new pest of roses) and crape myrtle scale, insects from other countries seem to be entering the state at a record pace. NPR.org recently published an update on the cactus moth invasion at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134914916. The cactus moth has undoubtedly been assisted by man, but appears to have made at least some of its journey unassisted by hopping from island to island across the Caribbean from South America. This particular moth threatens the cactus… Read More →
Oak gall midges
I recently received a sample of thousands of tiny (1-1/5 mm) maggots collected from a local yard. The sample was collected by Susan Bailey of Plano, who noticed writhing masses of these worm-like critters on her driveway and ground under a live oak tree. Now anyone who lives around live oaks knows that for the past ten days or so these trees have been showering the world with pollen and the senescent catkins (male flowers). These tiny larvae are occasionally reported under oak trees shortly after flowering. After… Read More →
Natural poses of moths
I love field guides of all kinds, but because of my profession I especially enjoy insect field guides. I’ve come to appreciate well selected photos or artwork that carefully depict an organism’s key identification characters. There is also a certain aesthetic to a meticulously-posed picture of a series of butterflies, or moths or beetles. You can recognize a quality posed moth or butterfly by the uniformly spread wings. The trailing edge of the front wing should be perpendicular to the body and the hind wings must be pulled… Read More →
Its the flea’s knees…or not
In this NPR Science Friday video, scientists Greg Sutton and Malcolm Burrows, of the University of Cambridge, filmed fleas jumping. They then sorted through different theories of how they jumped and concluded that fleas use their feet and not knees to push off the ground and jump on your cat or your dog. The high speed photography is amazing and I especially liked the slo-mo- photography of a flea’s jump compared to the blink of a human eye. An adult flea can jump approximately 13 inches, a little… Read More →
Tiny wonders
Last week my wife and I went to see the latest Cirque du Soleil show called OVO. I had never been to one of these modern circus shows before, and the insect theme of the show (ovo is Portuguese for egg–as in insect egg) was the hook that my wife thought would get me out of the house. According to the official description, OVO looks at the world of insects and its biodiversity. The rather thin storyline is overshadowed by the spectacle of the show, but is centered… Read More →
