Category Archives: Interesting insects
Rock music a recipe for weight loss?
Paper wasps, in the genus Polistes, are among the most common garden insects in late summer in Texas. Nearly everyone at some time has seen their umbrella-like nests dangling from tree branches or the eaves of buildings. While I’ve seen and watched many of these nests over the years, I have to admit I’ve never heard anything unusual. But, according to a new paper published in Biology and Nature, for years people have noted a distinct drumming sound coming from some paper wasp nests. Originally thought to be… Read More →
Fly and wasp wings are pretty too
Butterflies aren’t the only ones with beautiful wings. A Discovery Blog by Ed Yong does a nice job of reporting research from Ekaterina Shevtsova of Lund University in Sweden. Shevtsova carefully photographed a series of wasps on a black, rather than the usual white, background, revealing a rainbow of structural colors previously ignored by most researchers. Besides being a delightful surprise to the viewer, it turns out that these colors, formed in much the same way as the colorful sheen of oil on water, can be used to… Read More →
Flights of insect fancy
There are lots of excellent insect image sites online, but Texas Parks and Wildlife recently published a story by Texas entomologist and dragonfly expert John Abbot that I think is worth sharing. It takes patience and skill to catch any insect in motion, but photographing insects in flight is an order of magnitude harder to master. John has taken some beautiful stop-action pictures that must be seen to be appreciated. Enjoy. Inside the Insectarium by John C. Abbott
Junk-food honey bees
Someone forwarded a link to this New York Times story yesterday, and it got me thinking about the junk that honey bees eat. Every fall, people report problems with honey bees being attracted to trash cans, soda cans, and all variety of sweet things. I’ve always believed this phenomenon was due to the combined effect of a declining natural supply of nectar and possibly an enhanced craving for carbohydrates prior to winter (stoking the fires for a long, cold winter). While the honey bee PR groups would probably… Read More →
Spider woes
I just received a question through our eXtension “Ask an expert” site that I think might be of general interest. It has to do with spiders. The person wrote: “I have a [lakefront] home… northwest of Fort Worth. The lake facing side of the house has a severe external spider infestation under the high eaves over a sizable deck. The spiders produce massive amounts of webs which must be removed with a pressure washer every few months, which requires 12 to 14 hours of uncomfortable labor. How can… Read More →
Just the fly for your pumpkin patch
Master Gardener and Entomology Specialist, Donya Camp, took this picture the other day. It occurred to me that it would make the perfect “interesting insect” to feature today, not only because of it’s holiday colors, but also because of it’s importance to the pumpkin and squash patch. Trichopoda pennipes may be one of the prettiest flies in the family Tachinidae. Any fly enthusiast will tell you that tachinid flies are best known for their highly useful skills at stalking and attacking pests. Trichopoda pennipes lays its eggs on… Read More →
Nature’s Freddy Krueger
According to a recent online discussion among Texas entomologists, add the tiny lacewing larva to the long list of outdoor critters that can bite and irritate people. Joe Lapp, spider enthusiast from Austin, TX, recently reported seeing a lacewing larva at the site of a prick-like sensation on his arm while outdoors. The bite itched over the next two days and left a little red mark, similar to a mosquito bite. This prompted others to report similar experiences. We normally think of lacewings as beneficial insects–which they are. … Read More →
What do bulletproof vests and running socks have in common?
Last week Notre Dame and University of Wyoming scientists announced a breakthrough in the commercial mass production of spider silk. For years I have heard speakers talk glowingly of spider silk–about its tensile strength that is greater than steel, its amazing ability to stretch, and its ability to retain its strength at temperatures as low as -40 degrees C. It also is thought to possess antimicrobial properties that might make it useful in medicine. Possible uses of spider silk include making superior surgical suture thread, bullet-proof vests, automobile… Read More →
Ash flower gall in the fall
Last week our forestry specialist sent the image shown here with questions about it’s possible cause. The culprit is a mite, often referred to as ash flower gall. Like many pests of trees, ash flower galls may be more evident some years than others. The mite actually lives in the male flower parts of ash trees, and the gall is a distortion of those flower parts. Because only the male flowers are attacked, tree health is not affected by infestations. However, many people consider the galls themselves unsightly,… Read More →
What good are mosquitoes?
An article in the July 21 online edition of Nature magazine posed researchers the question, “Would it be a good thing if all mosquitoes were eradicated from the earth?” I’ve often been posed a similar question in slightly different form, namely, “what good are mosquitoes?” Aside from the purely speculative question that Nature asked (we couldn’t get rid of all the mosquitoes in the world in a thousand years if we tried), perhaps a more realistic question would be, “If we could get rid of even one mosquito… Read More →
