bugs

The weather-predicting myth of the Woolly Bear has been passed down since colonial times. The folklore holds that when you see a caterpillar in autumn, the thicker the reddish-brown stripe, the milder the winter ahead. If its coloration is dominated by the thicker black bands, then we’re in for a doozy of a winter.

Found in the eastern portion of the United States, deathwatch beetles typically inhabit the hardwood timbers of old buildings or the decaying wood of very old trees. The larvae bore into the wood, feeding for anywhere from one to ten years before pupating and emerging as an adult. And while their wood-boring lifestyle can weaken the structural integrity of some infested buildings, if you believe the superstition, that’s the least of your worries.

Looking much like a roly-poly, a unique species of marine isopod is known to parasitize eight species of fish. And while it is not uncommon for fish to have parasites, this species is the only known pest to replace a host’s organ. Which organ, you might ask? We present, the tongue-eating louse.

When trying to avoid predators or find prey it’s helpful to look in all directions. But when you’re an animal that spends a lot of time at the surface of the water, it’s hard to do both at the same time …that is, unless you’re a whirligig beetle.

As a teenage boy on the farm in Iowa, I experienced a horde of grasshoppers while unloading a wagon of oats. The surface was covered with grasshoppers! It was not difficult to grab one, and when I did, it would “spit tobacco.” I have since learned that spitting a dark liquid is a defense mechanism. Memories like this one have stuck with me, and in part fueled my interest in the mass of grasshoppers that somehow ended up in Rocky Mountain glaciers.

When it comes to butterfly migration in the United States, the species best known for making long distance treks is the Monarch. But there is another, much more globally widespread butterfly whose migration largely flies under the radar – the Painted Lady.

Pollination is a game of give and take …insects visiting flowers for the reward of nectar and plants using insects to transport pollen for fertilization. They both benefit from the interaction. But that’s not always the case.

Dinocampus coccinellae is a species of parasitic wasp that focuses on adult female ladybugs. Smaller than the ladybug host, the female wasp will use her needle-like ovipositor to inject an egg into the lady beetle’s body.

An international team of researchers at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic found a species of termite that takes the act of self-sacrifice to the extreme.

Called the “Snail Shell Spider”, this species of huntsman spider has devised a unique strategy to secure a room with a view.