My son Jasper loves books. While his go to favorites vary over time, there have been a few that he always comes back to. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is one of our regulars. But he doesn’t just like to have the story read to him, he likes finding and pointing to the illustration of the caterpillar on each page. In fact, he likes pointing out the insects in pretty much any book where they appear. Besides caterpillars,…
Thanks to the recent wet weather we’ve been having, my husband and I spent most of our walk through the Great Woods Conservation Area in Mansfield yesterday navigating around flooded sections of the trail. While most areas were simply flooded, one area was still largely frozen solid. In addition to ice, this section was unique in that it was the only one to have clusters of tiny bugs covering its surface, creating an interesting polkadot pattern. Closer inspection revealed that…
When I came home from work earlier this week, my front walkway was covered in winged ants (referred to as alates). They were crawling on the bricks, the timber border, the solar-powered perimeter lights, and the nearby vegetation. Closer inspection revealed that in addition to the larger, darker winged ants, there were also clusters of tiny yellow ants on the ground. Although different morphologically, both are the same species of citronella ants, likely Lasius claviger. The smaller yellow individuals were…
Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed a number of common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) resting on the sedum flowers along my front walkway when I first walk outside in the early morning. As the season turns and the evenings get cooler, bumble bees start to slow down. Bees require a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to fly easily without using up all of their nectar stores; even overnight temperatures in the 50s or low 60s will…
This weekend, while sitting on my back porch between thunderstorms, I noticed a small fuzzy patch of something on one of the deck chairs. From a distance, I thought it might be a small patch of lichen; this wouldn’t be odd, as the chairs are fairly speckled with various small lichens. But as I got closer, part of my potential lichen started to move! What I had found was a cluster of newly hatched spiny assassin bugs (Sinea spinipes). Although…
Below is a compilation of a few tiny creatures I’ve come across in the last week or so. All photos were taken using a macro lens on my iPhone. This is a carpet beetle in the genus Anthrenus, likely Anthrenus verbasci, in the flower of a China girl holly. Adults of this species eat pollen, so it’s a logical place to find this one. For those unfamiliar with the scale of holly flowers, this beetle is tiny – only a…
March is an unpredictable month. We’re just as likely to have a blizzard as we are to have a 60 degree sunny day. But even though there are still a few weeks left until the official start of spring, there are already many early signs of spring’s approach. Many of our year-round resident birds have started to sing in earnest, in preparation for defending a territory and finding a mate. The Carolina wren in my hard has been “tea-kettling” his…
My husband was chopping down a rotten pitch pine last week and found dozens of beetles under the bark. Knowing my interest for beetles, he brought one home for me to see (and photography with my macro lens!). We were able to identify it as a ribbed pine borer (Rhagium inquisitor), a member of the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae) that is widespread throughout North America and Eurasia. The ribbed pine borer is unusual within this family, however, as it has…
In most years around this time, I review my previous year’s goals and set new ones for the upcoming calendar year (see: 2021, 2020, etc.). But, interestingly, I never established set goals for 2022. Perhaps on some level I knew this year would prove hard to stick to my typical plans; my pregnancy and the birth of my son have certainly thrown my typical routine a bit out of whack. However, I’m a very list-driven, action-oriented person, so this bugged…
While the majority of flowers have their peak bloom time in the summer months, the fall is the asters’ turn to shine. Although a quick look outside will leave no doubt that fall is here, with autumn colors and crunchy leaves falling to the ground, and insect numbers are definitely down, a number of important pollinator species, such as bees and moths are still active… and still need a source of food. Cold hardy late-blooming perennials, like asters, are a…