If mankind ever encounters space aliens, it’s a pretty sure bet they won’t be much like us. There will likely be some similarities; 2+2=4 everywhere, after all. Any advanced life form must have some way of perceiving the universe around it and insects might be a good model. They’re not necessarily like the aliens, but […]
insects
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HumBug: Dainty Little Moths
Tuesday evening I purposely left on the porch light. In the middle of winter there is seldom anything, but sometimes you get lucky, and I got a few small moths. Plume moths (family Pterophoridae) are fairly common. When they land, they hold their very narrow wings out 90 degrees from their bodies, looking like a […]
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HumBug: A Winter Walk
Tuesday was mostly clear so I put off house cleaning and took a walk. Along the road I saw a few pale lavender colored Milkmaid flowers (Cardamine californica). They are the first wildflower I see every year. Aside from having to extricate myself from quicksand up to my knees, I had a good time taking […]
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HumBug: Bugs in Midwinter
The middle of winter is not the best time to be a bug guy. There aren’t many around and most of the ones that are hide under rocks. Sometimes though, they surprise you. Returning home one recent night, I found a dozen or so medium sized, dark colored critters on my front door. Even without […]
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HumBug: Lacewings
A couple of days ago I was cleaning up storm debris from my yard when a tiny creature fluttered daintily by. I recognized its flight pattern immediately as one of the prettiest and most delicate things I know: a green lacewing. It brought a smile. The order Neuroptera (“nerve winged”) has some really dainty insects. […]
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HumBug: Illumination
Despite tipping over every rock and lifting every piece of peeling bark on my property over the years, I have yet to find a scorpion. So, for the last few evenings, when I take my dogs out I’ve carried a black light flashlight. Scorpions are known to fluoresce under UV, which is a curious thing […]
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HumBug: Skeletons in My Closet
Let me get one thing out of the way right off: I am not an entomologist in the sense that I have no degree in the subject, nor do I work at it as a profession. Like Sherlock Holmes, I like to think of myself as a talented amateur. I do it because I enjoy […]
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HumBug: Millipedes
The biggest land “bug” that ever lived was a one-foot-wide, 6-foot-long millipede called Arthropleura. The largest nowadays is the foot-long giant African millipede, which some folks raise as pets. The good news is that millipedes on the whole are inoffensive critters, content to dine on decaying vegetation and fungi. By nature millipedes are shy and […]
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HumBug: Walking on Water
A quick flick of movement across a calm spot on the water brought a water strider to my attention. Although they might resemble spiders with their with spindly legs and dark bodies, they are actually members of the order Hemiptera (half wing) or “true bugs.” Their remarkable ability to skate so adroitly across the surface […]
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HumBug: Scaly Protection
The order of butterflies and moths, Lepidoptera, gets its name from Greek words meaning “scale wings.” Like a mosaic, those scales make up each species’ distinctive markings. Listed in the literature are a number of ways those minute scales contribute to the animal’s well being. As a layer of insulation on their body, they help […]
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HumBug: Mantis Religiosa
Probably the insect’s world epitome of elegant lethality is the praying mantis. There are even a couple of branches of Kung-fu based on the mantis’ movements. Increasingly over the years I have seen adults of the 3- to 4-inch European mantis (Mantis religiosa) variety in the fall. They come in two different colors, pale green […]
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HumBug:Waiting for Rain
No one needs to tell us 2015 has been a dry year so far. Brown lawns, crops under stress, wild fire dangers all reveal our lack of recent rainfall. There is another group of organisms under stress as well. Although probably not high on any homeowner’s endangered species list, termites are facing a problem. Throughout a […]