November 2, 2024

A quick-guide to our citizen science project

We are very lucky this Fall to have the involvement of after-school programs from the New York City public schools. Teacher professional developmental day on …

BioB & Next Generation Science Standards

We want more science teachers to read this blog! This site is written with a wide and general readership in mind. But our teaching resources are …

Winter in the Greenhouse

I love the idea of growing tropical plants during the Maine winter. Maybe I’m crazy. The lab research associated with the Bugs in our Backyard project …

The Thermocycler

People who aren’t familiar with molecular biology are often eager to visit a lab. But in reality, much of the equipment is similar in function …

Beetles will eat anything

Beetles are one of the most ecologically diverse groups of animals on earth. Since their origins about 300 million year ago, this order of insects …

The story of the red-shouldered soapberry bug

In addition to this blog, our website has what will eventually become a series of pages describing the natural history of several species of true …

Quick, spot the bug!

Soapberry bugs aren’t really camouflaged. But they don’t often jump out at you if they have leaf litter to crawl in. Can you find the …

Books: Bugs from the Past

There are many excellent books on insects and biology for people of all ages. In a series of up-coming posts, I’d like to suggest a …

Leptoglossus: A holiday houseguest

This time of year in the Northern US, most true bugs are hard to find. They are doing their best to conserve energy, hiding out in …