Zombie Ladybugs and Mind-controlling Wasps
by Halloween may be over, but some things are creepy all year round. Dinocampus coccinellae is a tiny, parasitoid wasp that uses a virus to turn …
Category: Entomology
Arthropods / Ecology / Entomology / Fieldwork
The Spider and the Lynx: Examining Wildlife Corridors
Urbanization and human expansion have led to the fragmentation and reduction of many vital habitats. Conservationists have been trying to come up with management strategies …
The Human Botfly, Dermatobia hominis
by Last January I went to Belize as part of a course to study tropical ecology. For three weeks we stayed in different parts of the diverse …
Arthropods / Ecology / Entomology / Fieldwork / Plants
Daintree Adventures
by While spending a semester abroad studying biology in Northern Australia, I had the opportunity to travel to one of the most incredible places in the …
Beetles will eat anything
by 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 …
Arthropods / Ecology / Entomology / Evolution
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 …
Ecology / Entomology / Plants / Teaching
Scavenger hunt!
Our page of teaching modules now includes a fun and simple activity for younger students, a scavenger hunt!
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 …
Ecology / Entomology / Plants / Teaching
Bug Guides
When I tell people about Bugs in our Backyard, they often ask how to identify the common host plants, like the golden rain tree. Thankfully, it is …