Category Archives: bugs

  A pond skater goes by an amazingly large number of common names. Wikipedia lists some—water strider, water bug, magic bug, pond skater, skater, skimmer, water scooter, water skater, water skeeter, water skimmer, water skipper, water spider, Jesus bug—but, there … Continue reading →

  I find it difficult to photograph insects in flight—birds are not easy either, but they are not as difficult as insects. Insects are small and usually too fast for my camera’s auto focus to capture. So, my occasional modest … Continue reading →

  For all its parasitic behaviour, a cuckoo bee is beautiful to look at. A cuckoo bee looks something like a wasp—but it isn’t a wasp; it’s a bee. There are quite a few different apian species that have earned … Continue reading →

  Normally, the only moths I spot in the daytime are those that are sleeping in conspicuous places such as on a window, wall or carpet. In their natural habitat, they are a great deal more difficult to find because … Continue reading →

  A great deal of deception is perpetrated in the fields and woods: camouflage, feigning, mimicking. Fawns sport a dappled coat so as to vanish into the sun-flecked brush. Robins feign injuries to lure predators away from a nest. Flowers lacking nectar … Continue reading →

  There seems to be almost as many species of social wasps around here as there are social bees. Most of those wasps have a fairly oval face. Certainly, that is the case for the genus, Vespula—many of the yellow … Continue reading →

  “My, my, who are you?” was my initial reaction to seeing my first Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris diffinis). I had read about it, but as my frequent insect-watching forays had not previously turned one up, this sighting was unexpected. Also … Continue reading →

  The Western Spring Azure is one of the first butterflies to emerge from a pupa in the spring. It is tiny—wings barely larger than one’s thumbnail—and easily missed when it is still. When on the ground, it raises its … Continue reading →