Category Archives: bugs

Warning. As they say in the movies: mature theme, graphic scenes. Dragonflies abound in the marsh at Grohman Narrows Provincial Park: many species, many individuals. All seem to have one thing on their minds: procreation. Out of all that activity, … Continue reading →

Males hanging out in the August sunshine at the water’s edge, eating, and waiting for females—it sounds like the script for a 1960s beach–party movie. Yet, that pretty well describes the life of the adult Pale Snaketail. This dragonfly is … Continue reading →

The Pink-faced Jewel Beetle (Buprestis lyrata) is one of the metallic wood-boring beetles. It is usually found doing its thing on Douglasfir or pine snags. It generally attacks severely stressed or recently killed trees rather than the living, vigorous trees. … Continue reading →

There is nothing rare about this butterfly. The Cabbage White is common across the southern half of the Province and, although it is an introduced species, it has been here for about two centuries. Last week, I watched a dozen or more … Continue reading →

The first thing to realize when watching the Tule Bluet is that you can normally tell the boys from the girls. The males are blue and black while the females are brown and black. It is of interest to tell the … Continue reading →

If one were to judge all flies by the few baddies, such as the house fly and mosquito, we would miss out on the delightful ones in the yard and woods. Many folks take pleasure in watching the many species … Continue reading →

The ancients believed that (adult) honey bees could be produced from dead meat. References to this are found in Hebrew and Roman literature. How could this strange belief have arisen? The answer is simple and found to this day in … Continue reading →

I have commented a few times that ospreys of the West Arm are in retreat this summer: Ospreys’ annus horribilis, Happy herons. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they have all vanished, just that nesting has been remarkably poor. There are … Continue reading →

The European skipper is an invasive species. It was accidentally introduced into Ontario in 1910 and has since spread westward. That being said, one has to admit that invasive isn’t a bad word. This colourful butterfly does not seem to … Continue reading →