Wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, bees – most people don’t like them. The reason is simple, too. These insects are capable of delivering a very painful sting, and since they can fly through the air they can chase you!
All tagged Insect
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar
Gardeners who enjoy growing tomatoes have many things to worry about: are their tomato plants getting enough water? Enough sun? Too much water? Not enough fertilizer? But one thing almost all of these gardeners hate is the tobacco hornworm, sometimes called the tomato worm
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Wood-Boring Pine Sawyer Beetle
Most people don’t like beetles. And it’s understandable, since most beetles fall into the “creepy-crawly” category. But some beetles are very interesting. Take longhorn beetles, for example.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Bold Hackberry Emperor Butterfly
Although many species of butterflies in North America are shy of humans and fly away if we get too close, the Hackberry Emperor butterfly often acts just the opposite. These small butterflies routinely fly in circles around a person and then boldly land right on their skin!
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Stink bugs – who likes them? There are many species of stink bugs native to the United States, and the biggest problem with them is they emit a stinky odor when handled. Luckily, the populations of native species are kept in check by local natural predators.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Common Buckeye Butterfly
Fall is almost over already and winter is approaching. But not long ago some of our most beautiful butterflies were still active. These are the Buckeye butterflies.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Goldenrod Soldier Beetle
Beetles are among the most common insect species on Earth. In fact, there are over 400,000 species of beetles known today, and those are just the species we know about right now. More species are being discovered and named every year.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Stinging Bald-Faced Hornet
Hornets! Bald-Faced Hornets! When some people hear those words, their first thought is to run! But there is no need to fear bald-faced hornets in most cases.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Native Forest Tent Caterpillar
Caterpillars are cool creatures. They hatch from tiny eggs and usually grow through multiple stages, or instars, before going through the amazing process of metamorphosis and turning into a beautiful butterfly or moth.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Tiny Summer Azure Butterfly
There are lots of beautiful butterflies flying around in North America – big ones, small ones, colorful ones – but one of the smallest is the Summer Azure butterfly. This beautiful, tiny butterfly has a wingspan of only about an inch and a half, and it flies very quickly and erratically through the countryside.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Periodical Cicada
The Periodical Cicada is a fairly large insect that emerges en masse – or in huge numbers – in the eastern half of the United States in certain years. The adult insects of many of these species have black upper bodies with orange legs and orange underparts.
Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Large Milkweed Bug
If you have milkweed plants in your garden for the benefit of monarch butterflies, good job! Monarchs need milkweed as a host plant where they can lay their eggs. Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed plants, including their close milkweed relatives.