Thirteen spotted ladybird beetle hunting for aphids.Ladybugs are not bugs, nor are they ladies.  The ladybug, more appropriately called the ladybird beetle, is a friend to farmers and gardeners alike.  The ladybug got its name during the middle ages in Europe.  It turns out the farmers were having quite a tough time with an outbreak of aphids.  They must have been Catholic because they prayed to The Virgin Mary for help.  Not long after the crops recovered from the infestation, delivered by a host of ladybugs.  I guess they didn't care for the name marybug and the term ladybug stuck. The stor ..read more

The skeletonizing of a leaf by a leaf miner.Born to tunnel; a simple egg laid on a leaf produces a tiny caterpillar.  It immediately becomes an industrial machine, boring into the leaf and consuming the matter between layers.  Barely visible to the human eye, it proceeds in a relatively straight line until it finds an obstacle.  Undeterred, it changes direction and continues its momentum; becoming larger with each centimeter consumed.  The tunnels become larger and its progress faster.  Soon it has consumed almost half an entire leaf.  Thwarted by the main vein running through the middle, it i ..read more

Willow sawfly larvae feeding on a willow leaf.Insects can be very hard to identify, and sometimes even getting the right group of insects can be challenging.  The above photo of a sawfly larva is a good example. Initially, one would probably mistake these caterpillar-like creatures as being either butterfly or moth larvae.  Both sawflies and lepidoptera (the group butterflies and moths belong to) have similar looking young.  The easiest way to tell if it is a caterpillar or sawfly is by paying attention to the prolegs. Prolegs are those peculiar suction cup type feet that exist at the back e ..read more

A pair of cottonwood leaf beetles, on a cottonwood leaf.Cottonwood is a kind of tree which is usually found around fresh water.  It grows fast and the trees themselves can become very large.  They only live a short time (for a tree) though, around 80 years, and leave their remains as fodder for all kinds of creatures.  The trees are important because of the stabilizing properties they have for banks and beaches.  While alive, the trees are a favourite food of beavers (the bark) and the leaves are consumed by numerous mammal and insect species.  One of those is the cottonwood beetle. Cottonwoo ..read more

Ant milking an aphid for honeydew liquid.The above photo represents one of the best images I captured this summer.  While camping near  Salmon Arm this summer I would spend part of my day wandering about with my macro gear.  I came across a busy ant colony and discovered that they were "milking" a herd of aphids.  Ants stroke their antennae across the back of an aphid and it responds by secreting a drop of sugary liquid from its abdomen.  The ant consumes the liquid and brings it back to the colony for dissemination.  This relationship between the aphid and the ant is a form of symbiosis call ..read more

Two-striped grasshopper on common tansy.Have you ever found an insect and wondered what it was?  This is a query I am frequently burdened with.  I like to know the name of what it is I am looking at and to understand something of its life habits.  To facilitate this search for information I often refer to my insect guides. The problem with insects is that there is an unbelievable variety of them.  They are grouped into a total of 31 orders; each order is made of insects of a similar nature.  Butterflies and moths belong to the Lepidoptera.  Grasshoppers and crickets belong to the Orthoptera ..read more

The yellow jacket wasp.Yesterday I was busily working on some yard work when I looked up and saw a most uncomfortable sight.  Wasps had moved in.  A small nook in my deck cover was now the home to a yellow jacket wasp colony.  If I have learned anything about wasps during my time on Mother Earth, it is that wasp nests only get bigger over time.  It is better to deal with them now rather than later.  It is one of those problems you simply cannot ignore and hope it goes away.  If you have ever played one of those computer games where you obtain resources and build an empire, the development of ..read more

A carrion beetle - NicrophorusYou have to admire beetles.  There are over a million species; they are so successful because of their design.  The larvae, called grubs, generally live burrowed into some substrate or remain hidden beneath overburden.  Some are surface dwellers and feed on vegetation.  The adults are really impressive though.  Their first pair of wings has been adapted into a hard chitinous pair of wing covers called elytra.  The whole body is well protected in the same material making them very durable given their size. Beetles inhabit a tremendous range of niches and display s ..read more

Western thrashing ant attacking insect larva. We arrived at an area of southwest Washington called Long Beach yesterday.  This morning I was out for a quiet walk with my camera; it was equipped with a macro lens and macro lighting system.  It is always fun to explore new places to see what kinds of finds can be discovered.  I had quite a bit of luck as I ended up with half a dozen pictures which I am excited about.  The one above is an example. Thrashing ants feed on a wide variety of foods.  They will take seeds, honeydew from aphids, and small prey items such as this insect larva.  Ants have ..read more

Margined white butterfly on wild dandelion.If you have seen a white butterfly flitting around in your garden, it likely is the cabbage white butterfly.  This European invader has supplanted the native margined white butterfly shown above.  This is actually not the cabbage white butterfly’s fault; it is capable of feeding on a wider variety of plants than the margined.  To complicate matters, the primary food of both is the mustard plant.  Much of the native mustard varieties, which the margined primarily feeds on, has been replaced by invasive European ones.  The cabbage white can eat both pla ..read more