Past Issues

2024

10.21.2024 Bugs in orange and black: A spooky Halloween trick for predators, Small and large milkweed bugs, Lygaeus kalmii and Oncopeltus fasciatus

10.14.2024 From the Bug of the Week mailbag a rainbow arrives to preserve our air from “The Infection of Dungs”: Rainbow dung beetle, Phanaeus vindex

10.07.2024 Watch out Tree of Heaven, native and invasive insects are ready to wage war on you: Ailanthus webworm, Atteva aurea, and spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula

09.30.2024 Eerie green lights along the Potomac: Glow-worms, larval Lampyridae

09.23.2024 Field crickets invade a home with a wake-up call: Fall field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus

09.16.2024 From the Bug of the Week Mailbag: Who’s been munching on my deck? Dogwood sawfly, Macremphytus tarsatus

09.09.2024 Fright and fun courtesy of flying spotted lanternflies: Lycorma delicatula

09.02.2024 West Nile Virus and other Fly Borne Diseases in the News - Beware of disease vectors: the Northern House mosquito, Culex pipiens, Asian Tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, and other biting flies

08.26.2024 Pits of despair for ground dwelling insects: Antlions, Family Myrmeleontidae

08.19.2024 Mellow mallow bees, Ptilothrix bombiformis

08.12.2024 Throwback Monday: Recyclers in the circle of life - Bess beetles, Odontotaenius disjunctus

08.05.2024 Early rising bees in the pumpkin patch: Eastern cucurbit bee, Peponapis pruinosa, and two-spotted longhorn bee, Melissodes bimaculatus

07.29.2024 Bane of dogbane, the beautiful and the ugly: Dogbane leaf beetle, Chrysochus auaratus, and dogbane webworm, Saucrobotys futilalis

07.22.2024 Why am I seeing more spotted lanternflies? Lycorma delicatula

07.15.2024 Chafer madness: Oriental beetle, Anomala orientalis, and Asiatic garden beetle, Maladera castanea

07.08.2024 Always a surprise: European earwig, Forficula auricularia

07.01.2024 Watch out monarda munchers, a wicked wasp is coming to get you: Four-toothed mason wasp, Monobia quadridens

06.24.2024 Fireflies are busy flashing for mates! Lampyridae spp.

06.17.2024 Return of the monarda marauder: Raspberry pyrausta, Pyrausta signatalis

06.10.2024 Is the Jorō spider coming to your neighborhood? Trichonephila clavata

06.03.2024 From the mailbag: What’s that fly? March flies in May – Bibionidae

05.27.2024 Waxy lady beetles come to the rescue of pest-plagued crapemyrtles, Hyperaspis spp.

05.20.2024 From the mail bag - “Oh they’re back and they’re bad”: Spotted lanternfly nymphs, Lycorma delicatula

05.13.2024 Vanishing viburnums: vandalism by the Viburnum leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni

05.06.2024 When ants move in: Odorous house ants, Tapinoma sessile

04.29.2024 From the mailbag: Fig-eating Kudzu bugs come to college, Megacopta cribraria

04.22.2024 Come one, come all to explore the Insect Petting Zoo: Maryland Day, Saturday April 27, 2024

04.15.2024 From the Bug of the Week mailbag – Be on the lookout for one slowly moving invasive pest: Euonymus leaf notcher, Pryeria sinica

04.08.2024 Nature’s other epic event this spring: Periodical cicadas, Magicicada spp.

04.01.2024 Why are males first to emerge for mason bees? Osmia spp.

03.25.2024 Wake-up call for boxelder bugs: Boisea trivittatus

03.18.2024 Spring arrives and with it, delightful Plasterer bees: Colletes spp.

03.11.2024 Reveille for BMSB: Wake-up call for brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys

03.04.2024 Beautiful butterflies pumping water: Daggerwings, Marpesia spp., and a pierid butterfly, Cepora spp.

02.26.2024 The Bornean caterpillar hunter: Potter wasp, Delta pyriforme

02.19.2024 Picking up good vibrations from big Bornean beetles: flat-faced (Lamiinae) and tooth-necked (Prioninae) longhorn beetles

02.12.2024 Destinations: Lizard Island, Australia and Mulu National Park, Borneo to learn about cooperation - a lesson delivered by Green tree ants, Oecophylla smaragdina

02.05.2024 Gi-ant! Malaysian Giant Forest Ants in Borneo, Dinomyrmex gigas

01.29.2024 Sorry DC and Baltimore, no periodical cicadas for you this year, unless you take a road trip: Brood XIII (13) and Brood XIX (19), Magicicada spp.

01.22.2024 Rainforest raiders: Fierce Leptogenys ants

01.15.2024 Encounters with Bornean kelulut: stingless bees, Meliponini

01.08.2024 Lanternflies: vandals in vineyards, beauties in Borneo

01.01.2024 Recyclers of the rainforest: Bornean myriapods, millipedes (Diplopoda), and their nemesis, giant centipedes (Chilipoda)

2023

12.18.2023 Deck the halls with boughs of holly adorned with cheery red and green berries! Green is good for holly berry midge, Asphondylia ilicicola

12.11.2023 Deck the halls with boughs of holly - and maybe some leaves with the native holly leafminer, Phytomyza ilicicola

12.04.2023 A mast year brings a bountiful harvest to acorn weevils, Curculio glandium

11.27.2023 Death of a Lanternfly, Part 3: When a Chinese mantis has an old friend for dinner – Chinese praying mantis, Tenodera sinensis

11.20.2023 Death of a lanternfly, Part 2: Lanternfly on the Thanksgiving menu for a gal called Carolina – Carolina mantis, Stagmomantis carolina

11.13.2023 Death of a lanternfly, Part 1: What a frosty night means to spotted lanternfly, Lycorma deliculata

11.06.2023 Bumble bee, carpenter bee, redux: Bombus spp. and Xylocopa spp.

10.30.2023 Bugs in orange and black, Part 3 – Trick or treat? Two-spotted stink bug, Perillus bioculatus, has a lethal trick that turns Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, into a tasty treat

10.23.2023 Bugs in Orange and Black, Part II: A spooky southern predator heads north in a warming world – Florida predatory stink bug, Euthyrhynchus floridanus

10.16.23 Bugs in Orange and Black, Part 1: Nightmare for collards when harlequin bugs arrive - Murgantia histrionica

10.09.2023 Magic of the recycle bin and an edamame surprise: Soldier flies, Stratiomyidae

10.02.2023 Danger in the wildflowers for bees: Ambush bugs, Phymata spp.

09.25.2023 From the Bug of the Week mailbag – Rose of Sharon on the menu for the hibiscus scentless plant bug, Niesthrea louisianica

09.18.2023 Got lanternflies? Tired of squishing? Get a spider! Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Argiope aurantia

09.11.2023 High fiber diets for baldfaced hornets? Nah, construction materials for enlarging nests: Baldfaced hornets, Dolichovespula maculata

09.04.2023 Dragonfly meets spider, spider eats dragonfly: Seaside Dragonlet, Erythrodiplax Berenice, and daddy-long-legs, Pholcus spp.

08.28.2023 From the mailbag - When spotted lanternflies arrive, do stinging insects follow? Eastern yellowjackets, Vespula maculifrons, and a few other friends

08.21.2023 Why am I seeing more spotted lanternflies? Lycorma delicatula

08.14.2023 Light pollution imperils Imperial moths, Eacles Imperialis

08.07.2023 From the mailbag - Large scary bees buzzing the backyard? Nah, Green June Beetles, Cotinus nitida

07.31.2023 Crazy, snaky worms in your garden? Could be jumping worms, Amynthas spp.

07.24.2023 Hammer time in the DMV: Hammerhead worms, Bipalium spp.

07.17.2023 Beautiful beetles and gnarly elm leaves: Larger elm leaf beetle, Monocesta coryli, and elm leaf beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola

07.10.2023 Tiny raptors: Mantisflies, Mantispidae, and Praying mantises, Mantidae

07.03.2023 My, what ginormous jaws you have my dear: Elephant stag beetle, Lucanus elaphus

06.26.2023 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde wage war on thistles: Thistle head weevils, Rhinocyllus conicus

06.19.2023 Yellow snake along the trail: Spicebush swallowtail caterpillar, Papilio troilus

06.12.2023 Oh no, engorged tick! Lyme disease? Maybe not: Tick Identification

06.05.2023 Vanquished vanishing columbines: Columbine sawfly, Pristiphora rufipes

05.29.2023 Bee Balm Blues Courtesy of Fourlined plant bug, Poecilocapsus lineatus

05.22.2023 Paper wasp dilemma, destroy or defend? Paper wasps, Polistes spp.

05.15.2023 There will be blood: Northern House Mosquito, Culex pipiens, and friends

05.08.2023 Tigers along the Potomac: Bronzed Tiger Beetle, Cicindela repanda repanda

05.01.2023 A spotted lanternfly is born - Lycorma delicatula

04.24.2023 Come one, come all to explore the Insect Petting Zoo: Maryland Day, Saturday April 29, 2023

04.17.2023 Guardians of the galleries: Male Eastern Carpenter Bees, Xylocopa virginica

04.10.2023 Danger afoot for ground nesting bees: Look out for bee flies, Bombyliidae

04.03.2023 How nice to see a bee tree: Honey bees, Apis mellifera

03.27.2023 Destination Big Cypress National Preserve and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida to meet the mighty eastern lubber grasshopper, Romalea microptera

03.20.2023 Destination Big Cypress National Preserve to meet a smiley face spider: Spiny orbweaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis

03.13.2023 Will record warmth result in suicidal emergence of tent caterpillars? Eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma americanum

03.06.2023 From the mailbag – Mealybugs, Pseudococcidae, in the greenhouse and their destroyer, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

O2.27.2023 From the mailbag – Who’s that large dead insect on the driveway? Green June Beetle Grub, Cotinis nitida

02.20.2023 From the mailbag – Mud daubers and humans partner to create unique pottery: Black and yellow mud dauber wasps, Sceliphron caementarium

02.13.2023 From the mailbag – white lilies feeling the blues: Could it be the banded greenhouse thrips, Hercinothrips femoralis?

02.06.2023 Me and my shadow: Cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides

01.30.2023 Rotting vegetation is picture perfect for picture-winged flies in paradise: Picture-winged flies, Drosophilidae

01.23.2023 On the prowl to paralyze pests here in the DMV: Four-toothed mason wasps, Monobia quadridens

01.16.2023 Paralyzing prey in Paradise: Keyhole wasp, Pachodynerus nasidens

01.09.2023 Unwelcome guests in Hawai’i: American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, German cockroach, Blattella germanica, and Western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica

01.02.2023 Gulf fritillaries wish you a Happy New Year from their new home in Hawai’i: Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae

2022

12.19.2022 Royal wanderers settle into a far-away home: Monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus

12.12.2022 Orchids and ants, early invaders of lava flows: Bamboo orchid, Arundina graminifolia and an unidentified ant, Formicidae sp.

12.05.2022 Destination Hawai’i, where strange insects colonize new land: Psyllid galls on ʻŌhiʻa tree, Pariaconus spp.

11.28.2022 Crapemyrtles are not dreaming of a white Christmas: Crapemyrtle bark scale, Acanthococcus (=Eriococcus) lagerstroemiae

11.21.2022 What’s that on an oak leaf? Animal? Plant? Fungus? Nah, gall insect – Galls wasps, Cynipidae

11.14.2022 Two tiny vampires leave their itchy calling cards along the Potomac: black flies, Simuliidae and no-see-ums, Ceratopogonidae

11.07.2022 From the Bug of the Week mailbag: Monarchs aren’t the only orange and black migrant here in the DMV – Variegated Fritillary, Euptoieta claudia

10.31.2022 Bugs in orange and black – Three spooky assassins: milkweed assassin bug, Zelus longipes; orange assassin bug, Pselliopus barberi; and wheel bug, Arilus cristatus

10.24.2022 Bumpy, sticky times for oaks in cities: Oak lecanium scale, Parthenolecanium quercifex

10.17.2022 Sunny with a chance of aphid flurries: Elm cockscomb gall aphid, Colopha ulmicola

10.10.2022 From the Bug of the Week mail bag: Death spider? Nah, Spotted orbweaver, Neoscona crucifera

10.03.2022 Look but do not touch: puss caterpillar, Megalopyge opercularis; White flannel moth, Norape ovina; Io moth, Automeris io; buck moth Hemileuca spp.; and hag moth, Phobetron pithecium

09.26.2022 Steel-blue cricket-hunters steal lives: Steel-blue cricket-hunters, Chlorion aerarium

09.19.2022 When pearly-eye meets dragonfly: Northern pearly-eye, Enodia anthedon, and clubtail dragonflies, Gomphidae spp.

09.12.2022 Devilish times for hickory: Hickory horned devils and royal walnut moths, Citheronia regalis

09.05.2022 Tiny toads and even tinier toad bugs: Big-eyed toad bug, Gelastocoris oculatus

08.29.2022 Underway - doomed flights of spotted lanternflies in the DMV: Spotted lanternflies, Lycorma delicatula

08.22.2022 The other monarch caterpillar: Milkweed tussock moth, Euchaetes egle

08.15.2022 Weeding can turn spicy when saddlebacks are around: Saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulae

08.08.2022 Saving Hercules and a moon moth: Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus, and Luna moth, Actias luna

08.01.2022 Scorched locust, courtesy of the Locust leafminer, Odontota dorsalis

07.25.2022 My, what big jaws you have my dear: Reddish-brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus

07.18.2022 Waxy wanderers flocking flowers: Planthoppers - Flatidae and Acanaloniidae

07.11.2022 Feasting and frolicking spell trouble when Japanese beetles, Popillia japonica, arrive

07.04.2022 Small, strange bugs with very long legs: Stilt bugs, Berytidae

06.27.2022 Life and death in a cone flower: Minute pirate bugs, Orius spp., and their prey, flower thrips, Frankliniella spp.

06.20.2022 What are those strange green wrapped leaves in unusual places? Leafcutter bees, Megachilidae

06.13.2022 Cup plant feeds brown ambrosia aphid, Uroleucon ambrosiae, which in turn provides dinner for lynx spiders, lady beetles, long-legged flies, flower flies, and green lacewings

06.06.2022 Nectar rewards for peony protecting body guards: Carpenter ants, Camponotus spp.

05.30.2022 Brood X encore, billions of cicadas? Not this time – Straggling cicadas of Brood X, Magicicada spp.

05.23.2022 A surprisingly early visit by a royal: Monarch butterflies and their caterpillars, Danaus plexippus

05.16.2022 Boisterous bee-havior of ground nesting bees, Colletes thoracicus

05.09.2022 A warming world: range expansions of lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum, and the alpha-gal they carry

05.02.2022 Time for tigers in the DMV: Six-spotted green tiger beetle, Cicindela sexguttata

04.25.2022 The Nationals aren’t the only ones wearing red at Navy Yard: Get ready for red-shouldered bugs, Jadera haematoloma

04.18.2022 Tents in the Mojave: Western tent caterpillar, Malacosoma californicum

04.11.2022 Gathering seeds and carrying tiny boulders in the desert: Harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex spp.

04.04.2022 From the Bug of the Week Mailbag: Who’s that big spider hanging out on my bedroom drape? Fishing spiders, Pisauridae

03.28.2022 Boxelder bugs on the move: Boxelder bugs, Boisea trivittatus

03.21.2022 Mason bees herald the arrival of spring: Horned-faced and orchard mason bees, Osmia spp.

03.14.2022 Terrifying big spiders soon in the DMV? Meet the Jorō Spider, Trichonephila clavata, and its cousin the Golden Silk Spider, Trichonephila clavipes

03.07.2022 Some great news for western migratory Monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus

02.28.2022 A different stink bug on the move in the kitchen: four-humped stink bug, Brochymena quadripustulata

02.21.2022 From the Bug of the Week mailbag: World’s largest walking stick visits the Goddard Space Flight Center, Northern walkingstick, Diapheromera fermorata

02.14.2022 Surprise visit by a queen: German yellowjacket, Vespula germanica

02.07.2022 Destinations: Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica and a backyard in Columbia, Maryland: Sand wasps – Crabronidae

01.31.2022 Barking up the right tree for the eyed elater, Alaus oculatus

01.24.2022 From the Bug of the Week Mailbag: Non-native mantids, the European mantis, Mantis religiosa, and Chinese mantis, Tenodera sinensis, enjoying North American cuisine

01.17.2022 From the Bug of the Week Mailbag: Daddy-longlegs, the most venomous of all spiders? Opilionids and Pholcid spiders

01.10.2022 From the Bug of the Week Mailbag: Winter storm, limbs down, power out - blame the cicadas?

01.03.2022 From the Bug of the Week mailbag, termites or ants? Eastern subterranean termites, Reticulitermes flavipes, or Citronella ants, Lasius sp.

2021

12.20.2021 Heliconiids for the holidays: Longwinged butterflies, Heliconiidae

12.13.2021 ‘Twas two weeks before Christmas – Giant bark aphids, Longistigma caryae and giant willow aphids, Tuberolachnus salignus

12.06.2021 Holiday spiders help make the season bright: Jumping spiders, Salticidae and orb weavers, Araneidae

11.29.2021 Winter mild or wild? Ask the banded woolly bear, Pyrrharctia Isabella

11.22.2021 What’s in a name? Ladybug, lady beetle, lady bird beetle – meet the home invading Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis

11.15.2021 Nasty scale insects spell trouble for American beech trees: Beech bark scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga

11.08.2021 Bugs better beware of feisty feather-legged flies, Trichopoda pennipes

11.01.2021 Honeydew for honey bees? Spotted lanternflies, Lycorma delicatula

10.25.2021 Just in time for Halloween, spooky spiders invading homes! Wolf spiders, Lycosidae

10.18.2021 What’s all this chirping about? Ask the fall field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus

10.11.2021 Lace bugs help put the “sick” in sycamore: Sycamore lace bug, Corythucha ciliata

10.04.2021 Beware of zesty drinks! Yellowjackets, Vespula, bumble bees, Bombus, carpenter bees, Xylocopa, and honey bees, Apis, can really spice up soft drinks

09.27.2021 Mallow munchers: Mallow sawfly, a.k.a. Hibiscus sawfly, Atomacera decepta

09.20.2021 Minstrels of the meadow: Short-winged meadow katydid, Conocephalus brevipennis

09.13.2021 Coming soon to your neighborhood? Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula

09.06.2021 Large, scary hornets stripping bark from trees, eating fruit, and going “bump in the night”: European hornet, Vespa crabro

08.30.2021 How a cool creepy insect warms up: Eastern Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus

08.23.2021 Monarchs arrive for their annual visit, but for how much longer? Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus

08.16.2021 Zebras along the Potomac: Zebra swallowtail butterflies, Protographium marcellus

08.09.2021 Bird droppings? Nope, clever moths and caterpillars looking like poop: Beautiful wood-nymph, Eastern tiger swallowtail, Black swallowtail, Red-spotted purple

07.26.2021 Greet the class of 2038 as periodical cicadas hatch in the DMV: Magicicada spp.

07.19.2021 False Milkweed Bug, a.k.a. False Sunflower bug: Lygaeus turcicus

07.12.2021 Squash and squash: Squash bugs, Anasa tristis

07.05.2021 Sweet times for sweat bees: Sweat bees, Halictus ligatus and Agapostemon virescens

06.28.2021 Chemical engineers recycling forest matter: Millipedes, Diplopoda

06.21.2021 Auf wiedersehen Brood X: Cicadas, Magicicada spp.

06.14.2021 Egg-laying and the dark side of cicadas: Cicadas, Magicicada spp.

06.07.2021 Fly, feed, pee: Cicadas, Magicicada species

05.31.2021 An STD in cicada land has cicadas behaving strangely: Magicicada spp. and Massospora cicadina

05.24.2021 Teenagers rockin’ in the treetops: Cicadas, Magicicada spp.

05.17.2021 It’s a hard knock life for periodical cicadas – Magicicada spp.

05.10.2021 Just a trickle, not a flood, so when will the main event happen? And how do you tell the guys from the gals? Periodical Cicadas, Magicicada spp.

05.03.2021 Periodical cicadas come to the University of Maryland - will there be a reward for finding blue-eyed cicadas? Magicicada spp.

04.26.2021 Life underground and the vanguard arrives, Hail Brood X, 2021 in Maryland! Magicicada spp.

04.19.2021 When will we see cicadas in the DMV? Appearance of Magicicada spp.

04.12.2021 Holes appear and the feast begins – Animals dining on periodical cicadas, Magicicada spp.

04.05.2021 Are cicadas locusts? Locusta spp. and Magicicada spp.

03.29.2021 How are you doing, Class of 2021? Brood X Magicicada spp.

03.22.2021 Two beauties doubling down on defense: The polka-dot wasp moth, Syntomeida epilais, and spotted oleander caterpillar moth, Empyreuma pugione

03.15.2021 At night in the rainforest with scary whip spiders: Amblypygids

03.08.2021 Destination Reserva Nacional Tambopata, Peru: How pleasing are rainforest fungus beetles, Erotylidae?

03.01.2021 Chilean Chinchemolles: the elegant phasmatid, Agathemera elegans

02.22.2021 Mitey troubles for house plants: Twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae

02.15.2021 Ancient insect in a modern world: Silverfish, Lepismatidae

02.08.2021 Lovebugs, kissing bugs, and other insects engaged in intimate activities. What’s all this coziness about?

02.01.2012 Chilly romance for winter stoneflies - Plecoptera: Capniidae and Taeniopterygidae

01.25.2021 Stinky headstands in the desert: Desert stink beetles, genus Eleodes

01.18.2021 For horny beetles, size does matter: Forked Fungus Beetle, Bolitotherus cornutus

01.11.2021 I see icy isopods: Pillbugs, terrestrial Isopoda

01.04.2021 New Year visits by tiny beetles: Carpet beetles and their kin, Dermestidae

2020

12.21.2020 ‘Twas the week before Christmas and what did I spy: The silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci

12.14.2020 Holiday meals served by an alien plant and its cosmopolitan guest: Peach-clematis aphid, Myzus varians

12.07.2020 A blue Christmas for boxwood: Boxwood leafminer, Monarthropalpus flavus

11.30.2020 Small, whitish moths in the pantry? Could be Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella

11.23.2020 Fruit flies, Drosophila spp.: More than just an uninvited Thanksgiving guest!

11.16.2020 Tiny culprit behind my gnarly Nyssa: A leaf-curling gall aphid, Phylloxerina nyssae

11.09.2020 Look out Pennsylvania, an invasive pest is headed your way: Euonymus leaf- notcher, Pryeria sinica

11.02.2020 A gorgeous speedy spider: Marbled orb-weaver, Araneus marmoreus

10.26.2020 Just in time for Halloween, insect zombies! Mind-altered crickets, ants, beetles, flies, and cicadas

10.19.2020 Waxy ladies dance like someone’s watching: Woolly beech aphid, a.k.a. boogie-woogie aphid, Grylloprociphilus imbricator

10.12.2020 An unusual but not unpleasant home invasion by a beneficial beetle: Big-headed ground beetle, Scarites subterraneus

10.05.2020 Garden spiders rockin’ in the DMV: Black and yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia

09.28.2020 Lanternflies on the move: Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula

09.21.2020 Giant silk moth larvae prepare for winter: Imperial moth, Eacles imperialis

09.14.2020 Plants as camouflage - who thought of it first? Meet the camouflaged looper, Synchlora aerate

09.07.2020 Befriend wasps and they will befriend you: Digger wasps, Scolia dubia and Scolia nobilitata

O8.31.2020 What lies beneath the wax? A duo of leaf-eating sawflies: Dogwood sawfly, Macremphytus tarsatus, and Butternut woollyworm, Eriocampa juglandis

08.24.2020 A sting to kill a cow? Red velvet ant, a.k.a. cow killer, Dasymutilla occidentalis

08.17.2020 Katydids, crickets, and grasshoppers beware, Great black wasps and katydid wasps are in the air: Sphex spp.

08.10.2020 Two twilight troubadours: Dusk-singing cicadas and katydids

08.03.2020 Missing bugs of the week: Swallowtail butterflies, Papilionidae

07.27.2020 Hey beetles, leave some milkweed for the monarchs: Milkweed leaf beetle, Labidomera clivicollis

07.20.2020 Uh oh, murder hornets in the DMV? Nope, just male cicada killer wasps, Sphecius speciosus

07.13.2020 Monarda marauder: Raspberry pyrausta, Pyrausta signatalis

07.06.2020 Mailbox posts are fine homes for giant resin bees, Megachile sculpturalis

06.29.2020 Deerly departed: food for flesh-recycling carrion beetles - Margined carrion beetle, Oiceoptoma noveboracense, and American carrion beetle, Necrophila americana

06.22.2020 Aphid lions green and brown, aphids you are going down! Chrysopidea and Hemerobiidae

06.15.2020 Recyclers in the Circle of Life: Bess beetles, Odontotaenius disjunctus

06.08.2020 Snap to it and dump those containers or there will be blood! Culex and Aedes mosquitoes

06.01.2020 Cicada surprise in the DMV! Brood IX and straggling Brood X periodical cicadas, Magicicada spp.

05.25.2020 What’s up when aphids have a hole in their rear end: tiny parasitic wasps, Aphidius spp.

05.18.2020 Murder hornets, Take 2: Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia

05.11.2020 Murder Wasps - Time to Panic? Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia

05.04.2020 The Silk Trail: Eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum

04.27.2020 Ground nesting bees beware of Blister beetles - Meloe spp.

04.20.2020 Six-legged Tiger King: six-spotted green tiger beetle, Cicindela sexguttata

04.13.2020 Spring Sunshine Heralds the Appearance of Plasterer Bees, Colletes

04.06.2020 Covid got you blue? Here’s a ‘blue’ to cheer you up: blue Morpho butterfly, Morpho peleides

03.30.2020 Rain on a sunny day: Tropical rainforest cicadas, Dorisiana sp.

03.23.2020 Rainforest Ants 4 - The Bodyguards, Part 2: Azteca ants protecting Cecropia trees

03.16.2020 Rainforest Ants 3 – The Bodyguards, Part 1: Pseudomyrmex ants Protecting Bullhorn Acacias

03.09.2020 Rainforest Ants 2 - Rapacious Raiders: Army ants, Eciton spp.

03.02.2020 Rainforest Ants 1 - Tropical Fungus Farmers: Leafcutter Ants, Atta and Acromyrmex spp.

02.24.2020 A Rainforest Beauty Better for Observing Rather than Touching: Silkmoth Caterpillar, Automeris spp.

02.17.2020 Small Dragons: Dragonflies, Anisoptera

02.10.2020 Walkin’ on Water: Water Striders, Gerridae

02.03.2020 Why Four Eyes? Whirligig Beetles, Gyrinidae

01.27.2020 Upside and downside of a warming world for the despoiler of hemlocks: Hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae

01.20.2020 Scorpion glow, scorpion sting: Slenderbrown and other scorpions in Central America, Centruroides spp.

01.13.2020 Wintry appearance of a strange moth: Fall cankerworm, Alsophila pometaria

01.06.2020 A surprise visit from my ants: Citronella ants, Lasius sp.

2019

12.23.2019 Dashing through the snow: Snow scorpionflies, Boreus sp.

12.16.2019 A giant among beetles: Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus

12.09.2019 Beetles roasting on an open fire: Roundheaded borers, Cerambycidae; Flatheaded borers, Buprestidae; and Darkling beetles, Tenebrionidae

12.02.2019 Dashing caterpillars predicting weather and preparing for winter: Banded woolly bear, Pyrrharctia Isabella, Giant woolly bear, Hypercompe scribonia, and Saltmarsh caterpillar, Estigmene acrea

11.25.2019 Pumpkin eaters: Fruit flies, Drosophilidae

11.18.2019 Bug in the bathtub? Nah, house centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata

11.11.2019 Getting by on five - can losing a leg save a life? Leaffooted bugs, Leptoglossus and Diactor, field and camel crickets, Gryllus and Diestrammena

11.04.2019 Leaffooted lovers: Leptoglossus spp.

10.28.2019 Bugs in Orange and Black: Defense and romance of the Gulf fritillary, Agraulis vanillae

10.21.2019 Model butterflies: Pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor, and Polydamas swallowtail, Battus polydamas

10.14.2019 Home grown mantid: Carolina mantid, Stagmomantis carolina

10.07.2019 Bumble bee, carpenter bee, he bee, she bee: Bombus spp., Xylocopa spp.

09.30.2019 They’re baaack! Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, Halyomorpha halys

09.23.2019 Searching for Red Admiral caterpillars, Vanessa atalanta

09.16.2019 A sunflower surprise: Silvery checkerspot, Chlosyne nycteis

09.09.2019 Old World mantis with New World tastes: European Mantis, Mantis religiosa

09.02.2019 Tent caterpillars everywhere? Nah - Fall Webworm, Hyphantria cunea

08.26.2019 Trails of despair for wild silk moth caterpillars: Orangestriped Oakworm, Anisota senatoria, and Greenstriped mapleworm, Dryocampa rubicunda

08.19.2019 Admire but do not eat: Elderberry borer, Desmocerus palliatus

08.12.2019 Blossom beetles: Flower Longhorn Beetles, subfamily Lepturinae

08.05.2019 Salt of the earth, salt of the human: Swallowtails and brush-footed butterflies, Papilionidae and Nymphalidae

07.29.2019 Nettles and poop on the menu for the Eastern Comma butterfly, Polygonia comma

07.22.2019 Swallowtail soiree: Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus

07.15.2019 Beetles that go bump in the night: Asiatic Garden Beetles, Maladera Castanea

07.08.2019 The Silk Moth summer continues: Promethea silk moth, Callosamia promethea

07.01.2019 Just in time for the 4th of July: Firefly fireworks - Lampyridae

06.24.2019 A season of silk moths continues with Cecropia moth, Hyalophora cecropia

06.17.2019 Blossom busters: Oriental beetle, Anomala orientalis

06.10.2019 Coffee and long-legged flies, Dolichopodidae

06.03.2019 Spitting image: Meadow spittle bug, Philaenus spumarius

05.27.2019 Eater of eaters of thistles and other plants: Spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris

05.20.2019 Eaters of thistles: Thistle tortoise beetle, Cassida rubiginosa, and Canada thistle bud weevil, Larinus planus

05.13.2019 Tiny red spots before my eyes: Clover mites, Bryobia praetiosa

05.06.2019 Be on the lookout for Lunas: Luna moths, Actias luna

04.29.2019 Termites take flight: Eastern subterranean termites, Reticulitermes flavipes

04.22.2019 Come one, come all to explore the Insect Petting Zoo – Maryland Day, Saturday April 27, 2019

04.15.2019 Alpha-gal and the Lone Star Tick, Amblyomma americanum

04.08.2019 Busy by day but what do mason bees do at night? Mason bees - Osmia spp.

04.01.2019 Wasp or fly? Stilt-legged flies, mimetic Micropezidae

03.25.2019 Gorgeous Grasshoppers of the Costa Rican Rainforest: Lubber Grasshoppers, Romaleidae, and Airplane Grasshoppers, Eumastacidae

03.18.2019 Lichen what I’m seeing: Tropical Katydids, Longhorned Beetles, and Lanternflies blending with features of bark

03.11.2019 Destination Central Cordillera, Costa Rica: A visit with giant rainforest recyclers, Polydesmid millipedes

03.04.2019 Return to Guatuso, Costa Rica: Trouble for stingless bees - the silver orb weaver, Argiope argentata

02.25.2019 Destination Guatuso, Costa Rica: Stingless bees, Mariolas, in the rainforest (Tribe, Meliponini)

02.18.2019 Return to Volcán del Toro, Costa Rica: Dashing velvet ants, Mutillidae

02.11.2019 Destination Volcán del Toro, Costa Rica: Two-spotted tiger beetle, Pseudoxycheila tarsalis

02.04.2019 Destination Vietnam: Taking it slow with the Vietnamese Walking Stick, Medauroidea extradentata

01.28.2019 Destination Malaysia: Home of the Giant Leaf Insect, Phyllium giganteum

01.21.2019 Oil bees, if you please: Centris nitida

01.14.2019 Destination Sanibel Island, Florida – Taking down air potato: Air Potato Leaf Beetle, Lilioceris cheni

01.07.2019 Destination Sarasota, Florida: To kill a cycad - Cycad scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui

2018

12.31.2018 Destination Sarasota, Florida: Green and gorgeous Green Orchid Bee, Euglossa Dilemma

12.17.2018 Deck the halls with boughs of holly…and the Native holly leafminer, Phytomyza ilicicola, and Holly berry midge, Asphondylia ilicicola

12.10.2018 Destination Sonoran Desert: A time to sting for the Giant Hairy Desert Scorpion, Hadrurus arizonensis

12.03.2018 Destination Mojave Desert: Defying death by playing dead, Blue Death-Feigning Beetle, Asbolus verrucosus

11.26.2018 Destination Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida: Mighty defenses of the eastern lubber grasshopper, Romalea microptera

11.19.2018 Destination Hutchison Island, Florida: a visit with the Twostriped walkingstick, Anisomorpha buprestoides

11.12.2018 Destination New South Wales, Australia: a visit with the Macleay’s spectre, Extatosoma tiaratum

11.05.2018 Giant, Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes? Nah, Crane Flies – Tipulidae

10.29.2018 Bugs in orange and black: A spooky Halloween trick or treat for predators - Small and large milkweed bugs, Lygaeus kalmii and Oncopeltus fasciatus

10.22.2018 Friendly velvety home invaders: Soldier beetle larvae, Chauliognathus spp.

10.15.2018 Good morning, Wolfie: Wolf spiderlings, Lycosidae

10.08.2018 Spiders in the mist: Funnel weaving spider, Pennsylvania Grass Spider, Agelenopsis pennsylvanica

10.01.2018 Pugnacious paper wasps: Polistes metricus or maybe Polistes parametricus

09.24.2018 Girl Scouts and vagabonds: Variegated fritillary, Euptoieta claudia

09.17.2018 Parsley poacher: Black swallowtail caterpillar, Papilio polyxenes

09.10.2018 Humans help wasps, wasps help humans: Four-toothed mason wasp, Monobia quadridens

09.03.2018 Brush-foot butterflies dining on dung: Nymphalidae

08.27.2018 A Good Year for Monarchs? Monarch butterfly, Danaus Plexippus

08.20.2018 Robber flies steal lives: Red-footed cannibal fly, Promachus rufipes

08.13.2018 “Mantises and Martinis”! The Chinese Praying Mantis, Tenodera aridifolia sinensis

08.06.2018 An inside look at baldfaced hornets, Dolichovespula maculata

07.30.2018 Carp diem: Fish and blow flies, Calliphoridae

07.23.2018 Cicadas beware, the ladies are in town: Female cicada killer, Sphecius speciosus

07.16.2018 Lookin’ for trouble: Male cicada killer wasps, Sphecius speciosus

07.09.2018 Tiny recyclers: Booklice and barklice, Psocoptera

07.02.2018 A zealous assassin: Pale Green Assassin Bug, Zelus luridus

06.25.2018 American ladies like licorice: American Lady Butterfly, Vanessa virginiensis

06.18.2018 Vexing rains spawn vexing mosquitoes: inland floodwater mosquito, Aedes vexans

06.11.2018 A bumble bee, or not a bumble bee, that is the question: Miner bees, Anthophora abrupta

06.04.2018 Ground nesting bees beware of the bee fly: Bombyliidae

05.28.2018 Impatient, doomed cicadas of Brood X, Magicada spp.

05.21.2018 Rosie defoliators: Roseslug sawfly, Endelomyia aethiops, Curled rose sawfly, Allantus cinctus, and Bristley rose sawfly, Cladius pectinicornis

05.14.2018 Banneker’s boxelder bugs, Boisea trivittatus

05.07.2018 Stinky exodus underway: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

04.30.2018 Mason bee-haviors: Osmia spp.

04.23.2018 Come Explore the Insect Petting Zoo at Maryland Day, Saturday, April 28, 2018!

04.16.2018 Destination Potomac, Maryland – Spring arrives and with it, ticks: Lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes spp.

04.09.2018 Destination Cahal Pech, Belize to visit rainforest recyclers: Nozzle-headed termites, Nasutitermes sp.

04.02.2018 Destination Belmopan, Belize – Look who’s looking at you: Owl butterflies, Caligo sp.

03.26.2018 Destination Monteverde, Costa Rica: Rainy day in the vanishing cloud forest with butterflies, moths, and froghoppers

03.19.2018 Help find the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula

03.12.2018 Destination Lizard Island, Australia, and a visit with Green Tree Ants, Oecophylla smaragdina

03.05.2018 Bug of the Week Academy Awards 2018

02.26.2018 Destination La Torre, Peru – Search for the mistress of pain: Bullet Ants, Paraponera clavata

02.19.2018 Destination Reserva Nacional Tambopata, Peru – The art of deception: can gossamer-wing butterflies, Arawacus sp., dodge lethal attacks?

02.12.2018 Destination Reserva Nacional Tambopata, Peru: How pleasing are rainforest fungus beetles, Erotylidae?

02.05.2018 Destination Villarrica, Chile – Not hidin’ from anyone: the elegant phasmatid, Agathemera elegans

01.29.2018 Destinations La Torre, Peru, and Carara, Costa Rica – Hidin’ in the Rainforest, Part II: cryptic walking sticks, Phasmatidae; horse-head grasshoppers, Proscopidiidae; and mantids, Mantidae

01.22.2018 Destination Tambopata National Reserve, Peru: Hidin’ in the rainforest with cryptic katydids, Tettigoniidae

01.15.2018 Destination Tambopata River, Peru: The search for salt by birds and birdwing moths, Urania sp.

01.08.2018 Destination Puerto Maldonado, Peru: Skipper caterpillars, Hesperiidae, play hide and seek with predators in the rainforest

01.01.2018 Destination Coral Gables, Florida: A visit with Coontie and the Atala butterfly, Eumaeus atala

2017

12.25.2017 Cooley spruce gall adelgids, Adelges cooleyi, decorate the Christmas tree

12.18.2017 ‘Twas the week before Christmas: Giant bark aphids, Longistigma caryae, and giant willow aphids, Tuberolachnus salignus

12.11.2017 Edamame surprise: Soldier flies, Stratiomyidae

12.04.2017 Five-legged cricket in the bathtub: Ceuthophilus spp. (American camel crickets) and Diestrammena spp. (Asian camel crickets)

11.27.2017 Waxy ladies on alder: Woolly Alder Aphid, Paraprociphilus tessellatus

11.20.2017 Seeing spots: Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula

11.13.2017 Flies that mimic wasps: Masquerading syrphid fly, Helophilus sp.

11.06.2017 Window wasps: Grass-carrying wasps, Isodontia spp.

10.30.2017 Bugs in orange and black: Three assassins - milkweed assassin bug, Zelus longipes; orange assassin bug, Pselliopus barberi; and wheel bug, Arilus cristatus

10.23.2017 What is that giant hornet and why is it eating my tree? European hornet, Vespa crabro

10.16.2017 Beautiful in yellow and black: The locust borer, Megacyllene robiniae

10.09.2017 Look but do not touch: Blister beetles, Epicauta pensylvanica and E. funebris

10.02.2017 Deception and defense on cup-plant: Keel-shaped treehopper, Entylia carinata

09.25.2017 On the outside looking in but not for long: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

09.18.2017 Bumble Bees and other Pollinators Beware of Ambush Bugs, Phymata spp.

09.11.2017 Big spider webs, Part 2: Black and yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia

09.04.2017 Big spider webs, Part 1: Spotted orbweaver, Neoscona crucifera

08.28.2017 Where have all the spiders gone? Black and yellow mud dauber wasps, Sceliphron caementarium

08.21.2017 Harlequin hijinks: Harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica

08.14.2017 Catching up with the Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus

08.07.2017 To squash a squash bug: Anasa tristis

07.31.2017 Pumpkin vines on the menu: Squash vine borer, Melittia cucurbitae

07.24.2017 Liquid squirting leafhoppers: Sharpshooters, Cuerna and Oncometopia

07.17.2017 Here’s looking at you, kid! Eyed click beetle, Alaus oculatus

07.10.2017 What is that strange big insect? Dobsonflies, hellgrammites, and fishflies (Corydalidae)

07.03.2017 Mother Nature’s summer light show: Lightning bugs, Lampyridae

06.26.2017 Requiem for early risers: Periodical cicadas, Magicicada spp.

06.19.2017 Sweet and salty: Solitary sweat bee, Augochlora pura

06.12.2017 Recycling ash: Banded Ash Borer, Neoclytus caprea

06.05.2017 It’s a hard-knock life for cicadas: Magicicada spp. and their enemies

05.29.2017 Cicadas: How to tell the guys from the gals, what does an ovipositor do, cicada damage and how to prevent it? Magicicada spp.

05.22.2017 Cranking up the Big Boy Band: Magicicada spp.

05.15.2017 Periodical cicadas up and out of the ground in Maryland, DC, and Virginia - Magicicada spp.

05.08.2017 Welcome Periodical Cicadas of Brood VI and perhaps Broods V and X, Magicicada spp.

05.01.2017 Good bye ash trees of the Potomac: Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis

04.24.2017 Come one, come all to explore the Insect Petting Zoo: Maryland Day, Saturday April 29, 2017!

04.17.2017 Preserve our air from “The Infection of Dungs”: Rainbow dung beetle, Phanaeus vindex

04.02.2017 Spring’s first mosquitoes and what we might expect this year with Zika Virus and the Yellow Fever Mosquito, Aedes aegypti

03.27.2017 Parasitoids at the porch light: Ichneumon wasps, Ophionine

03.20.2017 Tiny winter leapers: Snow fleas and other springtails, Collembola

03.13.2017 Bloodsuckers in the basement: Subterranean mosquito, Culex pipiens form molestus

03.06.2017 Ectoparasites go to school: Bed Bugs in DC, Cimex lectularius

02.27.2017 Stingless bees in the rainforest: Tribe, Meliponini

02.20.2017 Butterflies pumping on the beach: Daggerwings, Marpesia sp.

02.13.2017 At night in the rainforest, part 4: Big fangs in the night! Costa Rican orange mouth tarantula, Psalmopoeus reduncus, and Mexican redrump tarantula, Brachypelma vagans

02.06.2017 At night in the rainforest, part 3: Paper nest builders, Polybia sp.

01.30.2017 At night in the rainforest, part 2: Round-headed katydids, Amblycorypha sp.

01.23.2017 At night in the rainforest: Whip spiders, Amblypygi

01.16.2017 Tiny hibernal hunters: Dusty-wings, Coniopterigidae

01.09.2017 Tiny wolves in sheep’s clothing: Debris carrying lacewing larvae, Chrysopidae

01.02.2017 Pantry raiders: Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella

2016

12.27.2016 Santa Mantie bids you all a wonderful holiday season!

12.19.2016 Red and green: Tailed jay, Graphium agamemnon, and cotton stainers, Dysdercus sp.

12.12.2016 Legends of Christmas Tinsel and Spiders

12.05.2016 Decorations on the Christmas tree: Egg cases of the European mantis, Mantis religiosa, Chinese mantis, Tenodera sinensis, and Carolina mantis, Stagmomantis Carolina

11.28.2016 Beautiful but dangerous: Black Widow Spiders, Latrodectus spp.

11.21.2016 Recycling of the shrew: Broad-headed bug, Megalotomus quinquespinosus

11.14.2016 An autumn sun dance: Mayflies, Ephemeroptera

11.07.2016 Bugs in Orange and Black, Part 2, beautiful but stinky: Gulf fritillary, Agraulis vanillae

10.31.2016 Bugs in Orange and Black, Predator and Prey: Two-spotted stink bug, Perillus bioculatus, and Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata

10.24.2016 A flower fly grows in Brooklyn: Flowers flies, Syrphidae

10.17.2016 When aphids fill the air: Elm cockscomb gall aphid, Colopha ulmicola

10.10.2016 Singing in the meadow: Short-winged meadow katydid, Conocephalus brevipennis

10.03.2016 Fall is the season for cabbage eaters: Imported cabbage worm, Pieris rapae

09.26.2016 Rain tree surprise: Golden rain tree bug, Jadera haematoloma

09.19.2016 Welcome class of 2016: Large carpenter bees, Xylocopa virginica

09.12.2016 Two other orange and black butterflies: Variegated fritillary, Euptoieta claudia, and great spangled fritillary, Speyeria cybele

09.05.2016 Bringing home the bacon: Paper wasps, Polistes exclamens

08.29.2016 Thread-waisted wasps really dig spotted horsemint: Thread-waisted wasp, Eremnophila aureonotata

08.22.2016 Scary Potter: Potter wasps, Eumeninae

08.15.2016 Now you see ‘em, now you don’t: Silver spotted skipper caterpillars, Epargyreus clarus

08.08.2016 Pawpaws and zebras along the Potomac: Zebra swallowtail butterflies, Protographium marcellus

08.01.2016 Save some milkweed for me! Monarchs and the milkweed tussock moth, Euchaetes egle

07.25.2016 Mounds of mountain marvels: Allegheny mound ant, Formica exsectoides

07.18.2016 One gorgeous beetle: Dogbane leaf beetle, Chrysochus auratus

07.11.2016 Carpenter bee holes make a perfect home for giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis

07.04.2016 Oxeye surprise: False milkweed bug, Lygaeus turcicus

06.27.2016 Turning the tables on milkweeds: Milkweed longhorned beetle, Tetraopes sp.

06.20.2016 A bee or not a bee? That is the question! Syrphid fly, Volucella bombylans

06.13.2016 Mason bee peril: Parasitic wasps, Leucospis affinis

06.06.2016 Bug of the Week is ‘Slug of the Week’: Leopard slug, Limax maximus

05.30.2016 Cicada surprise! Brood V and straggling periodical cicadas, Magicicada spp.

05.23.2016 Who’s been sucking on my bee balm? Fourlined plant bug, Poecilocapsus lineatus

05.16.2016 An oil-gathering bee, Centris nitida

05.09.2016 Playing mind games with the seedcorn maggot, Delia platura

05.02.2016 Zika and yellow fever mosquitoes, Take 2: Where in the US is the Yellow Fever Mosquito, Aedes aegypti?

04.25.2016 Sorry DC and Baltimore, no periodical cicadas for you this year: Magicicada spp.

04.18.2016 April’s March flies: Bibionidae

04.11.2016 Get ready for the pale marsh mosquito, Ochlorotatus dorsalis

04.04.2016 Time for ticks: Lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes spp., and American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis

03.28.2016 Food for caterpillars, food for birds: Cherry trees and Eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma americanum

03.21.2016 Boxelder bugs on the move, Boisea trivittatus

03.14.2016 Mason bees make an early debut, Osmia spp.

03.07.2016 Lousy times: Human head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, and human body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus

02.29.2016 Bug of the Week Academy Awards 2016

02.22.2016 Cutting leaves here and there: Leafcutter bees, Megachilidae, and leafcutter ants, Atta spp.

02.15.2016 Ant bodyguards here and there: Odorous house ants, Tapinoma sessile, and carpenter ants, Camponotus

02.08.2016 Bugs in love: Lovebugs, kissing bugs, and other insects engaged in intimate activities

02.01.2016 Zika virus and its vector: Yellow Fever Mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti

01.25.2016 Carbo-loading here and there: Odorous house ants, Tapinoma sessile, and harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex

01.18.2016 Carpenter ants here and there: Camponotus spp.

01.11.2016 Froghoppers and spittlebugs here and there: Cercopidae and Aphrophoridae

01.04.2016 Paper nests here and there: Baldfaced hornets, Dolichovespula maculata, and tropical nest builders, Polybia spp.

2015

12.21.2015 ‘Tis the season to inspect your hemlocks for hemlock wooly adelgid, Adelges tsugae

12.14.2015 Green is good for holly berry midge, Asphondylia ilicicola

12.07.2015 Holly surprise: Native holly leafminer, Phytomyza ilicicola

11.30.2015 Lost episodes: “My, what a long tail you have little wasp. The American pelecinid wasp, Pelecinus polyturator”

11.23.2015 Spiders in corners, part 2: Cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides

11.16.2015 Spiders in corners, Part 1: Common house spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum

11.09.2015 Twiggy: The Northern Walkingstick, Diapheromera fermorata

11.02.2015 Aphids serve a tasty autumn treat: White pine aphid, Cinara strobi

10.26.2015 Bugs in Orange and Black, Part II: Halloween Lady Beetle - the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis

10.19.2015 Bugs in Orange and Black, Part I: An ermine moth, ailanthus webworm, Atteva aurea

10.12.2015 Beware of zesty drinks: Yellowjackets, Vespula, bumble bees, Bombus, and honey bees, Apis, can really spice up soft drinks

10.05.2015 Spiders in the mist: Funnel weaving spider, Pennsylvania Grass Spider, Agelenopsis pennsylvanica

09.28.2015 Got stink bugs? Let us know! Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

09.21.2015 Tough to be a hornworm: Tomato and tobacco hornworms, Manduca quinquemaculata and M. sexta

09.14.2015 To sting a stinger: Saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulae, and brachonid wasp, Cotesia

09.07.2015 Io, io, it’s off to work we go: Io Moth, Automeris io

08.31.2015 Dog days and their cicadas, Neotibicen (formerly Tibicen) species

08.24.2015 Monarchs and Mojitos: Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus

08.17.2015 The great black wasp turns yellow: Great black wasp, Sphex pensylvanicus

08.10.2015 Bad lady beetles: Mexican bean beetles, Epilachna varivestis

08.03.2015 Cucurbit catastrophe: Squash vine borer, Melittia cucurbitae

07.27.2015 Lawn zoomers: Green June Beetle, Cotinus nitida

07.20.2015 Wolves on a summer’s night: Wolf spiders, Lycosidae

07.13.2015 Summer hummer: Hummingbird moth, Hemaris thysbe

07.06.2015 A fly with a golden touch? Mydas fly, Mydas clavatus

06.29.2015 Blossom buster: Oriental beetle, Anomala orientalis

06.22.2015 Deadly dining: Three-lined potato beetle, Lema daturaphila

06.15.2015 Swallowtail trifecta: Black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, Spicebush swallowtail, Papilio troilus, and Giant swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes

06.08.2015 Butterflies behaving badly? Lepidoptera puddling

06.01.2015 Ground beetles up in the air: Calosoma wilcoxi and Calosoma scrutator

05.25.2015 Cankerworm conundrums: Fall cankerworm, Alsophila pometaria

05.18.2015 The next invader: Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula

05.11.2015 Carpenter bees defending territories: Large carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica

05.04.2015 Spring beauties: Mining bees, Andrena erigeniae

04.27.2015 B’more Battles the Beetle: Emerald Ash Borer, Agrillus plenipennis

04.20.2015 Come one, come all to explore the Insect Petting Zoo – Maryland Day, Saturday April 25, 2015!

04.13.2015 Mason bees make their belated debut, Osmia spp.

04.06.2015 Stinky exodus underway: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

03.30.2015 Spring sunshine heralds the appearance of plasterer bees: Colletes

03.23.2015 Welcome spring and honey bees, how do you fare? Apis mellifera

03.16.2015 Whips in Xibalba: Whip spiders, Amblypygi

03.09.2015 Battling bewildering botlass flies in Belize: Black flies, Simuliidae

03.02.2015 How one hot spider keeps her cool in the tropics: Golden silk spider, Nephila clavipes

02.23.2015 Beautiful but stinky: Gulf fritillary, Agraulis vanillae

02.16.2015 How Belizean butterflies best their enemies: Polydamas Swallowtail, Battus polydamas

02.09.2015 Dating games of peacock butterflies: White peacock butterfly, Anartia jatrophae, and banded peacock butterfly, Anartia fatima

02.02.2015 The bodyguard: Pseudomyrmex ants protecting bullhorn acacias

01.26.2015 Tropical fungus gardeners: Leafcutter ants, Atta spp.

01.19.2015 Belizean Squirt: Nozzle-headed termites, Nasutitermes sp.

01.12.2015 Take 2 on tropical tiger moths: Spotted oleander caterpillar moth, Empyreuma affinis

01.05.2015 Doubling down on defense: The polka-dot wasp moth, Syntomeida epilais

2014

12.22.2014 Surviving winter, Part IV: A Monarch Christmas in Monterey, Danaus plexippus

12.15.2014 Tinsel and the Christmas spider

12.08.2014 Surviving winter, Part III: Egg cases of the Praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, Chinese mantis, Tenodera sinensis, and Carolina mantis, Stagmomantis carolina

12.01.2014 A beautiful spider: Marbled orb weaver, Araneus marmoreus

11.17.2014 Pumpkin eaters: Fruit flies, Drosophilidae

11.10.2014 Winter survival, Part 1: European hornet, Vespa crabro

11.03.2014 One last song: The curve-tailed bush katydid, Scudderia curvicauda

10.27.2014 Bugs in orange and black III, Halloween edition: Milkweed longhorned beetles, Tetraopes sp.

10.20.2014 Bugs in Orange and Black II: Large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus

10.13.2014 Bugs in Orange and Black I: Milkweed leaf beetle, Labidomera clivicollis

10.06.2014 Be careful around yellowjackets: Eastern yellowjackets, Vespula maculifrons

09.29.2014 Friendly soldiers: Soldier beetles, Chauliognathus spp.

09.22.2014 Stink bugs on the move: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

09.15.2014 Be careful around baldfaced hornets, Dolichovespula maculata

09.08.2014 Move over American camel crickets, Asian camel crickets are in town: Ceuthophilus sp. (American camel crickets) and Diestrammena sp. (Asian camel crickets)

09.01.2014 White grubs beware! The blue-winged digger wasp, Scolia dubia, has arrived

08.25.2014 The other milkweed caterpillar: Milkweed tussock moth, Euchaetes egle

08.18.2014 Magical monarchs in peril: the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus

08.11.2014 Soggy death to friendly soldiers: Soldier beetles, Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus, and their deadly fungus, Entomophthora lampyridarum

08.04.2014 Parsley and dill beware: Black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes

07.28.2014 Chikungunya virus in the United States and its vectors: Yellow Fever Mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, and Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus

07.21.2014 Midnight marauders: Asiatic garden beetles, Maladera castanea

07.14.2014 Mason wasps: Monobia and Pseudodynerus

07.07.2014 Misery named the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica

06.30.2014 Rain on a sunny day: Sharpshooters, Oncometopia sp.

06.23.2014 Termite or Ant?

06.16.2014 Mallow munchers: Mallow sawfly, Atomacera decepta

06.09.2014 A case of mistaken identity: Crane flies, Family Tipulidae

06.02.2014 Big black ants in the home: Carpenter ants, Camponotus spp.

05.26.2014 There will be blood! Mosquitoes, Culicidae

05.19.2014 Beware of small pits: Antlions, Family Myrmeleontidae

05.12.2014 Bug of the Week celebrates ten years!

05.05.2014 A good deer: food for carrion beetles, Oiceoptoma noveboracense

04.28.2014 Ground nesting bees, beware the bee fly: Bombyliidae

04.21.2014 A trio of trouble just in time for summer: Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes spp.; American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis; and lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum

04.14.2014 Welcome mason bees, Osmia spp.

04.07.2014 As spring arrives, so do Eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma americanum

03.31.2014 Debris carrying lacewing larvae, Chrysopidae

03.24.2014 Preserve our air from “The Infection of Dungs”: Rainbow dung beetle, Phanaeus vindex

03.17.2014 Winter stoneflies: Families Taenioptergidae and Capniidae

03.10.2014 If you be my body guard, I will be your pal: Azteca ants and Cecropia

03.03.2014 Polar Vortex: Did it beat-down the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys?

02.24.2014 Tropical treehoppers – Membracidae

02.17.2014 Rainforest Recyclers: Tractor Millipedes, Polydesmida, and Giant African Millipedes, Archispirostreptus sp.

02.10.2014 Jungle raiders: Army ants, Eciton sp.

02.03.2014 Zombie bees, Apis mellifera, and their tormentor the humpbacked fly, Apocephalus borealis

01.27.2014 Rain on a sunny day: Lanternflies, Fulgoridae

01.20.2014 Nocturnal hunters: Mexican redrump tarantula, Brachypelma vagans

01.13.2014 Malachites on the hilltop - Siproeta stelenes

2013

12.23.2013 Cooley spruce gall adelgids, Adelges cooleyi, decorate the Christmas tree

12.16.2013 Chilly winter days can’t stop the fall cankerworm, Alsophila pometaria

12.09.2013 In a warming world, here comes the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicata

12.02.2013 A drumstick for me: Camel crickets, Ceuthophilus spp.

11.25.2013 Boxelder bungalow: Boxelder bugs, Boisea trivittatus

11.18.2013 The troubadour downstairs – fall field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus

11.11.2013 Window wasps: The grass-carrying wasps, Isodontia spp.

11.04.2013 Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home: The Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis

10.28.2013 Bugs in Orange and Black: Monarch Butterfly, Milkweed Leaf Beetle, Milkweed Bug, and Milkweed Tiger Moth

10.21.2013 Katydid? The curve-tailed bush katydid - Scudderia curvicauda

10.14.2013 Death of a stink bug, Part 4: They eat dead things - the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, becomes a meal for the European paper wasp, Polistes dominulus

10.07.2013 Death of a stink bug, Part 3: Homegrown hospitality - Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, meets the black and yellow garden spider, Argiope aurantia

09.30.2013 Death of a stink bug, Part 2: Bug vs. Bug - Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, meets the wheelbug, Arilus cristatus

09.20.2013 Death of a stink bug, Part 1: A curious reunion between the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Haylomorpha halys, and the Chinese Praying Mantis, Tenodera sinensis

09.13.2013 The gathering storm: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

09.09.2013 Silkmoth Season, Part 2: A royal welcome – Royal Walnut Moth, Citheronia regalis

08.30.2013 Silkmoth Season, Part 1: Imperial Moth, Eacles imperialis

08.26.2013 Outrage for oaks – Orangestriped Oakworm, Anisota senatoria

08.19.2013 World-wide webworm: Fall Webworm, Hyphantria cunea

08.12.2013 Crickets beware – Steel-blue cricket hunter, Chlorion aerarium

08.05.2013 Swallowtail soiree – Eastern tiger swallowtail, Papilio glaucus

07.29.2013 Move over stink bugs, here comes the kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria

07.22.2013 It's biting time: Mosquitoes, Culicidae

07.15.2013 Bumble Bees - Beware of Ambush Bugs, Phymata spp.

07.08.2013 Be careful with bumble bees, Bombus spp.

07.01.2013 Vipers in the spicebush: Spicebush swallowtail, Papilio troilus

06.24.2013 Adieu Brood II: Magicicada spp.

06.17.2013 STD in cicada land, Magicicada and Massospora cicadina

06.10.2013 Egg-laying in the treetops: Macicicada, Brood II

05.28.2013 The chorus in the treetop - Magicicada spp., Brood II

05.15.2013 Brood II up in Maryland, Magicicada spp.

05.06.2013 Where is Brood II and when will we see it? Magicicada spp.

04.15.2013 Hail Brood II: Magicicada spp.

04.08.2013 Hail Brood II: Magicicada spp.

04.01.2013 Just can’t wait: Eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma americanum

03.25.2013 Winter stoneflies: Families Taeniopterigidae and Capniidae

03.18.2013 Chilean Chinchemolles - The elegant phasmatid, Agathemera elegans

03.11.2013 Cathedral Termites, Nasutitermes triodiae

03.04.2013 Green Tree Ants: Oecophylla smaragdina

02.25.2013 Sticks and Jewels: Matchstick grasshoppers, Eumastacidae, and green jewel bugs, Lampromicra senator

02.18.2013 Orchid beetles down under: Dendrobium beetle, Stethopachys formosa

02.11.2013 Bugs in love: Lovebugs and Kissing bugs

02.04.2013 Stingless bees in Belize – Tribe, Meliponini

01.28.2013 Here’s looking at you - Owl butterflies, Caligo sp.

01.21.2013 Passionate about passion fruit – Zebra longwing butterflies, Heliconius charitonius

01.14.2013 Size does matter: Twostriped walkingstick, Anisomorpha buprestoides

01.07.2013 Dashing through the snow: Snow scorpionflies, Boreus sp.

2012

12.24.2012 ‘Tis the season for the whitefly: The silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, a.k.a Bemesia argentifolii

12.17.2012 The Holly and the Ivy - A two part series: This week the ivy and the thrips, Thripidae

12.10.2012 The Holly and Ivy - A two part series: This week the holly and the native holly leaf miner, Phytomyza ilicicola

12.03.2012 Pantry surprises - Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella

11.26.2012 Decorations on the Christmas tree: Egg cases of the Praying mantis, Mantis religiosa, Chinese mantis, Tenodera sinensis, and Carolina mantis, Stagmomantis carolina

11.12.2012 Northern hospitality for the Florida predatory stinkbug, Euthyrhynchus floridanus, and wax scales, Ceroplastes spp.

11.05.2012 Mallow on the menu for the scentless plant bug, Niesthrea lousianica

10.29.2012 Stylish Lepidoptera: Ermine Moth, Atteva aurea; Yellow-Collared Scape Moth, Cisseps fulvicollis; Pearl Crescent, Phyciodes tharos; Variegated Fritillary, Euptoieta claudia

10.15.2012 Dashing caterpillars predicting weather - Woolly Bears, Pyrrharctia Isabella, Saltmarsh caterpillar, Estigmene acrea, and Leopard moths, Hypercompe scribonia

09.24.2012 Hocus-pocus: Silver spotted skipper, Epargyreus clarus

09.17.2012 A gathering storm: Halyomorpha halys

09.10.2012 Mystery of the frass revealed: Camouflaged looper, Synchlora aerata

09.03.2012 The royals are in the house - the Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus

08.27.2012 Stinging caterpillars –White flannel moth, Norape ovina, and Saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulea

08.20.2012 Beware of mosquitoes and West Nile Virus

08.06.2012 Scorched locust - Locust Leafminer, Odontota dorsalis

07.30.2012 Herbs beware! Black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes

07.23.2012 Damsels not in distress – Damselflies, Zygoptera

07.16.2012 Here’s looking at you, kid: Eyed click beetle, Alaus oculatus

07.09.2012 The killing fields – Dog day cicadas, Tibicen spp., and Cicada killer wasps, Sphecius speciosus

07.02.2012 Summer nights and Lucifer’s lights – Lightning bugs, Lampyridae

06.25.2012 Deadly dining – Three lined potato beetle, Lema trilineata

06.18.2012 Misery named the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica

06.11.2012 A welcomed vagabond - Variegated fritillary, Euptoieta claudia

06.04.2012 Recyclers in the circle of life - Bess beetles, Odontotaenius disjunctus

05.28.2012 Lace bugs on the attack!

05.21.2012 Maple Eyes – Ocellate maple gall midge, Acericecis ocellaris

05.14.2012 Death by fly: Flower Flies (a.k.a. hover flies), Syrphidae

05.07.2012 A sweeter side of aphids, Aphididae

04.30.2012 Twisting the day away: Boxwood leafminer, Monarthropalpus flavus

04.23.2012 Explore the Insect Petting Zoo – Saturday April 28, 2012

04.16.2012 Tiger, tiger, burning bright! Six-spotted green tiger beetle, Cicindela sexguttata

04.09.2012 Spring beauties: Plasterer bees and yellow-faced bees, Colletidae

04.02.2012 Yet another exotic invader: Euonymus leaf notcher, Pryeria sinica

03.26.2012 Hail mason bees, Osmia spp.- Harbingers of Spring!

03.19.2012 Exodus underway: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

03.12.2012 Ants protecting plants: Pseudomyrmex ants and bullhorn Acacias

03.05.2012 Tropical fungus gardeners - Leafcutter ants: Atta and Acromyrmex spp.

02.27.2012 Green Tree Ant Sister Act: Oecophylla smaragdina

02.20.2012 Coontie and the Atala butterfly, Eumaeus atala

02.13.2012 Beetles roasting on an open fire: Roundheaded borers, Cerambycidae, and Darkling beetles (Family Tenebrionidae)

02.06.2012 Bugs in love: lovebugs and kissing bugs

01.30.2012 Snow fleas, Collembola

01.23.2012 Dashing through the snow: Snow scorpionflies, Boreus sp.

01.16.2012 Ever seen a stone fly? - Winter stoneflies, Family Taeniopterygidae

01.09.2012 A moth in winter - the fall cankerworm, Alsophila pometaria

01.02.2012 Deck the Hollies with trails of leaf miners - Phytomyza ilicicola

2011

11.07.2011 There's a sucker born every day - Tuliptree scale, Toumeyella liriodendri

08.15.2011 Return of the royals - the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus.

08.08.2011 Summer stingers – Eastern yellowjackets, Vespula maculifrons

07.18.2011 Milkweed and dogbane do battle: Milkweed longhorned beetle, Tetraopes sp., and dogbane leaf beetle, Chrysocus auratus

06.20.2011 Genie out of the bottle - Emerald Ash Borer, Agrillus plenipennis

06.06.2011 St. Mary's survivors – Cicadas of Brood XIX

2010

12.20.2010 The gift of the Manti - European praying mantid, Mantis religiosa

10.18.2010 Aposematic autumn moths: Yellow-collared scape moth, Cisseps fulvicollis, and Ermine moth, Atteva aurea

09.13.2010 Heroes of the true bug clan - Two spotted stink bug, Perillus bioculatus, and spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris

08.23.2010 Bed bugs in the news, Cimex lectularius

05.31.2010 Parasitoids to the rescue - Emerald Ash Borer, Agrillus plenipennis, and its assassins Oobius agrili, Tetrastichus planipennisi, and Spathius agrili

05.03.2010 Playground ants: Citronella or Large yellow ants, Acanthomyops interjectus, and field ants, Formica sp.

01.25.2010 Nothing could be fina than a bug from Carolina - Carolina mantid, Stagmomantis

2009

11.23.2009 It's the wheel thing, the wheel bug, Arilus cristatus

09.28.2009 Unwanted picnic guests – Yellow Jackets, Vespula spp.

07.20.2009 Mosquito redux - Culicidae

07.13.2009 Hercules: Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus

07.06.2009 Stingers: Baldfaced hornets, Dolichovespula maculata

06.01.2009 Aphids and their bodyguards – Aphididae and Formicidae

03.02.2009 The trees have eyes - Owl butterflies, Caligo sp.

2008

11.10.2008 Home Invaders IV - Attack of the red and black, Boxelder bugs, Boisea trivittatus

06.16.2008 Discriminating detritivores: Pillbugs, Isopoda

05.19.2008 Death by beetle: Multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis

03.03.2008 Who are you? Carolina mantids (Stagmomantis carolina), wax scales (Ceroplastes), and katydids

02.25.2008 Beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice, and multicolored Asian lady beetles, Harmonia axyridis

02.18.2008 Savvy Zebras - Zebra butterflies, Heliconius charitonius

2007

12.03.2007 Starry sky beetle - Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis

10.01.2007 Bird-droppings, snake eyes, dead leaves – Swallowtails, Papilio sp.

06.18.2007 Small Dragons – Dragonflies, Anisoptera

05.27.2007 Jersey skeeters – Tipulidae

04.09.2007 Spring leapers: Jumping spiders, Family Salticidae

2006

11.27.2006 Waxy ladies: Hyperaspis ladybugs

11.05.2006 Back by Popular Demand - Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home: The Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis

07.03.2006 Hooray for the red, white, and blue! Milkweed longhorned beetle, Tetraopes tetraophthalmus; dogbane tiger moth, Cycnia tenera; and familiar bluet, Enallagma civile

05.15.2006 Field ants to the rescue- Formica sp.

05.08.2006 Murder and mayhem in aphid land: Ladybugs, Coccinellidae; Flower flies, Syrphidae; and parasitic wasps, Chalcidoidea and Brachonidae

04.10.2006 A wolf in sheep's clothing - Debris carrying lacewing larvae, Chrysopidae

02.27.2006 Small Olympians - Snow fleas, Collembola

2005

11.14.2005 A stinker at the window - Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys

11.07.2005 Dashing caterpillars predicting weather: Woolly bears, Pyrrharctia Isabella; yellow bears, Spilosoma virginica; and leopard moths, Hypercompe scribionia

10.31.2005 BUGS IN ORANGE AND BLACK: Orangestriped oakworm, Anisota senatoria; Harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica; Large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus; Milkweed Tussock Moth Larva, Euchaetes egle

09.12.2005 The lion in my garden: Aphid lions, Chrysoperla carnea

09.05.2005 Katydid? The curve-tailed bush katydid, Scudderia curvicauda

08.29.2005 Bed Bug of the Week, Cimex lectularius

08.15.2005 The troubadour downstairs: fall field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus

07.18.2005 Gold in the meadow: the dogbane beetle, Chrysocus auratus

07.11.2005 Roses beware, Japanese beetles are in the air! Popillia japonica

07.04.2005 Summer nights - Lucifer's lights

06.27.2005 The Tiger in my frisbee: The Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus

06.20.2005 Lions in the sand: Antlions, Family Myrmeleontidae

06.13.2005 Who's your maggot? Flower flies, hover flies, drone flies, syrphid flies: Family Syrphidae

06.06.2005 Just in the tick of time: American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, and Black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis

05.23.2005 She's a lady - or is she? The Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis

05.16.2005 Anne Arundel County - This Bug's for You: The Euonymus Leaf Notcher, Pryeria sinica