Monday macrobug: Sarosesthes fulminans
This lovely longhorned beetle was on my house last week. Bugguide.net helped me identify him as Sarosesthes fulminans.
insects
Monday macrobug: the 17-year periodical cicada
Brood II. We gots ’em. The noise is so cool….
Monday macrobug: a purple beetle
Found this fellow while weed-whacking thistles last week… A lovely iridescent purple – the photos don’t really capture it.
Monday macrobug: A golden weevil
Spring is back in the Fort Valley, and that means many serendipitous bug encounters. I think it’s safe to say that the Monday Macrobug is back as a regular feature on Mountain Beltway for the foreseeable future! Today, I give you…. a weevil! You’re welcome.
Monday macrobug: Flight of the termites
Termites can fly. But not all termites. Around here, the only flying termites are the reproductives – the fertile males and females that a termites colony produces periodically. It seems to be associated with the advent of spring. I spotted this group a couple of weeks ago, when I noticed the sunlight catching in their … Read more
Monday macrobug: Carpenter bee
These guys are the bane of my existence lately. Now that the ladybugs are gone, we’ve got a dozen carpenter bees orbiting the house, seeking an opportunity to drill holes in it. Here’s one after an encounter with a tennis racket I keep on the porch expressly for the purpose of controlling their population: Look … Read more
Monday macrobug: Twilight of the ladybug infestation
Spring has arrived in the Fort Valley. We went from snow and sub-freezing nights to two 80°F+ days in a row, and then throttled back to normal springtime temperatures. The pulse of heat brought about a big release of ladybugs from our walls, and at times it was as apocalyptic a scene as it was … Read more
Monday macrobug: Hercules
Eastern Hercules Beetle, Dynastes tityus. Dessicated sample, collected at the 7-11 on the corner of route 55 and route 522 north of Front Royal, Virginia. Collected by one of my wife’s students (she’s a science teacher). I like the shadow of the horns in this one: Monday macrobug is officially on winter hiatus. We’ll resume … Read more
Industrious iridescent blue wasps
A friend of the family sent me these photos from coastal Ecuador, where these fast-working wasps rapidly constructed a nest. Photo #1 is from Tuesday morning, and photo #2 is on the afternoon of the same day!
Monday macrobug: ladybug infestation
October 2012 was a bumper month for macrobugs here at Bentley Farm. But… none more so than the ladybugs: One of the downsides to living way out in the sticks is that we have to deal with a lot of insects. Mostly, I relish this interaction, as the “Monday Macrobug” series attests. But the gnats, … Read more