Crane flies look like huge mosquitoes, but they are actually fragile giants. For more information and a peek at the larvae, check this previous post.

Last week I showed you the larva of an Arizona species of flower fly (Syrphidae). Today I found two adults feeding on desert marigold and brittlebush.

Everything is blooming right now.

Do you see it?

How about now?

Here’s a hint.

The caterpillar-like creature is actually the larva of a fly called a flower fly (syrphidae). Although you may think of fly larvae as legless creature found in garbage, the flower fly larvae chase down and eat aphids. They are often pinkish or greenish in color.

The adult flies feed on nectar of flowers, hence the common name. They are often mistaken for honey bees. (This is not the same species as the larva above.)

Have you ever seen a flower fly? Why do you think the larva is so hard to spot?

]]> http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2010/02/bug-of-the-week-flower-fly-larva/feed/ 0 http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2010/02/bug-of-the-week-tiny-wasp/ http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2010/02/bug-of-the-week-tiny-wasp/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:16:03 +0000 Roberta http://blog.growingwithscience.com/?p=1131

Can you spot the wasp in this photograph?

Did you know that wasps come in all sizes, including tinier than an aphid?

The yellow oleander aphids return each year about this time and feed on our desert milkweed. In turn, a number of other organisms use them for food, such as the tiny wasps.

Silkworm moth eggs.

In case you are wondering, the female moth in the top photograph laid her eggs on a paper towel. The female in the bottom photograph laid on a cardboard egg carton.

To celebrate my new banner, I thought I’d bring you a ladybug from the archives.

This is the twelve-spotted lady beetle, Coleomegilla maculata.

For more about lady beetles try:

The Lost Ladybug Project

My post Northern Arizona Ladybugs

Do you think the banner is too busy?

]]> http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2010/01/bug-of-the-week-lady-beetle/feed/ 0 http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2010/01/bug-of-the-week-katydid-2/ http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2010/01/bug-of-the-week-katydid-2/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:49:47 +0000 Roberta http://blog.growingwithscience.com/?p=882

While many areas have been experiencing unusual cold snaps, we in Phoenix remain warm and sunny.

I think this katydid that we saw at the Desert Botanical Garden on Tuesday appreciates the warmth.

What do you think?

For more about dragonflies, see the children’s book about dragonflies I reviewed at Wrapped in Foil this week.

They are called shield or stink bugs. The “stink” name comes from the fact they have scent glands that release an odor when they are disturbed.

This one is probably Brochymena sulcata. It has an almost pleasant cinnamon odor when you pick it up.

The shield name comes from the shield shape in the middle of its back. We’d like to learn more about them, but they tend to keep quite well hidden.

Here is the story of our silkworms in photographs:

We bought our caterpillars over the Internet. They arrived in a plastic cup. Look at all the colors!

The caterpillars ate a commercial food made up of dried mulberry leaves and thickeners. We bought some extra food from the supplier, because we weren’t sure we could find mulberry leaves. We made it in the microwave by mixing the powder with water and cooking it.

After a few weeks, we did find some mulberry leaves.

The caterpillars ate a lot of mulberry leaves.

The caterpillar makes silk with a gland in its mouth.

When they are ready to pupate, the caterpillars start to make a silk bag around themselves, which is the cocoon. The cocoon is what is used to make the fabric silk.

When we did this before, all the cocoons were white. This time they were white, pale yellow and deep golden yellow. (The colors have to do with the mix of varieties we got.)

After about two weeks (depends on the temperature), the first moths emerged.

This is a male. Isn’t he cute?

The best part of this project has been sharing the caterpillars and the stories with our friends.

For more information about silkworms, see Silkworms: A Thread through History, and also the link at the end of that post.

Related books (Okay, I admit it, I just love to play with this widget):