Skip to content

Category: insects

Published on Leave a comment on End of Year Photo Matching Quiz

In the past I've posted an end of the year list of my favorite photographs. This year let's mix it up with a matching quiz. Can you match the adult insect with its immature stage or something associated with it? If you want to, leave your results in the comments. Bonus points for correct identifications. Note: Not all letters have been used. All the photos are from 2020.

Adult Insects:

A. She's a big-eyed beauty on a stick.

B. This mimic may fool you because it resembles another popular insect.

C. Often seen visiting flowers.

D. Flies away to the mountains in the summer.

K. The hardest of all, although the answer is here in the blog.

Now match the adults with their life stages or products.

F.  Has a very specific host plant.

G. Sitting on a tree trunk.

H. Hungry, hungry.

I. What life stage is this?

L. Not an insect, but produced by insects.

Have fun!

(The answers are now posted.)

Published on Leave a comment on Bug of the Week: Trying a New Camera

Camera technology has changed quite a bit since I purchased my old camera, so I thought I'd check out a new one.

I like that it is lighter. My old one could hurt my neck after a long hike.

I like that it is easier to get everything in focus.

Well, almost.

Guess I have a few bugs to work out...

1

Published on 1 Comment on Bug of the Week: Cicadas Old and New

Cicadas here in the Sonoran desert start singing around Father's Day and can be found throughout the summer. Because they are so abundant, you might not take a second look at them.

While out picking blueberries recently, a California woman did notice a cicada and she took a photograph of it. After she uploaded the photo the iNaturalist, an expert realized it wasn't any old cicada. The cicada belongs to the species Okanagana arctostaphylae, which hasn't been seen in over a century!

Check out the details in the article at iNaturalist and the see Okanagana arctostaphylae in the video below.

The reddish-brown body and wings matches the distinctive colors of the manzanita plant it rests on.

If there are seventeen year cicadas, it makes you wonder how long this species spends underground...