Category: Bug of the Week (Page 132 of 219)

National Moth Week Begins!

We are thrilled to announce that this week, July 23 – 29, 2012, has been designated the first ever National Moth Week.

Moths don’t often get a lot of good press. Perhaps because they are active at night and hide during the day, there’s a perception that moths are small, drab, and not as interesting as butterflies. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Nothing small or drab about this atlas moth!

How about this white-lined sphinx moth?

Caterpillars are always favorite with children, too.

How do you find moths? The National Moth Week has suggestions for finding moths, including looking around outside lights at night.

Also, you might want to check the website for locations many kid-friendly science events being held around the world.

Edit:  And don’t miss this cool moth coloring book to print out

In celebration of National Moth Week, I’ve created a category with all our posts that are about moths, including this recent moth life cycle post. I’m also going to devote this week to moths. Tomorrow I’ll talk about how to plant a moth-friendly garden instead of Seed of the Week, which will return next week.

I would love to hear how you and your family decide to celebrate National Moth Week.

Bug of the Week: Sunflower Moth Caterpillar

Before revealing the mystery insect from last week, let’s take a look at the clues again.

The patch of silk implies either Lepidoptera or Hymenoptera, the two orders of insect that produce silk (I have already ruled out spiders, which also make silk). The presence of bits of waste products, called “frass” in insects, indicates a caterpillar, because bees, wasps and ants don’t produce frass in the larval form.

With that in mind, I opened one of the flowers.

Yes, there is a small, stripy caterpillar. I believe it is the larva of the sunflower moth, Homoeosoma electellum.

You can see the moth and a better view of the caterpillar in this report of the sunflower moth in safflowers.

So, did you guess caterpillar?

Next week I have photographs of some very cool insects we see only in July here in Arizona.

Bug of the Week: What is in the Sunflower?

Today we have a bit of a mystery in our sunflowers.

Most of the flowers look like this:

This flower is different:

Yes, there is still a bee collecting nectar and pollen.

But there are some clues that another insect is hiding in this flower as well as the bee.

Any ideas what kind of insect is in this sunflower besides the bee?

« Older posts Newer posts »