Category: Bug of the Week (Page 175 of 219)

Bug of the Week: Water Fleas

One of the reasons I named this feature “Bug of the Week” was so I could occasionally include non-insects. This is one of those weeks.

My son and I have added what we call our “practice pond” to our back yard. It is not much more than a container with water and plants, but we are already finding critters. We think they came with the plants.

Yesterday we decided to check what the little moving flecks were under our old microscope. Wow, they were so cool. They had oar-like appendages to move with and you could see stuff moving around inside. We figured out they were water fleas, a type of tiny crustacean.

Although I don’t have a way of capturing what we saw via video (yet), here’s a YouTube video that gives you an idea.

Aren’t they cool?

Have you ever checked pond water for tiny animals?

Bug of the Week: Compost Flies

What’s in the compost heap this week?

compost-fruit-flies

Flies,

compost-flies

and more flies.

Any idea what kind they are?

Typically a well-managed compost heap shouldn’t have flies. This time of year, however, I try to grow these small flies because the nesting hummingbirds love them.

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