Reports from the Field

Bug o’the Week – Brush-tipped Emerald

Greetings, BugFans,

Dragonflies! But not soon enough!

Quick and dirty dragonfly phenology (phenology – the study of Mother Nature’s calendar. Cliff notes version – things appear/bloom/disappear/migrate in pretty much the same order every year, we just can’t predict the start date). Common Green Darners lead the parade, their arrival from the south governed by temperature and by the same weather fronts that bring migratory birds north (coinciding, hopefully, with the emergence of some insect prey for both). Migrating Variegated Meadowhawks show up in early May – or they don’t. The next tier, usually airborne by mid-May, includes Common Baskettails, Common Whitetails, Chalk-fronted Corporals, Four-spotted Skimmers, and the aptly-named Springtime Darners.

04.01.26

Bug o’the Week – Monarch Butterflies – Spring, 2026

Howdy, BugFans,

THEY’RE COMING!!!

It’s barely spring, officially – way too early to be thinking about butterflies, right?  Nope.  The first butterflies of the year have already been reported on the Wisconsin Butterflies website (which also serves your Tiger beetle and Robber fly needs). 

03.25.26

Bug o’the Week – Common Green Darner rerun

Howdy BugFans,

The BugLady checked the (highly searchable) website of the Wisconsin Odonata Survey to see if anyone had reported a Common Green Darner yet.  They are early migrants from the southeastern part of the country, traveling north with the warm weather, and they’re often the first dragonfly species of the year.  Here’s an episode about them from nine years ago.  New pictures, a few new words.

03.23.26

Bug o’the Week – Golden Silk Orb Weaver – A Snowbird Special

Howdy BugFans,

It’s almost time for Snowbirds to head back north to rejoin us here in God’s Country for the final days/weeks/months of winter. The BugLady read recently that the number of days below freezing in March here in God’s Country has drastically decreased in the past 25 years, and March is increasingly considered a spring month rather than a winter month (but when the BugLady was a kid……..). The temperature may be moderating, but March still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and most of them involve snow.

BugFan Tom supplied the pictures of this big, beautiful spider that inhabits the South from Virginia to Texas (and beyond, to Argentina and Peru). Thanks, Tom.

03.04.26

Bug o’the Week – Tumbling Flower Beetle

Howdy, BugFans,

Way back in 2010, when the BugLady wrote an episode called “Big Beetle – Tiny Beetle,” the tiny beetle was a generic Tumbling flower beetle. There are a whole bunch of (unrelated) beetles that share the common name “flower beetle” – hermit, bumble, shining, soft-winged, and more, along with the long-horned flower beetles. Tumbling flower beetles are interesting little critters, so here’s an enhanced biography – new words, new pictures.

02.25.26

Bug o’the Week – Eastern Amberwing Redux

Greetings, BugFans,

When the BugLady wrote this episode in February of 2013, she kicked it off by griping about the weather – a favorite, February, indoor sport. This year, we’ve had many days of below average, below freezing, and below zero temperatures. How cold is it? Three weeks ago, one of her water pipes froze and burst, and when she tossed the sodden beach towels out the door into the yard, they froze instantly. They’re still stuck solidly to the ground.

This rerun contains a few new words (because who can look at a 13-year-old manuscript and not tweak it?), but all new pictures, because the Eastern Amberwing is a wondrous creature to photograph, even when it’s hovering just out of range.

02.13.26

Bug o’the Week – Long-jawed Pedunculate Ground Beetle

Greetings, BugFans,

BugFan Dave shared these spectacular pictures of a very cool beetle that he found last summer – a ground beetle in the family Carabidae, a huge family with 40,000+ species. It’s in the subfamily Scaritinae, the “Pedunculate ground beetles,” so-named for the constriction – peduncle – between the wider thorax and abdomen. The wonderful “MOBugs” blogspot (“Missouri’s Majority”) suggests that they should be called “Scary pincher ground beetles.”

02.04.26

Bug o’the Week – Bee Moth

Greetings, BugFans,

BugFan Danielle sent these shots and wondered if the moth might be a Bee moth (Aphomia sociella). The BugLady agreed that it could very well be, but she emphasized that if there is a secret handshake for moth identification, she hasn’t learned it yet.

Bee moths are in the family Pyralidae, the Grass or Snout moths (the family Crambidae shares the name “Snout moths,” and for the same reason – because the sensory mouthparts (labial palps) of some members are prominent and protruding.

01.28.26

Bug o’the Week – Giant Leopard Moth

Howdy, BugFans,

Honorary BugFan Lisa sent the BugLady a picture of her glove posed next to a big, fat caterpillar and asked if it might be a wooly bear. There are a number of species of caterpillars that are called wooly bears, but the wooly bear in question is the caterpillar of the Isabella Tiger Moth, a caterpillar that has found a place in folklore for its (supposed) ability to predict winter weather. When a wooly bear has wide, black bands, it’s predicting a harsh winter. Mistaking this black caterpillar for a wooly bear that’s gone all in for an Armageddon winter is a common mistake

Turns out that the caterpillar was something less common and way more exciting.

01.21.26

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