Did you know...

Females of some stink bug species care for their eggs.

The mother stink bug will stand guard over her eggs, protecting them from predators and parasites, until they hatch. Don't start thinking stink bug mom's deserve Mother of the Year awards, though. These caretakers have a tendency to stand guard facing in the same direction all the time, leaving the eggs near her rear vulnerable to attack.

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NASA launches the next space shuttle on November 16th, and within its payload will be three late instar monarch caterpillars. The caterpillars will be placed aboard the International Space Station inside a small rearing chamber and an incubator. Still and video images of the experiment will be available online.

Monarch butterflies are headed to the International Space Station.
Photo: Courtesy of NASA

Monarch Watch is looking for 20 classrooms to help monitor the development of the butterflies in space. To be eligible, your school must be in the U.S., east of the Rockies (sorry West Coast schools!). If you would like to participate, you must contact Monarch Watch at monarch@ku.edu no later than 5 pm on November 6th.

Monarch Watch will send a special monarch larva kit to participating schools. The monarch kit costs $17.95 and the overnight shipping will be an additional $26 for a total of $43.95. BioServe Space Technologies will send participating classrooms a kit that includes a rearing chamber (similar to the one going into space) with instructions.

For additional information, email Monarch Watch at monarch@ku.edu.

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I seem to be on a bit of a Diptera kick lately (there's your first hint). For those of you new to the Bug of the Week challenge, each Wednesday I post an image of a mystery insect. Your job is to uncover its identity. Post your answer here in a comment, and if you're correct, I'll give you a shout out in next week's post. I always provide a few clues in the forum, should you need a little extra help.

Last week's winners are weirdbuglady, Mobugs41, Moni, and Mike, all of whom recognized the mystery critter as a vinegaroon or whipscorpion. These arachnids are known for their defensive behavior - they flick their tails and spray acetic acid (essentially vinegar) at their attackers.

Photo: Flickr user motleypixel (CC-by-SA license)

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This is a truly heartbreaking story with a tragic ending. A well-intentioned mother in South Carolina and her two young sons moved into a mobile home, ready to start a new chapter in their lives. The mobile home had just one flaw - it was infested with insects. No mother would want her children to live in a bug-infested home, right? So this mom took action.

Elizabeth Whitfield purchased some bug bombs and set them off in her single-wide trailer. The bugs lived. She tried again, with the same result. Over the span of several weeks, she used a total of seven bug bombs in her small home. It's unclear whether she followed the directions on the label: cover all furniture, vacate the building for at least four hours, and open the windows before reoccupying the space. But she certainly used too many bug bombs too often for the size of her home.

On Sunday, Ms. Whitfield called 911 because her 10-month-old son was having trouble breathing. When the first responders arrived, they called a hazardous materials team to the scene because the chemical odor coming from the trailer was so overwhelming.

Baby Jacob died. Two-year-old Kevin was hospitalized and put on a respirator. The hospital staff followed decontamination procedures with the mother, because her clothes were so coated in pesticides. A definitive cause of death will not be determined for several weeks, when the coroner receives the toxicology results. But investigators could find no other possible cause for the child's death.

Please, please don't let such a tragedy happen in your own home. If you've got an insect infestation that requires treatment, call a professional. And if you insist on doing your own pest control, read and follow all directions on the product you purchase. It's the law.

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