Debbie's Insects Blog

The hornet and I are one.
When the hornet flies fast,
I fly fast.

When attempting to relocate hornets, you really need to feel peaceful. Hornets themselves are not inherently peaceful beings, and only a steadfast calm will make them follow you in a similarly tranquil manner. You will be tested, but with mindful actions and awareness of breath, the hornets will be driven out peacefully.

Easier meditated than done, a Japanese monk discovered while trying to remove hornets from his temple. The Buddhist monk panicked when a wave of angry hornets attacked him. He dropped the lit torch, which he was using to burn the hornet's nest, and ran from the temple. Fire quickly engulfed the structure, which is now just a pile of ashes.

Perhaps trying to light their nest on fire wasn't the most peaceful extermination method.

More DIY Exterminator Escapades:

• Easy Ways to Remove Bugs (and Burn Your House Down)
• Man Blows Up Apartment While Spraying for Bugs

This beautiful photo of a bumblebee foraging on a clover blossom was captured by Jon, an active member of the insects forum. Jon, who goes by the screenname olmail, just started photographing insects this summer. He found this clover blossom interesting, and when the bee landed on it, he knew it would make a cool picture.

Jon's a retired mail carrier, who says having a slower lifestyle led him to notice the birds in his yard. He began taking short walks to improve his health, and as he walked, he observed the birds along the way. As he got interested in birds, he decided to try taking photos of them. His walks got longer and his photography improved. He started paying attention to things like butterflies and dragonflies, and soon began taking their pictures, too. Now he frequently shares his insect photos with other About users through the insects forum.

Jon used a Canon 400d camera with a handheld ef70-300 lens to take this excellent image. He found his subject while walking a local bike path near where he lives in Ohio.

A Few More of Jon's Insect Photos:

• hummingbird moth
• forktail/whitetail
• more butterflies

If you'd like to comment on this image or ask a question about it, you can chat with Jon in the insects forum.

What the heck is this thing? The favorite cousin of Gomez Addams? No, this blond mop top is actually an insect, and a dangerous one at that. The puss caterpillar hides its venomous setae - stinging barbs - under its long hair. Should you encounter one of these critters yourself, don't give in to the temptation to touch it. Just trust me on this one, you'll be sorry if you do.

This is a caterpillar?
Photo: Flickr user touterse

You might be surprised to learn there are quite a few stinging caterpillars lurking out there. My new photo gallery features thirteen of these odd larvae, each one capable of causing you some pain.

Ever been stung by a caterpillar? Tell us your story in the insects forum!

The US Environmental Protection Agency doesn't have much to say about their 2003 approval of a pesticide believed by some to kill honeybees. The EPA didn't respond to a request by the National Resources Defense Council for records relating to the approval. The NRDC also tried using the Freedom of Information Act to get the details, but were again ignored (which is illegal). So, the NRDC filed a lawsuit to get the documents. Now the EPA won't talk about that, either.

In 2003, the EPA gave Bayer CropScience the green light on the pesticide clothianidin. They only asked that the company submit studies regarding the possible chronic toxic exposure of honeybees to the chemical. The EPA's own fact sheet on clothianidan lists the substance as causing such toxicity in honeybees. Clearly, the company hoping to make millions from the pesticide would provide objective research (yes, that it sarcasm you hear). Regardless, nobody seems to know, or want to admit, whether or not Bayer CropScience ever bothered to submit these studies.

Consider the following:

• Both France and Germany suspended approval of the pesticide after it was linked to bee deaths.
• Researchers report finding neonicotinoids in the bees, wax, and brood of honeybees that succumbed to Colony Collapse Disorder; clothianidan is listed as a neonicotinoid chemical.
• In each of the past two years, American beekeepers report losses of over 30% of their honeybee colonies to Colony Collapse Disorder.

No one is saying that clothianidan is the magic bullet in the CCD mystery, but why take the risk? Why further stress the honeybees we have left, and take the chance on losing the pollinators that produce one third of our food crops?

This walkingstick, or stick insect, is eating the exoskeleton it just finished molting. Why? That old skin is full of protein, which gets recycled back into the walkingstick as it is digested.

Photo: © Debbie Hadley, WILD Jersey

They really do have it all on eBay. An aphid specialist from the UK recently purchased a fossilized insect preserved in amber from the online auction site. He wasn't really looking for anything special, just a one-of-a-kind paperweight of sorts. When the package arrived, Dr. Harrington couldn't believe his eyes. The insect embedded in golden sap looked different, somehow. So Dr. Harrington sent the fossil off to another colleague, one who studied prehistoric bugs. His intuition proved correct. His winning bid on eBay won him naming rights to a brand new aphid species, now dubbed Mindarus harringtoni.

Just a few months back, another new insect turned up in the courtyard of the Natural History Museum in London. The irony here? The museum is home to a collection of 28 million insects. If a match for the mystery bug would be found, it would be right inside the doors to this facility. Remarkably, experts at the museum could find no record of such an insect, which appears to be a seed bug feeding on plane trees, in their many drawers of bugs.

You just never know where a new insect might turn up.

Mosquitoes top the list of annoying insects, and it's no wonder we dislike them so much. All you want to do is enjoy a warm summer evening outdoors, and you become a mosquito feast. The ouch of a mosquito bite makes you instinctively slap it, but the bite isn't really the problem. It's the itch that follows that really makes us nuts. So why do mosquito bites itch?

Tips to Keep Mosquitoes Away:

1. Limit mosquito habitat.
2. Use effective barriers and repellents.
3. Don't fall for the mosquito control myths.

Hold the polls and cancel the conventions. This election is all but over, based on the results at the 15th Roach Derby held at Rutgers University yesterday.

McCain's cockroach beat Obama's bug, crossing the finish line in a blistering 5 seconds.

Two cockroaches, one representing GOP candidate John McCain and the other Democratic hopeful Barack Obama, raced for the finish on the world's only official roach racetrack. Once the starting gun sounded, the McCain roach dashed for the finish line, completing the 6-foot race in just 5 seconds. Obama's roach, meanwhile, sat deep in thought before taking a few careful steps.

The Roach Derby, first held in 1941, tends to get a lot of attention in election years. The winning roach's candidate has won their political contest 80% of the time, historically. McCain, it seems, has this contest wrapped up.

The NJ Pest Management Association sponsors the Roach Derby. Madagascar hissing cockroaches were selected for the race because they respond well to stimuli.

Photo credits: Image © Debbie Hadley, WILD Jersey. Image includes photographs credited as follows: roach - Flickr user Feline Groovy, by CCSA license; McCain - William Thomas Cain/Getty Images; Obama - Bill Pugliano/Getty Images; checkered flag: Getty Images/StockByte; turf: Thomas Northcut/Getty Images.

Ten years ago, Chicagoans watched as their beloved shade trees were cut down and chipped. Along with New York City, Chicago came under siege from an invader from China - the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB).

A single Asian longhorned beetle was recently identified in the Chicago area.
Photo: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Forestry Archive, Bugwood.org

ALB infestations require severe eradication measures. Painstaking surveys determine the limits of the infestation, and a quarantine area is established. No wood materials - trees, firewood, packing materials, or woodchips - may be moved in or out of this perimeter. Infested trees, as well as the most susceptible host trees, are destroyed and burned to kill hidden beetles. Streets and parks are replanted (if funding is available) with trees that ALB does not eat - no more maples, elms, or sycamores for these neighborhoods.

Chicago officials faithfully followed these measures, and the final quarantines were lifted in 2006. Just this April, the city held a celebration to mark its 5th year of being ALB-free. As for cancer survivors, the five year mark is an important milestone. Chicagoans thought they were finally ALB free.

In a heartbreaking headline, the Chicago Tribune reported last week that a single Asian longhorned beetle had been confirmed in the Village of Deerfield, a Chicago area neighborhood. An initial survey within a half mile radius uncovered no signs of more ALB. Officials will now expand their search, but seem stumped by the lone beetle.

The ALB find only adds to concerns in Chicago, since emerald ash borer, another serious invasive tree pest, was discovered earlier this year. Asian longhorned beetle was also recently identified in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Last month, I listed some compelling reasons why you shouldn't kill bugs. One particularly good reason to lay off the do-it-yourself extermination attempts - you might just blow up your apartment, as a fellow in my home state did recently. Apparently, these folks didn't read my blog on that particular day:

• A man in Fardal, Norway used a rag ignited with lighter fluid to smoke wasps out of a woodpile in his garage. The wasps did fly away. The woodpile also caught fire, and the fire quickly burned down his entire garage, with his car inside.
• A teenager in Reno, Nevada decided to kill some spiders with fire. No word on the spiders, but the boy's fence and a good part of his house did succumb to the flames. His home is now uninhabitable for the time being.

Whatever happened to rolling up a section of newspaper and swatting bugs?