Category: Insects

Call CSI: It’s an Insect Murder Mystery

A strange-looking fly caught my eye.

It stood upright, balanced not on its legs but on its wingtips. I leaned in for a closer look.

The fly wasn’t standing. It wasn’t even alive.

The poor creature had been stabbed.

Continue reading Call CSI: It’s an Insect Murder Mystery

Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.

A Wasp Whodunnit

Something crept in…

and compromised the wasp nest. My last post showed adult paper wasps (Polistes metricus) evicting some of their young. The workers were clearing the nest of sick and poorly-developing larvae and pupae. A deadly agent had entered the nest. What was it? I had filmed eighty hours of surveillance video. Maybe I could figure that out.

My first clue was a scene that screamed foul play.  

Continue reading A Wasp Whodunnit

Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.

A Question of Palace Intrigue

The wasps seemed so nurturing.

Last month, I shared photos and videos of a paper wasp nest. I showed adults nourishing larvae until the little ones covered themselves with cozy silk blankies and snuggled in to pupate. So sweet…

Except, I left out the story’s cold-hearted, sinister part.

Continue reading A Question of Palace Intrigue

Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.

Wasp Watching

You’re filming what?

A wasp nest, I repeated. The one over the sliding glass door.

We went outside for a look. Bert’s look said, you’re nuts.

I didn’t notice the nest until early August, when a wasp walking up the glass caught my eye. I grabbed a ladder and was mesmerized.

Continue reading Wasp Watching

Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.

Pop! Goes the Weevil (Larva)

I shipped seven pounds of acorns to Kentucky.

Not to feed any under-nourished squirrels. My acorns are for the University of Kentucky’s multi-year, genetic study of white oaks. Foresters believe the white oak is in decline, and the project’s goal is to identify trees with traits suggesting a higher likelihood of success in the forest. The research team hopes to acquire acorns from every county in every state in the white oak’s range.

What will they do with my (and everyone else’s) acorns?

Continue reading Pop! Goes the Weevil (Larva)

Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.

Undercover Larva

The fluffball was on the move. And it carried a big stick.

I immediately recognized the fluff as a debris-carrying lacewing larva. These insects wear impressive camouflage. Sometimes I’ll see plant material, bits of lichen, or spider silk. Or dead insects; carcasses the larva piled on its back after sucking out the victims’ guts. But never had I seen a larva sporting such an outsized element of disguise.
Continue reading Undercover Larva

Image Credits: Carol Doeringer, Brad Smith.

Farmers in my Forest

The aphid looked like a kid that wants to be called on in a classroom.

But instead of hands, the creature’s rear legs were waving for attention. And in less than a minute, he got it—from an ant. The ant reached for the aphid. Then a glistening drop of honeydew—liquid poop—emerged from the aphid’s posterior.

And the ant…

Continue reading Farmers in my Forest

Image Credits: Carol Doeringer.