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23 December 2013
Monday macrobugs: mating stick insects
Back in the fall, we saw a lot of sexy scenes among the stick insects on our land. Everywhere, it seemed, the smaller males were searching out larger females, and put gametes together to make the little zygotes that would grow into the next generation of these extraordinarily well-camouflaged insects… Here’s a pair on the side of the house: And, same pair, with a flash illuminating their nuptials… Note the …
16 December 2013
Monday microbugs: Looking through my new AmScope
Recently, I bought a microscope for home use. This has been a longtime goal for me. I’ve dreamed of having my own microscope the way some guys fantasize about a Porsche 911. It’s an AmScope model, and it has an attachment for a small digital camera that comes with the scope. While the scope is lots of fun, though a little small, I’ll admit that I’m not too impressed with …
9 December 2013
Monday macrobug: mantis on the window screen
After yesterday’s 4+ inches of snow, I doubt we’ll be seeing a praying mantis this big again for the better part of ten months…
2 December 2013
Monday macrobug: tube spiders
Today, a few spiders that live in cylindrical webs of their own construction… Exhibit A, the grass spider, although this one’s not in the grass: Exhibit B, an unidentified spider on one of my exterior lights: Creepy! Crawly! Tubular!
25 November 2013
Monday macrobug: Baxter spies a wheel bug
We were out on the deck the other day when Baxter spotted a wheel bug. He can say “bug” now, and this was such an occasion. The kid’s a chip off the ol’ block! He has a good eye for the bugs.
18 November 2013
Monday macrobug: Crab spider
Good Monday to you! Here’s a crab spider, perched on a threaded screw that’s part of a baby gate on our porch: A closer look: I like crab spiders. As with jumping spiders, I don’t find them especially heebie-jeebie-inducing.
11 November 2013
Monday macrobug: milkweed bugs on milkweed pods
Monarch butterflies aren’t the only insects that like visiting milkweed…
4 November 2013
Monday macrobug: backstroking grub
The Monday macrobug is a juvenile beetle with an odd means of locomotion.
28 October 2013
Monday macrobug: baby stinkbugs
Here’s a recently hatched clutch of stinkbug eggs seen in September on a houseplant that we let live out on the porch for several months: The cute little bugs there are juvenile brown marmorated stinkbugs.
21 October 2013
Monday macrobug: a gorgeous pair of mating moths
I found one of these moths last week while moving some logs around out in the woods. It was a female (based on its antennae), and had a gorgeous color scheme of black and white with a wide yellow ^ on each of its wings, and lovely orange knees. I brought it back to the house to show my son, and then I put it on a low rock wall …
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.