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24 June 2013
Monday macrobug: Jumping spiders that “Attack the Block”
A few weeks ago, I started seeing a new kind of jumping spider around our house. It was distinctive primarily because of its iridescent green chelicerae (think of them as “jaws”). I took a couple of blurry shots, but nothing I considered good enough for “Monday macrobug” treatment… These spiders reminded me of the unique design for the alien invaders in the fun movie Attack the Block: Clearly, they all …
17 June 2013
Monday macrobug: Cranefly
Craneflies look like giant mosquitoes. They’re harmless to people – kind of like the giraffes of the insect world… In flagrante delicto…. Side-view portrait…
10 June 2013
Monday macrobug: Sarosesthes fulminans
This lovely longhorned beetle was on my house last week. Bugguide.net helped me identify him as Sarosesthes fulminans.
3 June 2013
Monday macrobug: the 17-year periodical cicada
Brood II. We gots ’em. The noise is so cool….
27 May 2013
Monday macrobug: a purple beetle
Found this fellow while weed-whacking thistles last week… A lovely iridescent purple – the photos don’t really capture it.
20 May 2013
Monday macrobug: A golden weevil
Spring is back in the Fort Valley, and that means many serendipitous bug encounters. I think it’s safe to say that the Monday Macrobug is back as a regular feature on Mountain Beltway for the foreseeable future! Today, I give you…. a weevil! You’re welcome.
13 May 2013
Monday macrobug: Flight of the termites
Termites can fly. But not all termites. Around here, the only flying termites are the reproductives – the fertile males and females that a termites colony produces periodically. It seems to be associated with the advent of spring. I spotted this group a couple of weeks ago, when I noticed the sunlight catching in their diaphanous wings. They hatch, emerge en masse, and take to the air, seeking a partner …
22 April 2013
Monday macrobug: Carpenter bee
These guys are the bane of my existence lately. Now that the ladybugs are gone, we’ve got a dozen carpenter bees orbiting the house, seeking an opportunity to drill holes in it. Here’s one after an encounter with a tennis racket I keep on the porch expressly for the purpose of controlling their population: Look at those amazing eyes! Ventral view, rotated to make it look like he’s flying above …
15 April 2013
Monday macrobug: Twilight of the ladybug infestation
Spring has arrived in the Fort Valley. We went from snow and sub-freezing nights to two 80°F+ days in a row, and then throttled back to normal springtime temperatures. The pulse of heat brought about a big release of ladybugs from our walls, and at times it was as apocalyptic a scene as it was back in October and November when they swarmed all over the house, looking for a …
11 March 2013
Monday macrobug: Jumping spider
While the Monday Macrobug continues its official winter hiatus, we did have a fuzzy little jumping spider make an appearance in the house the other day: Did you see the @$#%ing ladybug hiding there in the background? Here’s a closer look at the spider: Jumping spiders are my favorite spiders – they seem like little mammals relative to the bulbous/spiky shapes that characterizes the spiders that I instinctually find so …
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.