Cool but Clunky

THE children have discovered in our garden what they have dubbed "the coolest bug ever". It's a wheel bug. He caught our attention noisily flying around our back patio and we transferred him to a bug box with a magnifying lid to examine in closer detail. These creatures are often called "assassins of the insect world" thanks to their chosen method of feeding, which involves using their long beak to pierce soft-bodied insects like caterpillars with dissolving enzymes, then sucking out their insides. How charming. Sometimes the females even feed on the male after mating. The cannibalism was not a trait I shared in detail with the children, but we did observe that it moves very slowly and jerkily and has of course that huge and strange "bumpy hump" on its back. Big, clunky, and indeed pretty cool. 

The Most Amazing Thing

THE other day we noticed a green caterpillar on one of the tomato plants. Having plucked it off ready to deposit elsewhere, we realised that the tomato plant was nearly dead anyway so the caterpillar might as well enjoy the last few leaves. So we put it back. Imagine our surprise when the next day we found it tucked cosily in a cocoon! In fact there were two of them! Two days later the plant was indeed dead, as was apparently the second pupa. But the first pupa still wiggled when gently prodded, and one part had turned brown inside its opaque, silky home.

On my return from a trip four days later, Emma greeted me with: "Mama! The most amazing thing happened!" It seemed that the pupa had transformed into a moth, which Emma had discovered drying its wings next to the empty cocoon. It had flown away by the time I got home, so we didn't get to photograph or identify the moth or butterfly, but it could have been a diamondback moth.

Pupa, Chrysalis or Cocoon?
A pupa is an insect undergoing transformation. If it is a butterfly pupa, it is called a chrysalis and is surrounded by a hard casing. Moth pupas most often change inside a cocoon of spun silk, though some species burrow into the ground. Pupas of other insects change inside the exoskeleton of their final larval stage, or in a nest or shell.

Creek Life

YOU'D think with four children under six, a mad labrador and an excitable Jamaican in our camping party, the wildlife would stay very, very far away. And indeed many of the wiser creatures did, a few cawing a retreat or leaving a tiny footprint behind. But not all. Whether oblivious, confined or simply unperturbed, some animals of the water allowed themselves to be discovered.

Armed with new birthday catching nets and bug boxes we went to explore the creek. It was bursting with animal life! Diving beetles tootled leisurely through the water as pond skaters gathered in little groups around the edges. Tiny fish came into sight when we stayed very still then flitted away the second a small foot disturbed the silt. A 10cm long stick insect brushed my nose as I ducked under an overhanging branch. Two crawfish were enjoying a little sunlight in a shallow, sandy spot and dragonflies flew abundantly overhead.

But it was one particular insect that caught my attention. Under almost every stone we found the same clear-coloured crawling creature with a split tail from a few millimetres to 2cm or so, including a couple of larger outgrown skins outside the water. I think they were mayfly nymphs. Mayflies live up to a year under water in the larval stage, then crawl out of the water and in their last stages of moulting, emerge with wings. They then fly around for one day only, during which time they mate and lay eggs on the water's surface, where they sink to the bottom to repeat the cycle. Whatever they were, they made interesting creatures to watch.

It's a Record!

WHILE walking home from school one day, we noticed a proliferation of one type of insect on the grass under a particular maple tree. Looking somewhat like a firefly, we took note of its markings and looked it up at home. It was a box elder bug, a true bug which feeds predominantly on box elder trees and also maples.

We've since seen this bug many times, always under maples. They are not especially fast moving, which makes them attractive to Alexander. Every time we see them he tries to outmatch his own record of how many he can hold in his hand at any one time without any flying away or being squashed. I try to share his joy while secretly encouraging escape.

Despite the occasional mishaps, the bug does now have the honour of having renamed this route home from school. It is now called "Box Elder Way".

Birthday Butterflies

LOOKING back through old posts, I'm reminded that Emma received a "bug hotel" for her third birthday. Now rather the worse for three years of weather, it has nevertheless provided much interest to us and a home for many insects.

I'm not sure if it's coincidence that one of Alexander's favourite presents on his third birthday was a butterfly net and bug collection box! He has spent hours outside trying to - often successfully - catch various insects, which he then stores in his special jar with a magnifying lid. Happy birthday little bug catcher!

The Next Plague?

LAST year we noticed a great number of insects we hadn't seen before in the park. Little green/brown bugs, they looked a little like ladybirds but had a distinct triangular shape, the head much narrower than the tail end. They congregated in great numbers on the kudzu, were easy to pick up, flew away just as easily and didn't smell too good when squashed (accidently). It was Megacopta cribraria, otherwise known as the "kudzu beetle".

Alexander was delighted to discover them today in our garden too, on wisteria, which prompted me to research them. This little bug was first seen in the US, or in the Western hemisphere at all, in October 2009. It was discovered right here in nine counties in north Georgia and in a year had spread to over 60 counties. Now Megacopta is also a resident of North Carolina and South Carolina. The rapid spread is particularly worrisome to agriculture, since the bugs are voracious eaters not only of kudzu (which grows equally fast and does not seem to be unduly damaged by the pest) but other legumes too - especially soy beans.

Soy being, in my opinion, one of the most heinous of all crops in terms of contribution to the proliferation of cheap processed "foods", I had a fleeting thought that this little beetle army might be on a divine mission to save us from ourselves...

Grrr! said the Tiger

WE tried for ages to identify this interesting fly we found on our window screen. It was on something white and we couldn't tell if it was feeding on bird droppings or if it was some kind of nest/egg collection. Whatever the white patch was, the fly was quite attached to it. We picked the fly up to examine it, and it flew away, then a short time later was back again and even returned the next day.

It was quite large - maybe 2cm. Plump and black, with a fuzzy body, huge eyes and a curious pattern on its wings. We couldn't tell if the wings had patches of white or patches of see through.

Finally a few days later we found a picture of the tiger bee fly Xenox tigrinus . Emma astutely pointed out that tigers have stripes not spots and why wasn't it called a leopard bee fly? Apparently they lay their eggs in the nests of carpenter bees and their hatching larvae then eat the bee larvae. The white stuff on the window screen wasn't eggs, then.

Sleeping Beauties

WE were not alone in the campground. We were surrounded by cicadas. All over the grass, clinging to every tree, the empty shells of cicada nymphs, their skins shed as the adults emerged triumphant after a 17-year slumber. From the treetops they now sounded their victory cry. The noise was deafening. At first we didn't equate the high-pitched sound with the insect shells all around. It sounded more like a squeaky siren. Maybe some kind of motor. But it was, in fact, cicadas by the million.

This particular kind of cicada has a revolutionary survival strategy. With only 3 weeks to live as an adult, it quickly mates and lays eggs in trees. The larvae hatch and drop to the ground, where they bury themselves for ... 17 years. It has been measured, and it is always 17 years. All at once, they then climb out of the ground, cling to something and crawl out of their baby pyjamas, leaving these behind to be collected by delighted children. Then, wings unfurled, they fly off into the sunset, trumpeting all the way. Other animals cannot rely on such infrequent visitors as a food source, and their vast numbers ensure plentiful survival even when the odd bird or snake ventures into new culinary territory. In this way, the juicy winged beetles live on to lay the next generation. See you in 2028!

The Things You Find

STICKING out of a hole in a log was a little thing wiggling. We pulled it out carefully as it appeared to be stuck. It looked like a cocoon. Suddenly it made an audible pop! and a fly crawled out! It was so unusual that Emma decided to draw it in her nature journal.

The notes in the picture describe the insect and were dictated by Emma: fuzzy bits on its head, big black eyes, long grey body with orange stripes, delicate wings, 6 legs with 2 little feet on each leg.

We never did discover the identification but it was exciting to witness its birth!

Toasted Caterpillars

ALEXANDER pretending to be a bird who is camping and toasting caterpillars over a fire like marshmallows. Since it was a real caterpillar, I jumped up to stop him from actually putting it in his mouth, which caused him to console me: "Don't worry Mama, I not really a bird. I a little boy. Little boyd no eat caterpillard." Funny! He went on to instruct me all about what birds eat and what caterpillars eat and how we shouldn't eat things that other animals eat because we will get tummy ache.

What do caterpillars do? Nothing much but chew and chew.
What do caterpillars know? Nothing much but how to grow.
They just eat what by and by will make them be a butterfly.
And that is more than I can do, however much I chew and chew.

Wild Insects

WE'VE come across some interesting insect life in our back garden: first, a little bug that looks somewhat like a ladybird in size and shape, only it's brown and squared off at its tail end. This turns out to be a bean plataspid or kudzu beetle, a new arrival to Georgia that feeds on kudzu. Plenty of that around - not in our garden but close by. The beetles sit mostly in our vegetable patch - particularly the sweet peppers - and huddle in twos or more. They're apparently quite a threat to agriculture, but they don't seem to have wreaked too much havoc on our little garden so we've let them be.

The next discovery I first thought was a fungus - threads handing from a dead pine needle suspended in a tree. But after much research, this turns out to be lacewing eggs. They are laid on hair like filaments, said to prevent the larvae from cannabalizing each other. The larvae are so voracious that they have been considered for biological insect control. Curious!

The final, less pleasant, find was a nest of thousands of little black flies. I have yet to identify them, but they looked like fruit flies and swarmed all around us at dusk. The nest was around the base of a tree and was a seething mass of emerging tiny flies. Creepy and crawly, to be sure!

Caterpillar Discoveries

WHAT an amazing diversity of caterpillars we've seen recently! If you ever want to send a family into a frenzy, put an interesting caterpillar close by. Emma goes running for our caterpillar field guide. Alexander runs to investigate, wants to pick it up, squeeze it, check out its underside, put it in his pocket or sometimes make it a bed. I run to gently guide this inquisitiveness into more caterpillar-friendly activities. When reassured that our little friend is safe, I run to get the camera. Come back, take photos, look it up in the book and ... well sometimes find out that the little friend is actually ravishing my vegetables and kinda sorta wish I hadn't got to Alexander in time. Now how to remove the offending creature without sending very confusing messages to the children....?

Shown are a salt marsh caterpillar on ironweed (seen close to river) and a tobacco horn worm on my tomatoes! The size is not due only to perspective; the caterpillar was actually about 4" long. It sat on one tomato plant for about four days before mysteriously disappearing (not by me - it really did disappear). It was so well disguised, it looked exactly like a curled up leaf.

Caterpillar Invasion

THERE'S not much left of our lawn. It's patchy parched grass, but still some little moth and her friends thought it would be a great place to lay their eggs. For when we went outside this morning, the lawn, patio and brick wall were covered in little caterpillars. The closest we could find in our field guide was army worm, though this is usually found in agricultural fields. So if anyone knows what this is, please let me know! We collected some in a large plastic jar with some grass, but the caterpillars didn't fare well in the heat so we released them again. They were around for only two days, then vanished again. Could they have all been eaten in this time? Where did they go?

Butterfly Watching

HOW the butterflies and their winged friends are loving the sunny weather and our lovely brightly coloured flowers! Over the last few weeks we've spent many hours sitting in our garden watching the various creatures fluttering around and feasting on nectar. There have been little skippers, cabbage whites, sulphurs, fritillaries, and the largest we've seen so far, a beautiful Eastern Swallowtail.

We have two areas the butterflies especially favour: first, the rockery with lantana and assorted herbs which are now starting to flower. Secondly, a collection of pots with zinnias, impatiens and petunias. This is actually "Emma's Garden". She chose the flowers, planted them and has been diligently watering them. The pots are in an ideal location for us to watch during snack time. Emma likes the idea that she and the butterflies get to snack together.

Today we went to a Butterfly Festival, where, among other things, we witnessed a butterfly release of hundreds of fritillaries. That would have been impressive, except the butterflies didn't want to leave their cosy little box so it was a little anti-climatic!

Winged Creatures of the Water

WALKING along a river this weekend, we saw dozens of dragonflies and damselflies flitting about. Many were of the common variety of small black damselfly with flashes of brilliant blue about their tails. Then we noticed a huge dragonfly with a wingspan of about 8cm sunning itself on a reed. Apparently there are 450 species of dragonfly and damselfly in North America, but this had to be the male widow skimmer. How to tell a dragonfly from a damselfly? Dragonflies typically hold their wings to the side when at rest, whereas most damselflies fold their wings together. Dragonflies' eyes meet in the middle, and damselflies' eyes are wider apart. Some more fun facts about these lovely winged creatures of the water:

• Some can fly up to 30 miles per hour


• They are carnivorous, eating among other things mosquitoes, tadpoles, butterflies and spiders


• Some dragonflies live up to four years

In folklore the dragonfly has been a symbol of both good and evil. In Japan, it represents strength, victory and courage; while in Europe, the dragonfly was in past times considered an envoy of the devil. The Zuni tribe of Indians had a legend in which a boy and a girl were left behind after the village's corn crop failed. The boy made a toy dragonfly for his sister from corn husks. The dragonfly eventually came to life and appeased the corn maidens, who created a bountiful harvest of corn to welcome the villagers back.

The dragonfly's a timid thing,
He's very pretty, too;
His lacy wings are clear as glass
And delicate as dew.
I don't know why the dragonfly
Has such a fearful name.
I never saw a dragon
That was nearly half as tame.

Bug Life

EVERYONE's been busy with nests in our back garden. First, we noticed two little piles of sawdust underneath Emma's balance beam. When we flipped it over, we found two neatly carved holes, about 1/2" in diameter. A stick gently poked in the hole disappeared about 10". After watching the holes for several days, we finally saw the inhabitants, and have identified them as carpenter bees. While I can see how they could wreak havoc on a nice pine deck, fortunately they are not doing any harm where they are so we are free to observe their activity. The bees are large and furry, like bumble bees, and sit guarding their holes, which are used as nest chambers. The eggs are laid at the end, with food placed next to them. Sometimes the mama bees are out looking for food, but most often we see them lurking just inside their holes.

More exciting discoveries were made in our insect box. Here, some kind of solitary wasp is hard at work building a paper nest. It is suspended from the ceiling and is about 2" long. It's tucked right into the back corner and we've not been able to get a close enough look at the builder to identify it, though it is there perched on the outside of the nest most of the time.

In the centre of the box, an egg mass sits in the middle of a feathery web. It was only when I gently blew on the web to try to get the spider to move that we realised the eggs had already hatched. Hundreds - really hundreds - of tiny transluscent spiders began their hurricane evacuation drill and scuttled out of harm's way in a matter of minutes. Now a week later, all the babies have flown the nest, presumably off to make their mark on the world.

Those Great Big Beautiful Eyes

THIS afternoon I found an enormous beetle on Emma's bed. She said it had been there a while and apparently didn't think it was worth mentioning. This thing was about an inch and a half long with two eyespots and a black speckled back. After a while scrolling through the beetle listings on http://www.whatsthatbug.com/ and http://www.bugguide.net/, we discovered the identity of our winged friend. It was an Eyed Elator click beetle. Click beetles are so called because when turned on their backs, they quickly flex their body making a clicking sound and flipping in the air to right themselves. It demonstrated this acrobatic feat several times, and it was quite impressive. The eyespots are to discourage predators, to fool birds into thinking they are looking at a much larger creature. It has two sets of wings - the top set are hard covers to protect the softer flying wings. Another interesting thing we discovered was that it appeared to fold its antenna under its body (the left one is not yet unfolded in the first picture). It was quite a beauty, but we did think it deserved a bed of its own.

Harbinger of Spring

THE cuckoo is supposed to be one of the first sounds of Spring, in the UK anyway. However, I don't actually recall ever having heard one. Until this week, when on a stroll around our lovely local pond there it was. Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Over and over again. The sound carried across the whole stretch of water, which despite being called a pond is really more like a lake. (Of course, May is not the beginning of Spring, so it should be noted that these birds can be heard between March and August.) The cuckoo is also infamous for laying its eggs in other birds' nests, where the baby cuckoo boots the other residents out and is fed by its foster parent.

Also around the pond was a large amount of cuckoo spit, the frothy foam in which froghopper larvae live. Emma found this very interesting and kept trying to dig out the baby bug. I just wondered why it was called cuckoo spit. Turns out, the name is a reference to the time of year. The spit appears at cuckoo time.