Science

HumBug: Late Bloomers Get All the Action

by Anthony Westkamper on October 20, 2019 at 3:23PM

Flowers being few and far between lately, nectar-sipping insects are also scarce. A few straggling rabbit brush plants concentrate relict butterflies, having completed their reproductive cycle living out their lives on instincts alone.

HumBug: Fall along the River

by Anthony Westkamper on October 13, 2019 at 3:13PM

There are next to no flowers blooming now. Most adult insects have lived out their lives, their eggs and larvae sequestered in anticipation of winter.

HumBug: Hello, Handsome

by Anthony Westkamper on October 6, 2019 at 4:54PM

While moving firewood, I happened on a small beetle with an interesting pronatum. Its orange thorax was flared outward.

HumBug: Friends and Enemies

by Anthony Westkamper on September 29, 2019 at 11:22AM

This week I started to write about spiders and ended up buying a book on mosquitoes. In the recently published book The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator, author Timothy Winegard calculates nearly half the people who ever lived died of mosquito bites.

HumBug: An Autumnal Walk

by Anthony Westkamper on September 22, 2019 at 11:03AM

Walking along the Van Duzen River, we spotted a medium sized black and orange wasp industriously digging a hole in the sand. Although similar in many ways, she was smaller and had a slightly different color pattern than the locally common great golden sand digger.

HumBug: Caddisflies and Fishing Flies

by Anthony Westkamper on September 8, 2019 at 11:19AM

When I was a boy, my dad introduced me to the joys and frustrations of trout fishing. In his opinion the best bait were what he called "periwinkles," little bugs that cover themselves with twigs or stones and crawl around in creeks.

HumBug: Butterflies vs. Moths

by Anthony Westkamper on September 1, 2019 at 10:59AM

One of the most common questions I get as a bug guy is, “What's the difference between butterflies and moths?” Although most consider them separate clades within the order lepidoptera, another answer is “maybe nothing.” Some authorities regard butterflies as a day flying sub group of moths. Depending on the time of year individuals of the species Acmon blue vary from small to what may be the smallest species of butterfly in our area.

HumBug: Mayflies on the Van Duzen

by Anthony Westkamper on August 25, 2019 at 11:10AM

Getting a late start, I made my way down to the river after the sun had gone from the canyon. I noted many tiny flying insects 6 inches on either side of the water's edge.

HumBug: Damsels vs. Dragons

by Anthony Westkamper on August 18, 2019 at 11:50AM

At a party I was recently asked the difference between damselflies and dragonflies. Although close relatives (order odonata) that live very similar lives, there are some differences.

HumBug: Nymphs Patrolling

by Anthony Westkamper on July 28, 2019 at 11:20AM

Lately I've also seen several specimens of Herpetogramma pertextalis, the bold feathered grass moth, around lights at my house. Along with its markings, when at rest, they hold their antennae swept back in a graceful pair of intersecting curves, making this species one of my favorite small moths.

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