Please welcome guest author: Carrie Spencer!

Think you saw something run across the floor out of the corner of your eye? Did something on the wall quickly zip behind a box not to be seen again? Do you sometimes feel like there’s something hiding in the shadows of your basement? Did it have way too many legs to count? It might be a house centipede!

I’m sure at one point or another we’ve all heard “timing is everything”, usually when we’ve missed out on something. Well, with bugs it is actually true. Whether it’s finding a food source at the right time, a mate before your competition, or in the case of today’s story, changing from a caterpillar to moth in the correct season. An insect’s timing frequently determines whether it survives or not.

Ack! What is that thing?! Are those pinchers!? Even though this bug looks a bit creepy, try not to wig-out (sorry couldn’t help it, lol). This weird looking critter won’t hurt you, or even try to crawl in your ear – despite the implication in its name.

Just when you thought you were finally free of them- they find you :( And in your own house no less! Those blood thirsty little demons have managed to find you despite all odds. Well, maybe not you, but they have found me!

This is why we need to be careful when we’re out cleaning the yard – You never know what you’ll uncover when you turn over a moss-covered rock! While this small little brown blob may not look like much now, come spring or summer, it will turn into the most lovely little blue butterfly. If you have enough of them living in your yard, it might actually look like a Disney fairytale scene :)

Yes, I know the holidays for most people are now officially over, but better late than never right? Besides, it is still winter (where I am anyway), and what looks prettier that holly leaves during the winter :) Probably not the crazy loopy patterns etched into the holly leaves, but I’m going to talk about them anyway, lol.

Winter day, but relatively warm and sunny? Sounds great for this little winter fly! When the weather cools, predators become sparse, making it the perfect time for this defenseless mosquito-look-a-like to come out and play…

If it looks like an armadillo, smells like an armadillo, but is tiny and has too many legs, is it still an armadillo? Probably not, but these cute little critters are likely as close as I’m going to get to an armadillo living in Michigan. And they do have Armadillo in their name… So that counts, right?

Ok. So, normally I work remotely (in Michigan), but this past week I made a trip out to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to do some on-site work at my home institution. That means staying at a hotel while there. Due to my entomological profession, that also means going through my standard routine of pulling apart the bed before I feel comfortable unpacking anything. Why, you ask? Well to check for bed bugs of course!