<p>Did you know not all ladybugs are female? These ferocious bugs certainly aren’t lady like either when they’re chowing down on the sap sucking critters eating your plants. <em>And</em>, to top it all off, ladybug’s aren’t even “true bugs”. They are actually a type of beetle. Basically the whole name “ladybug” is a misnomer. Well then, lol!</p>

<p>You feel almost nothing at first… Maybe a slight poke or prick, nothing of consequence – you figure you probably just brushed up against a twig or something. Soon you start to feel sluggish, maybe unwell, not at all like yourself. You start to notice a squirming, gnawing feeling internally. It gets worse… And worse… You finally realize what’s going on. You are slowly being <strong>eaten from the inside out</strong>. While still <strong>alive!</strong> 😱 And there is…

<p>Gone are the days of sunlight until 9 o’clock in the evening and it is definitely getting colder. I even had to bring a couple of my plants inside over the weekend because I was worried about frost! Despite losing the long warm months, there are still a few hardcore insects trying to hang in there.</p>

<p>Whoever said little moths were all brown and ugly clearly has never seen this lovely critter. This bright, boldly patterned creature looks more like a roll of batik fabric than a fragile little moth in my opinion. And it’s a moth that actually comes out during the day!</p>

<p>Here I was just minding my own business, observing all the lichen bits on a nearby tree, when who do I see? None other than the beautiful, the amazing, the tiny yet mighty, red Velvet Mite!</p>

<p>Have you recently started noticing things quickly scurrying over your floor? Have little furry things been startling you as they brush across your feet while you try to watch tv? Have there been dark blobs dropping from above every time you open the garage or outside door that then disappear so quickly you hope you imagined it??? Well, I certainly have.</p>

<p>It’s that time of year again… The days are getting shorter and cooler, the mosquitoes are finally cutting us some slack, the hummingbirds will be migrating soon… And the Yellowjackets are suddenly all over my hummingbird feeders.</p>

<p>🎶…. Keep them beetles rovin’ 🎶… This funny looking critter in the photos is a Rove Beetle. I don’t know why the Rawhide song popped into my head when I found this guy, maybe just the rhyminess of it (rollin’/rovin’), but now that I’ve associated the two, I’m stuck on it. While many younger generations probably have no idea what in the world I’m talking about, I imagine some of you more experienced folk probably get the reference lol :)</p>

<p>This lovely, large, and often somewhat awkward bee, is the Eastern Carpenter Bee, <em>Xylocopa virginica</em> (Family = Apidae). It gets its name from its excellent ability to excavate and build homes in wood. I say excellent, but <em>X. virginica</em> often gets a bad rap for its carpentry work. This is usually due to miscommunications with its wood suppliers (aka homeowners or other humans). Let’s try to clear up some of these miscommunications, shall we?</p>

<p>I’m thinking paper probably isn’t the sturdiest material to build an umbrella out of right? Well, that’s why they so often build their homes in sheltered areas around our human houses! Yes, I’m talking about the Paper Wasp, or Ol’ Dangle-legs as my partner likes to call them :)</p>