I used to think aphids were super cute with their tear-drop-like shape, tiny beady eyes, bright colors, and silly little butt antennae… Until they got into my indoor plants that is :( Now, despite their cuteness, they are on my squash list.

Outside in the garden, or maybe walking through the weeds? Suddenly in excruciating pain? Think you’ve been stung by a wasp? Think again! You may have been meddling with a nettle 😦

This lovely, large, and often somewhat awkward bee, is the Eastern Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa virginica (Family = Apidae). It gets its name from its excellent ability to excavate and build homes in wood. I say excellent, but X. virginica 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?

As if the floodplain mosquitoes this year weren’t enough – now there’s ginormous mosquitoes that look like they just came out of Jumanji! Ok, ok. Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration… But only slightly. These gals are HUGE!

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 :)

Birds may get the attention and notoriety most of the time, but here’s one that’s not just for the birds. Insects have their own birds of prey – hawks! Beautiful, ferocious, and deadly in their own right, the brightly colored Meadowhawks of the insect world put their feathered brethren to shame when it comes to gorgeous colors and mystic. Not that I’m biased or anything…

Well, really just one alien. And it’s actually on my door, not at it. And it’s been here in the states for so long… Is it really still an alien? Maybe I should explain.

So… I’m at my parent’s house this week for a long overdue visit, and, as all dog owners must do, I was taking my dog out for her last sniff before bed. That’s when I saw it. The behemoth… The beast… The monster… Jabba the Hutt!

Is it an ant eating something? An egg sac of some sort? A weird fungal growth maybe? Nah. None of those things actually. It’s all just part of one weird looking Orb Weaver Spider – the Spined Micrathena, Micrathena gracilis.

Well, a Jagged Ambush Bug anyway lol. Don’t worry though. These are beneficial bugs and are lying in wait for prey much smaller than you!