Bark beetle traps

I noticed a couple of these contraptions at the arboretum last week. Chris, the curator, told me that they are bark beetle traps. They're just checking to see if we have any here.

Bark Beetle information here.

Lazy summer day

I am only just now recovering from my post-breakfast pancake "coma", and this hot weather isn't doing much to increase my energy level. To make matters worse, my computer has been very cranky lately. But I wanted to send a little summer cheer to blogger-friend Gilly, who is having winter where she lives in New Zealand.




And, since I am the Bug Lady, I'm saying it with a grasshopper!

Hope you're feeling better soon, Gilly!

Not bugs, but still cool

I've been neglecting this blog again, as I've been busy, mostly stressing out over other things.

We had a summer camp at the arboretum this past week, and before that was all the preparation for the camp, and on top of that I had a bug slide-show that I had to prepare for. Then there were other personal things that distracted me, and not necessarily in a good way.

Here is something that distracted me in a good way for a few minutes last week. As I walked along the north edge of the arboretum's "lake" I saw a wriggling mass of what I thought for an instant were toad tadpoles.



The instant passed when I realized they had fins, not freshly sprouted amphibian legs.



Closer inspection confirmed they were baby catfish, right down to their little moustaches! By now, nearly a week later, they may have mostly been eaten up by the birds, turtles, etc.

Reakirt's Blue

His(?) wings are in a strange position. The hindwings are pulled forward for some reason. I took this picture on a cloudy day (gotta love June Gloom), and the butterfly was very still.

Fine tune focus

I'm still getting the feel for this new camera. My success is still largely hit and miss. (That's probably why I blew out my old camera in less than 3 years, because I take so many dud pictures for every good one.)
These came out pretty good. I was able to focus on a very narrow field.

Sometimes, you're the harlequin bug,

Sometimes you're the skin.

Mantid bush, FYI

Local readers who frequent the arboretum may recognize this little patch of bushes and trees on the right-hand side of the front entrance. That low-lying, light green plant just beyond the light pole has a bunch of baby mantids in it right now. Probably Iris oratoria.


This was one of the bigger nymphs, at, perhaps L2. I noticed him because he was jiggling as he ate his fly.