Insect of the week (September 23, 2024)
We return to the beetles again this week and focus on the family Brentidae. Specifically, the beetle Arrhenodes minutus. Common name is oak timberworm. Larvae often tunnel in oak and elm trees and this species can be a pest. This insect is a known vector of the...
Insect of the week (September 16, 2024)
This week, we turn our attention to the insect order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Our featured insect is Zerene cesonia, the dogface sulphur butterfly. It is classified in the family Pieridae. This butterfly is often found along roadsides. Adults...
Insect of the week (September 9, 2024)
Yet another beetle this week. We now examine the family Cerambycidae. Tetraopes tetrophthalmus is our featured insect. It is commonly called the red milkweed beetle and is often found on milkweed plants. If you know a smattering of Greek, you know both the...
Insect of the week (September 2, 2024)
Continuing with our beetle theme (they are exceedingly diverse with nearly 400,000 described species), we focus on Melanactes piceus. This species was described by de Geer in 1774. That is the same year he described our previous insect of the week (yes, same...
Peoria approximella (a moth named in New York for Peoria, IL). Photo of Michigan specimen courtesy Jim Vargo (used with permission).