Happy Halloween! We’re getting into the spirit with some festive pumpkin carving. Spooky as this black widow pumpkin and her web are, there’s something wrong with this set of jack-o-lanterns.
It’s late in the summer and insects are out in full force, we’re running field trials for our mosquito traps across the US, and yet the office has been abuzz with two topics that seem about as far from arthropods as you can get. Can our local baseball team, the Seattle Mariners, make the playoffs? Did you see Game of Thrones?
Let’s play a game! It’s called Damsels & Dragonflies, and as with all RPGs, it’s important to know your creatures. There are three other types of insect frequently mistaken for dragonflies: damselflies, owlflies, and lacewings.
This year I made the plunge into home beekeeping with some blue orchard mason bees (Osmia lignaria and other Osmia species). These solitary bees are extremely docile, so they’re perfect for a beginner like me, anyone with an interest in native pollinators, or anyone who wants to improve early-blooming fruit and/or nut yields.
