![\"lizard](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/380\/2024\/07\/beetle-lizard24-1rz.webp\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLizzard Beetle \u2013 the BugLady doesn\u2019t know why these striking beetles are called Lizard beetles, unless it\u2019s a nod to their long, slender shapes.\u00a0She usually sees them in the prairie on Indian Plantain plants.\u00a0The adults eat various parts of the plant, including pollen, while their larvae feed within the plant stems (the Clover stem borer is persona non grata in commercial clover fields).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, many species of Lizard beetles \u201cmake squeaking sounds using well-developed stridulatory organs on top of the head.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two (counterintuitively-named) Orange Bluets, ensuring the next generation.\u00a0He \u201ccontact guards\u201d her as she oviposits in submerged vegetation, lest a rival male come along and swipe her.\u00a0When the eggs hatch, the naiads can swim right out into the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baltimore Checkerspot \u2013 the BugLady has seen more of these spectacular butterflies than usual this year.\u00a0The caterpillars<\/a>\u00a0feed in fall on a late-blooming wildflower called Turtlehead (and sometimes broad-leaved plantain); turtlehead leaves (and plantain, to a lesser extent) contain growth-enhancing chemicals called iridoid glycosides that also discourage birds. The caterpillars tuck in for the winter and emerge the next year into a landscape empty of Turtlehead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In spring, Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars 2.0 feed on leaves of a variety of flowers and shrubs \u2013 the BugLady has seen them on goldenrod and on wood betony \u2013 and especially on leaves of the (doomed) white ash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Crayfish \u2013 the BugLady came across this crayfish and its companion when all three of us were negotiating a muddy trail (so many muddy trails this year!). It waved its pincers at her to make sure she was terrified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doodlebugs (aka antlions) got going early this year \u2013 the BugLady found more than 100 excavations (pits) at the southeast corner of her house at the end of April, and more along the path leading to the beach.\u00a0They\u2019ve had a rough go of it \u2013 it doesn\u2019t take much rain to ruin a pit, and it takes a day or so to repair one.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doodlebug watchers sometimes catch a glimpse of pincers at the bottom of a pit, or of a doodlebug tossing sand around.\u00a0The BugLady witnessed an ant going to its final reward, and found a pit with a small beetle in it, one with a box elder bug, and one with a beetle and a small jumping spider.\u00a0She will look for the adults, which look kind of like damselflies, in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donacia<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 a golden beetle<\/a>\u00a0on a golden flower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Common Spring Moth \u2013 the BugLady loves finding bugs she\u2019s never seen before, especially when she doesn\u2019t have to leave home to do it!! (She does get a little bewildered, though, when the \u201cnew\u201d insect is named the \u201cCommon something\u201d and she\u2019s never seen it before).\u00a0The occurrence of this one should be no surprise \u2013 its caterpillars feed on Black locust leaves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Petrophilia<\/em>\u00a0Moths are dainty moths that are tied to water.\u00a0The BugLady and BugFan Joan spotted mobs of moths on milkweed (yes, there\u2019s a milkweed under there) on the bank of the Milwaukee River.\u00a0 \u201cPetrophila<\/em>\u201d means \u201crock lover\u201d \u2013 for that story, read the BOTW about a (probably) different species<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Green Lacewing Eggs \u2013 the BugLady wrote about Green lacewings and their eggs a few months ago, and she recently found this amazing bunch of tiny, glistening eggs.\u00a0She has always associated Green lacewings with the end of summer.\u00a0Guess not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eight-Spotted Forester Moths are small, spiffy, day-flying moths that are often mistaken for butterflies.\u00a0 The one that the BugLady found recently was not as gaudy as most \u2013 most have brilliant orange leg scales<\/a>.\u00a0There\u2019s a saying among Lepidopterists \u2013 the plainer the caterpillar, the more spectacular the adult.\u00a0Forester moths seem to be an exception<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Powdered Dancers oviposit at this time of year in the slightly-submerged stems of aquatic vegetation, especially\u00a0Potamogeton<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0They\u2019ve been pictured here before.\u00a0This year, the river is running high and fast \u2013 there are no mats of\u00a0Potamogeton<\/em>\u00a0leaves with Ebony Jewelwings, American Rubyspots, Stream Bluets, and Powdered Dancers flickering above them.\u00a0Do they have a Plan B?<\/p>\n\n\n\n These two Brilliant Jumping Spiders (aka Red & Black jumping spiders), a male and a female, were perched a respectful distance from each other on the prairie.\u00a0Jumping spiders, as their name suggests, jump, and depending on species, can cover from 10 to 50 times their body length.\u00a0They don\u2019t spin trap webs, but they do spin a drag line while jumping to guard against mishaps.\u00a0They hunt by day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The great MObugs website (Missouri\u2019s Majority) says that \u201cBy late July or August mating is on their mind. Males begin to compete with other males for the right to mate with nearby females. Larger males typically win these competitions which include loud vibrations and some unique footwork. Males choose the larger females to mate with as they produce the most eggs<\/em>.\u201d She will place her egg sac in a silken nest in a leaf shelter and guard it, dying shortly after the spiderlings emerge from the sac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zelus Luridus<\/em>\u00a0(aka the Pale green assassin bug) is the BugLady\u2019s favorite Assassin bug.\u00a0They mostly wait patiently for their prey to wander by, but when it does, they reveal their super power. Glands on their legs produce a sticky resin that they smear over the hairs on their legs. When they grab their prey, it stays grabbed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n They make distinctive egg masses<\/a>\u00a0(nice series of shots) \u2013 the BugLady has found them on the undersides of leaves, and the nymphs<\/a> are pretty cool, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although \u201clurid\u201d now means shocking, vivid, or overly bright, it originally meant ghastly, horrifying, pale, sallow, or sickly yellow \u2013 its meaning began to change in the 1700\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There \u2013 all caught up! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Go outside – look at bugs!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The BugLady<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Just before this episode was launched, bugguide.net<\/a> was inexplicably offline \u2013 if it still is, check the links later)<\/p>\n\n\n Greetings, BugFans Here are some of the bugs that the BugLady found in June, which was, overall, a hot and wet month (7.97\u201d of rain at the BugLady\u2019s cottage). Lizzard Beetle \u2013 the BugLady doesn\u2019t know why these striking beetles …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32664,"featured_media":15058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[8],"tags":[846,30,607,41,158,849,469,848,847,11,852,851,614,853,844,79,845,850,541,31,854],"class_list":["post-15057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bug-of-the-week","tag-baltimore-checkspot","tag-beetles","tag-bugs","tag-butterflies","tag-caterpillars","tag-common-spring-moth","tag-crayfish","tag-doncia","tag-doodlebugs","tag-dragonflies","tag-eight-spotted-forester-moth","tag-green-lacewing-eggs","tag-insects","tag-jumping-spiders","tag-lizard-beetle","tag-moths","tag-orange-bluets","tag-petrophila-moth","tag-powdered-dancer","tag-spiders","tag-zelus-luridus"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n