The shape of the green planthopper makes it look like some advanced, new-age flying machine that might have been designed and built at NASA rather than in nature. Read more »

Growing up, I was often in the presence of the spider known as daddy longlegs. Somehow my siblings and I got the name twisted and often referred to the arachnids as granddaddy longlegs or simply granddaddies. As an adult, I still use the name occasionally. Read more »

Have you ever heard the phrase, “like a moth to a flame”? Well, for the insect we are about to discuss that phrase has no relevance. Most moths are attracted to light but this is not so with the clothes moth, which prefers to move to the rhythm of its own drum and remain hidden in dark places. Read more »

Have you ever watched a colony of ants? Countless numbers of little insects scurrying about, seemingly without purpose, but nothing could be further from the truth. Though their patterns may be indistinguishable to the casual human observer, each member of an ant colony has a job and all the members work together in a uniform pattern for the safety and productivity of the entire society. Read more »

Worms, they are everywhere. They live on the ground’s surface, on plants and trees, underground and lots of other places. One of the most common members of the worm family is the earthworm. Read more »

Believe it or not, the best thing about the fly may be the maggot. The common house fly lays eggs in moist and rotting material. Creamy white maggots are the organisms that come from the eggs. The site where the eggs are laid is important because the emerging maggots will need to feed immediately. Read more »

If you are sitting around outside one night and see what appears to be the biggest mosquito known to man, don’t panic. Instead, calmly take a second look; it may be a crane fly rather than a mosquito that you are viewing. The two are similar in appearance other than the size difference. Read more »

Okay, it may not be as aesthetically pleasing as the more ostentatious members of the butterfly family, but as moths go, the burnished brass moth is quite appealing to the eye. Read more »

Sometimes the most fascinating aspect of an organism is its name and the origins of that name. This holds true with the earwig. The moniker is derived from the belief that the slithery insects were capable of crawling into the ears of sleeping people and navigating the ear canal until reaching their destination, the brain. They were then believed to bore into the brain, not an ideal situation for the unsuspecting sleeper. It’s worth mentioning that no evidence of this occurrence is known to exist. Read more »

It has been said that the German cockroach is the one that gives all cockroaches a bad name. That is quite a statement when you consider that no cockroach has ever been labeled as a credit to its species. Read more »