Greetings, BugFans,
The BugLady’s file of insect-related media stories runneth over, and it’s time to share. Here’s a potpourri of items on invasive insect species, insect behavior, spectacular insects, and on people discovering new things about insects. Enjoy (fingers crossed that NatGeo and the New York Times aren’t feeling too proprietary).
Six years ago, the BugLady wrote about the (slowly) growing interest in eating insects (https://uwm.edu/field-station/entomophagy/). What’s sauce for the goose is apparently sauce for the family pet: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fido-how-about-some-fly-larvae-dinner-180976270/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201112-daily-responsive&spMailingID=43896066&spUserID=ODg4Mzc3MzY0MTUyS0&spJobID=1881004916&spReportId=MTg4MTAwNDkxNgS2.
What do Monarch caterpillars do when food gets scarce? They get feisty, that’s what. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/monarch-caterpillars-butt-heads-over-milkweed-180976405/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201125-daily-responsive&spMailingID=43984386&spUserID=ODg4Mzc3MzY0MTUyS0&spJobID=1882182288&spReportId=MTg4MjE4MjI4OAS2.
In 2011, the BugLady included the alien and invasive (remember – some species are both, but those terms are not synonyms) Brown marmorated stink bug in a Stink bug overview (https://uwm.edu/field-station/stink-bugs-revisited/) and she plans to revisit it someday. Meanwhile, here’s a story of a potential biological control. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/scientists-spent-years-plan-import-wasp-kill-stinkbugs-then-it-showed-its-own.
Another invasive, the newly-arrived (2014) Spotted lanternfly, is poised to do a lot of damage in North America. While it may look like a butterfly https://bugguide.net/node/view/1916873/bgimage, the Spotted Lanternfly is an actual “bug,” – a planthopper https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-is-the-spotted-lanternfly-180975778/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200922-daily-responsive&spMailingID=43523226&spUserID=ODg4Mzc3MzY0MTUyS0&spJobID=1841889851&spReportId=MTg0MTg4OTg1MQS2.
Would a “Bugs in the News” episode be complete without the Murder Hornet? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-live-murder-hornet-captured-us-180975987/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201005-daily-responsive&spMailingID=43617656&spUserID=ODg4Mzc3MzY0MTUyS0&spJobID=1860410574&spReportId=MTg2MDQxMDU3NAS2.
Plus a great story about Leaf/stick insects – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/science/leaf-stick-insects-phyllium-asekiense.html?campaign_id=61&emc=edit_ts_20201201&instance_id=24610&nl=the-great-read®i_id=106911568&segment_id=45778&te=1&user_id=48ae4cbec4a693ab58f7a257b0a261ad.
And finally – this is one of the BEST VIDEOS EVER – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/07/ghost-orchids-florida-surprising-pollinators-moths/.
Stay healthy,
The BugLady