Tag Archives: Collembola

Behind Door #1…

When Julia was in high school, she built this little cabin in the woods behind her family’s house in central Ohio: One chilly morning last April, when we stopped there on our way to spending a week exploring the Ozarks, … Continue reading

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The Yard List(s), Part 11

Now that I’ve declared my intention to find as many sawfly larvae as possible, they’re starting to show up everywhere I look. Today Julia and I made a rare trip away from home, lured by the news from my mother … Continue reading

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Quinquennial Snow Flea Session

After my “In Search of Snow Bugs” post a few days ago, Lang Elliott asked if I had any great pictures of snow fleas. I checked my files, and I found that my last attempt to photograph snow fleas on snow … Continue reading

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December Bugs

It’s been quiet here on the BugTracks front lately, as I’ve been devoting all of my computer time to working on the leafminer book. As a result, I’ve decided to take a break from “monthly mysteries” for the winter, since … Continue reading

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Sweater-wearing Springtail

One of the nice byproducts of rearing leafminers is that in checking the vials every day, I get to see some interesting tiny bugs I never would have seen otherwise (in addition to the actual leafminers and their parasitoids).  There … Continue reading

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Bugs on Bluets

Yesterday afternoon I took a short walk before some much needed rain clouds settled over western Massachusetts.  I came to a patch of bluets (Houstonia caerulea), common wildflowers that often don’t seem to have much going on with them in … Continue reading

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Life on a Bolete

Time for another installment of my celebration of fungus fauna.  The day after Hurricane Irene came through my woods, I went for a walk to survey the damage.  There was practically none, as it turned out, other than the hickory … Continue reading

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Puffball Bugs

The fungi are out in force right now, as are all the creatures that feed on them.  This week I’ve been particularly drawn to puffballs. On Wednesday I noticed a little wasp walking around on a gem-studded puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum). … Continue reading

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Stalking Small Game

This morning I was taking pictures of a jumping spider in my yard, and when I paused to review the shots on my camera’s LCD (a necessary ritual when using my macro setup, since many of the pictures are over- … Continue reading

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