Natural Science Forum / Biology / Entomology / August 2004

region, monarch production was exceptionally low this summer.

I have been trying to identify an insect that I recently discovered in
my house.
I have been to many sites on the internet over the past few weeks, but
can't seem to find anything that fits the description of the insect

There's an old saying "a few swallows do not a summer make". I have no
reason to doubt that the North American monarch population will rebound,
but it seems a bit premature to proclaim this has happened on the basis
of the small numbers in the posted photos (by the way, Gaylord, MN, ...

So far so good. Now let's try an insect!
Bark Beetle? I've flipped through a few books and velieve this to be one
but was hoping someone could narrow down the genus. Info and thumbnailed
images located at http://incertaesedis.com/insects.php.

I've seen this wasp for several years during the summer in the
Dallas/Fort Worth area. This is the first photo I've found of it
anywhere. In showing this to a friend who has an interest in insects,
he felt that the ID on the following webpage was not correct. To me

On Martha's Vineyard, we have black hornets that spend alot of time
crawling through the grass and I have found 3/4 inch holes in the
ground with dirt piles next to them. Are these holes the nests of
these hornets and are they agressive? I found them near my kids swing

Recently I collected some red back spiders near where I live. I was
about 50 yards from the south shore of Utah Lake, Utah County, UT.
Closest city would be Benjamin. These are the typical black to brownish
spiders with the red striped on top and the red hourglass underneath. I

I've found another spider and as always am unable to identify the genus.
These are quite common and I'd imaginne someone here knows them. Photos
and data located on the main page of: http://incertaesedis.com/
Thanks,

I live in Raleigh, NC and I have gathered insects from Fayetteville,
NC in 1996 and this summer in Raleigh, NC and I have yet to come
across one walking stick. I remember seeing them in decent numbers
when I was a kid in Kentucky and Tennessee. The majority of North

In June I spent a day and a half photographing butterflies in southern
Texas.  I've just posted photos from the trip:
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/pix/txleps.html
Nothing rare, but I'd appreciate ID help on a couple of the skippers

There is a small swamp like area on the side of the building I work at
in Maryland.  Several of us noticed a really beautiful butterfly in
the weeds and we've all been trying to identify it (via guidebooks,
websites etc) without any luck.  Unfortunately, we've been trying to

I live in East Texas. A picture of the bug is available at this link:
http://images.chaddux.com/insect.jpg
I first saw the bug trapped in a bucket (as pictured) on my porch.
Now, there are at least a dozen in my backyard crawling all over the

I'm hoping someone here can help. I live in southern Ontario, Canada.
I have a weird plant virus affecting some of the echinacea in my garden.
I found some hoppers on the affected plants and am wondering if they
could have vectored the virus.

---FYI---
Glassy-winged Skipper (Xenophanes tryxus) -
August 14, 2004 - Santa Ana NWR, Alamo, Hidalgo Co., TX
Vacerra litana - August 10, 2004 -

Small, 3/4 inch wingspan, brown upperside fore and hindwings, with thin
whitish border on hindwing. Underside forewing is reddish brown with a
light tan edge with a whitish streak separating the two. There is a
definite eye spot approx. 1/8 inch from the tip. The hindwing is