Aman comes to a point in his life when he finds he has lost his stridulations. I like to joke about it, but I feel a little sadness too. For last week I was in the rough meadows around derelict glasshouses, bush grass pointing tall, betony and bedstraw in flower. Grasshoppers and crickets were chirruping […]
Tag: grasshopper
9 Good Bugs for Your Garden and How to Attract Them
Not all creepy-crawlers are welcome in the garden, but some insects are very beneficial to the success of your flowers, herbs and veggies. According to Almanac, beneficial bugs fall into three categories: pollinators, which help pollinate plants; predators, which feed on garden pests; and parasitizers, like parasitic wasps and other insects that lay eggs inside […]
Lawsuit Launched Challenging USDA’s Failure to Protect Endangered Species From Insecticide Sprays Over Millions of Acres in U.S. West
WASHINGTON— The Xerces Society and Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent today to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s secretive Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for failing to properly consider harms to endangered species caused by insecticide spraying across millions of acres of western grasslands. APHIS oversees and funds the application […]
Easter in Derbyshire
Joyce and I stayed with friends for a week in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and although not at all a bird or photographic week I, as usual managed to get away once or twice or find something while out and about. ( or cunningly suggesting somewhere to go that I thought might be good for seeing some […]
We’re losing the sound of crickets chirping in the summer
With crickets in decline, some scientists say that the insects’ summer crooning may become a thing of the past. Fireflies may be the more obvious iconic insect of summer evenings, what with their showy fairy-light antics and childhood charm. But what would those warm nights be without the chorus of crickets providing a soundtrack for […]
Hal Scott Preserve, 2/17/2018
On Saturday, I visited Hal Scott Preserve to look for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. I found two, which was really nice to see. I also saw several Carolina Satyrs, and I got my best photos of the species. I then went to Tosohatchee, where I saw lots of interesting bugs. I’m playing with the video capabilities of […]
11 Wondrous Facts About Praying Mantises
From extreme camouflage to sexual cannibalism, these pious-looking carnivores are as exquisite as they are fearsome. Named for their prominent front legs that fold together in a supine gesture suggesting an act of devotion, the praying mantis comes off as supine and soulful. You might think of them as docile things, moving about slowly, nibbling […]
It is the end of September already!
I am on vacation. Here’s a poem by Sara Teasdale entitled September Midnight: Lyric night of the lingering Indian Summer, Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing, Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects, Ceaseless, insistent. The grasshopper’s horn, and far-off, high in the maples, The […]