Pictures of Summer Bugs
Bugs, this month's featured animal, and the summer go hand-in-hand. Take a look at pictures of summer bugs!
Fireflies
These cool bugs are commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glow worms due to their use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. The firefly is capable of producing a 'cold light.' There are more than 2000 species of firefly, found in temperate and tropical environments around the world. Many species can be found in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have more abundant sources of food.
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Cockroaches
Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. A peculiar exception is the Oriental cockroach, which is attracted to light, thus making it a far more annoying pest. The cockroach is also one of the hardiest insects on the planet, capable of living for a month without food. It can also hold its breath for 45 minutes and has the ability to slow down its heart rate. The world's largest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach, which can grow to 9 cm in length and weigh more than 30 grams.
Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees are large, hairy bees distributed worldwide. There are some 500 species of carpenter bees. They can be important pollinators on open-faced flowers, though many species are also known to 'rob' nectar by slitting the sides of flowers with deep corollas. Most species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers. In several species, females will live in tunnels alongside their own daughters or sisters, creating a sort of social group. Male carpenter bees are harmless because they do not have a stinger.
Green Bees
Bees are flying insects, closely related to wasps and ants. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, in every habitat on the planet that contains flowering dicotyledons.
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Dragonflies
Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges and other small insects like flies, bees, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands because their larvae, known as 'nymphs,' are aquatic. Dragonflies do not normally bite or sting humans (though they will bite in order to escape, for example, if grasped by the abdomen). They are valued as a predator that helps control the populations of harmful insects, such as mosquitoes. It is because of this that dragonflies are sometimes called 'mosquito hawks' in North America.
Pictures of Summer Bugs
Pennant Dragonflies
Much larger dragonfly species existed in the distant past than occur on earth today. The largest one, found as a fossil was 27.5 to 29.5 inches. This compares to the largest modern dragonfly, the Hawaiian endemic dragonfly, which is 7.5 inches. Dragonflies are the world's fastest insects and, although estimates of their speed vary wildly, most credible authorities say they are capable of reaching speeds of between 19 to 38 miles per hour.
Ladybugs
There are over 5,000 species of ladybugs. They are small insects, ranging from .04 to 0.4 inches, and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. They are usually quite round in shape. They are considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. Because they are useful, colorful, and harmless to humans, ladybugs are typically considered cute even by people who hate most insects. Some people consider seeing them or having them land on one's body to be a sign of good luck to come.
Deer Flies
Deer flies are similar to horse flies, being smaller, having colored eyes, and with dark bands across their wings. While female deer flies feed on blood, males instead collect pollen. When feeding, females use their knife-like mandibles and maxillae to make a cross-shaped incision and then lap up the blood.
Hoverflies
Hoverflies are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers. The adults feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. Aphids alone cause tens of millions of dollars of damage to crops worldwide every year and so aphid-feeding hover-flies are being recognized as important natural enemies of pests, and potential agents for use in biological control.
Robber Flies
There are 7,100 described robber fly species worldwide. All robber flies have stout, spiny legs, a dense moustache of bristles on the face and 3 simple eyes. Adult robber flies attack other flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, various bees, dragon and damselflies, ichneumon wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders.
Checkerspot Butterflies
The Bay checkerspot butterfly is a federally threatened insect species which is native to the U.S. State of California. Since the 1980s the population of Checkerspots has been in seriously declined.
Butterflies
Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies play an important ecological role as pollinators. Butterflies sense the air for scents, wind and nectar using their antennae.
Cicadas
After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig and deposits her eggs there. She may do so repeatedly, until she has laid several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow and start another cycle. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, like 17 years. The insects spend most of the time that they are underground as nymphs at depths ranging from about one to 81/2 feet. The nymphs feed on root juice and have strong front legs for digging. In the final part of their life, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then they shed their skins when they molt.
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are insects scaled wings, a slender body, and long legs. The females of most mosquito species suck blood from other animals. A mosquito can fly for one to four hours continuously. The females of blood sucking species locate their victims primarily through scent. They are extremely sensitive to the carbon dioxide in exhaled breath and exuded through the pores, as well as several substances found in sweat. Some people seem to attract mosquitoes more than others. Being male, being overweight, and having type 'O' blood may increase the risk of being bitten. Mosquitoes can detect heat, so they can find warm-blooded mammals and birds very easily once they get close enough.
Wasps
Generally wasps are parasites as larvae, and feed only on nectar as adults. Some wasps are omnivorous but this is relatively uncommon, they feed on a variety of fallen fruit, like this grape, nectar and carrion. Many wasps are predatory, preying on other insects. Certain social wasp species, such as yellow jackets, scavenge for dead insects to provide for their young.
