-
Archives
- September 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- February 2019
- December 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Austin’s 10th Annual BugFest
Event: Austin’s 10th Annual BugFest When: Saturday, June 10th at 4-8:00 PM Where: At in.gredients 2610 Manor Rd, Austin, Texas 78722 Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/10th-annual-austin-bug-eating-festival-tickets-34667068134 What: Open to the public and free for kids, BugFest is your chance to learn about insects as food for people, pets and livestock. Taste food made with insects, see Chef Josh Jones, Co-Founder of Salt & Time and Chef PV do bug cooking demonstrations, enjoy SPUN ice cream, kids activity tables hosted by ATX urban farm, Green Gate Farm and GirlsEmpowerment Network. Hear the Austin premier of BugFest… Read More →
Walnut caterpillars
An outbreak of walnut caterpillars has recently been reported in Fort Bend county. These caterpillars can be found on pecan, walnut, and hickory as well as oak, willow and various woody shrubs. Walnut caterpillars have chewing mouthparts and can defoliate trees. Walnut caterpillars live together in a group after hatching out of the eggs. As they grow, they are reddish-brown and become covered with long, white hairs. Larger larvae are covered in white hair and can grow up to 2 inches long. The way damage appears depends upon… Read More →
Stink bugs- have you seen me?
Yesterday as I was perusing the demo garden outside the office for insects (it’s how I take a break…) when I came across a plethora of stink bugs. There were adults. There were nymphs. There were even eggs! I took photos and planned on using them for some future endeavor at the time unknown to me when….. ….today seems to be the time for the photos. I received an email this morning asking what the bug was that I had discovered in such high numbers yesterday. I am… Read More →
Spittlebugs
I’m sure that you’ve seen spittlebugs somewhere recently. They seem to be everywhere this spring. When I was little, I remember walking through the fields by our house and the plants would be covered with spittlebugs. My mom would tell me that it was frog spit and if I touched it I would get warts. So how do you test a hypothesis? You experiment. This led me to the aforementioned fields covered with “spit”. Imagine my delight and surprise when I discovered an insect buried in the middle… Read More →
2017 All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar Series: Ticks
When: Friday, May 5th, 1:00PM CDT Where: online https://extension.zoom.us/j/332261879 In this webinar, Dr. Thomas Mather, Professor, University of Rhode Island, (aka “the tick guy”) will talk about an important arachnid, ticks. Ticks that you do and don’t see as well as how to protect yourself, your family, and your pets will be discussed. Moderated by Ellen Huckabay and Bethany O’Rear, Regional Extension Agents, Alabama Extension. Click here to login as a guest and participate in the live event. Note: on May 5th, the link to the live webinar opens… Read More →
NatureFest 2017
Come see me today!
2017 East Austin Garden Fair
It’s that time of year for everyone’s favorite garden fair! Come join us for the fun! When: Saturday, April 8, 2017 from 9AM- 2PM Where: Parque Zaragosa Recreation Center- 2608 Gonzales Street Austin, TX Cost: FREE!! Free and open to the public, this fun, hands-on fair involves community members in creative, low-cost ways to grow vegetables, herbs and fruit to improve the family diet as well as information about Earth-Kind landscaping. Travis County Master Gardeners offer University-based information to fairgoers on a diverse variety of horticulture topics, while… Read More →
Yucca plant bugs
Do you have yucca planted in your landscape? Have you checked it lately for pest problems? I know that it seems early to start checking for pests but I walked past the yucca at the office this week and it is covered with yucca plant bugs already. Yucca plant bugs are in the order Hemiptera and are related to other sucking pests such as stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs, but are much smaller. Adult yucca plant bugs have a bright reddish-orange head and thorax with dark bluish-black wings…. Read More →
FREE Webinar series- 2017 All Bugs Good & Bad
The 2017 webinar series All Bugs Good and Bad starts today (Friday, February 3, 2017). Please join us for this webinar series for information you can use about good and bad insects. We used your feedback to bring topics that you suggested for 2017. We will discuss troublesome insects such as invasive ants, landscape pests, vegetable pests, and house dwellers as well as arachnids too. Not all insects are bad, though, come and meet some of our native pollinators! The series kicks off today with “Don’t let tramp… Read More →
Why entomology? Why study bugs?
I often get the questions of today’s topic posed to me when I meet people. Why did you go into entomology? How did you decide to work with bugs? It all started when I was a kid. I loved insects. I have various memories throughout my childhood that pointed to my future career as an entomologist, but I didn’t know at the time that I could work with insects and get paid for it. In 5th grade, we were assigned to research and write a report on the… Read More →