Month: July 2015

The Monarch Butterfly

By: Ana Legrand, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, 2015. The monarch butterfly holds the record for the longest regularly repeated migration. A delicate butterfly that is able to travel between 1,200 and 2,980 miles to journey between three countries – Mexico, United States and Canada. But more on these amazing travels later. Monarchs […]

Aphids

By: Joan Allen, UConn Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, 2015 Aphids are tiny, soft-bodies insects with pear-shaped bodies. They have long legs and a pair of tube-like cornicles on the back of their abdomen. They have incomplete metamorphosis which means the newly hatched young gradually molt through several nymph stages until they become […]

Lady Beetle

By: Donna Ellis, UConn, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, 2015. Lady beetles, also known as ladybird beetles or ladybugs, are members of the insect order Coleoptera, which are insects with sheathed or covered wings. The adults range in length from 1 to 10 mm, typically have round or oval bodies often brightly colored […]

Mantids

By Donna Ellis, UConn, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, 2015. The insect that we commonly refer to as a praying mantis is also known as a mantid. Praying mantids earned their nickname because they hold their forelegs bent and raised as if in prayer. These large, beautiful predators belong to the insect order Mantodea. […]

Bug Week Offers Programs for the Whole Family

  UConn Extension’s Bug Week is right around the corner, and we have programs for the whole family. Bugs are the unsung heroes of our ecosystem, providing services such as pollination and natural pest control. However, bugs don’t stop at environmental benefits. They have also impacted our culture through the manufacturing of silk, sources of dyes, […]

Want More Bugs?

Are you looking for more bug related activities, and can’t wait for Bug Week? We’ve pulled together a few things of interest for you: WayBack Burgers is offering Cricket Milkshakes. WNPR and the Daily Share both had news stories about it. The milkshakes are only offered for a limited time, stop and visit a Wayback […]

Million Pollinator Garden Challenge

Pollinators are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food we take each day, and yet pollinators are at critical point in their own survival. Many reasons contribute to their recent decline. We know for certain, however, that more nectar and pollen sources provided by more flowering plants and trees will help improve their health and […]