My Bugatorium Emporium!

I have been noticing lately how ‘interesting’ the bugs in my garden are.  I took photos of several of them and then looked them up!

Apparently there is DANGER associated with some of the bugs in my garden!!!!!!

Have a look-see at my photos and perhaps you’ll want to keep an eye out for some of these guys in your own garden because…some of these teeny little guys have a VERY BAD REPUTATION!

Let's begin...

Above is the Japanese Beetle – Beautiful and Bad at the same time. They might look quite stunning on your flowers but what they DO to your flowers is the total OPPOSITE of stunning! BE WARNED!

 Photo above is a Red Headed Ash Borer Beetle.  Just look at how cute those long feelers are…the targets of this bug are stressed and dying trees! NOTHING CUTE HERE AFTER ALL! These red headed buglets like several hardwood tree species but their favorites are ash, oak, hickory, persimmon and hackberry..

 The black bug above who is DEFINITELY NOT afraid of it’s own shadow is a Great Black Wasp!  It packs a wallop of a sting but for the most part it is NOT interested in people.  However…if you are a Katydid…and a Great Black Wasp sees you … YOU’RE TOAST! Katydids are this bugs food of choice!

Above is a Green Metalic Sweat Bee. They like to dine on delicious flower nectar.  They are attracted to human and animal sweat. I wear a LOT of antiperspirant when I photograph them.

I captured this vivid House Fly rubbing his legs together.  I figured he was doing that in anticipation of landing on a pile of putrification somewhere… but in reality… he was actually washing up!

 When a Bumblebee is on a flower and thinks you are hovering just a little TOO CLOSE, it will raise one of its middle legs.

If you see the middle leg movement…step away from the bee…or it WILL sting.  They don't like people hovering in their personal space.

Above is a Black and White Wasp or else it's a Black Jacket Wasp!  Maybe those are just two different names for the same species of wasp! Either way...I'm petrified at the thought of having one of them land on me but apparently...they are quite partial to daisies!

 

Here we see the greatly feared paper wasp.  I often see it spending a lot of time on  our wooden pergola or in my birdbath! Apparently they gather fibers from the wood on the pergola and chew them up and then they mix the chewed up wood fibers with the water in my birdbath in order to make an impressive grey paper nest, which is undoubtedly, some where, nearby!