Crazy As A Bedbug?
I’m not sure where that expression originated, but it means nutty or a bit insane, and it describes how I feel about bugs. I’m crazy about bugs. The more I know about them, the crazier I am about them. Bugs are the easiest wildlife to find. They tell you a lot about the health of ecosystems as large as Yosemite or as small as your own backyard, patio, or window box.
I’ve noticed an uptick in the number of bugs and birds since I began to plant native plants in my backyard to replace the juniper bushes that dominated the space for many years. Even this early in our Pacific Northwest spring, I see butterflies, beetles, ants, and the lovely bug-consumers—birds and garter snakes. Two buggy challenges are capturing the bugs’ beauty and identifying them.
In my meandering on the web, I’ve found two resources to share with you.
If you want to identify bugs, try their nifty “click on a silhouette” to find right bug section. Try it, and let’s compare notes. BugNet
Bug photography is an art form in the hands of Alex Wild. (Plus a cool last name for a naturalist. In the footsteps of E.O. Wilson, Wild is obsessed with ants and other photogenic species. For a “best of the ants” look, try this link: You’ve never seen ants like these. ScienceBlogs Ant Diversity Sampler
Speaking of E.O. Wilson, I’ll leave you with one of his thoughts: “When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.”
Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson
The Songs of Insects by Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger
