Other Photos from 2012 Library Bug Hunt
Here are the rest of the small arthropods that we caught in the public library’s back yard on the August 23, 2012 Bug Hunt. Overall, the yield in the mowed lawn in August was a bit disappointing, as it had been a bit dry and most of the insects had gone elsewhere. There were enough to keep the kids busy, though, and these are the ones that actually got brought to me to photograph. The first is one of the Crambid Snout Moths (probably in the genus Agriphila) that one of the kids found perched under a dandelion leaf. You can just see its characteristic bushy mouthparts partly hidden under the leaf.
The kids found some pretty tiny things, like this barklouse (which I think is probably Mesopsocus laticeps, a species that I’ve found around here before). Note that the fingernail it is perched on is the fingernail of an 8-10 year old child, and scale accordingly.
They even spotted this tiny little orb weaver spider, that had killed and wrapped up some tiny prey:
I think the spider’s prey was a winged aphid, like this one:
And, one kid and his dad went netting in the lake that the library is next to, and found this mayfly nymph:
Overall, it was a good time and the kids had fun, but if we want to get a really good insect yield I think that, in the future, we should do this no later in the year than about mid-July, and maybe mid-June would be better. By August, I think that a lot of the kinds of insects that might be found in mowed lawns or pine trees have either moved on, or dug in to wait out the driest part of the summer. And, since the lake is right there, having an aquatic net to dredge the bottom will probably turn up more good stuff than the mowed lawn does.
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I’m sure the kids had a grad time on the bug hunt. That mayfly nymph looks a bit accusatory, though. “Why did you do this to me?”
When I first saw the topic- I thought it was IN the library! When I was a kid our old library in town frequently had book lice and heaven knows what else. I really never let them get in the way of a good story.
Katbird: It never occurred to me that the title could be interpreted that way, but you’re right.
As it turns out, our library is of recent construction, and probably doesn’t have much in the way of indoor insects, but it might be worthwhile to quietly check for them sometime.