Bzzz!! (Hint: it's not a bee)

Cicadas, whose steady hum fills the late summer air,are more often heard then seen. Males make the sharp sound with plate-like organs on the thorax. Some species are called harvestflies because of their late summer appearance; others are called 13-year and 17-year locusts, though the 75 species of cicadas differ widely in the time they take to mature. The females cut slits in young twigs and deposit eggs in them. This sometimes causes damage in nurseries and orchards because the slit twigs break easily in the wind. As the wingless, scaly young hatch, they drop to the ground, burrow in, and stay there 4 to 20 years (depending on the species and the latitude) as nymphs living on juices sucked from roots. The full-grown nymph climbs a tree trunk. The skin splits down the back; the adult emerges. In most species, adults ordinarily live a few weeks - long enough to mate and lay eggs. "Broods" or large colonies of periodical (13- and 17- year) cicadas emerge en masse, and many are eaten by birds.

Hop, Hop, Hop

The Bug of the Day is the leafhopper. These attractive, slender, multicolored insects are often abundant on plants where they can feed by sucking the sap. This causes wilting and injury to grape, apple, clover, beet and other plants. Besides, leafhoppers carry virus diseases from plant to plant and thus become serious pests. Leafhoppers exude "honeydew" as they feed. This is a somewhat sweet surplus sap which attracts ants and bees, which feed on it. Leafhoppers are well known as prodigious jumpers. They are sometimes called dodgers because of the way they slip out of sight when disturbed. The female lays eggs in stems and leaves. Two or more generations are produced each year. Late eggs winter over and hatch in spring. Adults hibernate and emerge in spring also. The young that hatch resemble the adults and pass through 4 or 5 nymph stages before they mature. Leafhopper populations in fields may reach as high as a million per acre. Of some 2,000 known species, about 700 are found in the United States.

Exhausted

I don't feel like posting anything about bugs today. :(

Something Special

Everyone who is following this blog right now, I would like you to do something special. Go and find one species of bug (you only have to do one kind) and find out what it is. Then post the name of the bug in a comment. I will tell you who the winner is. And does anyone need invitations to any of my blogs???

Hop, Hop, Hop

The Bug of the Day is the treehopper. The common green and brown treehoppers are small, winged, sucking insects of curious and peculiar shapes. They live on many plants, feeding on the sap. Because of their protective color and form, they are usually only noticed when moving. Nearly 200 species are known in this country, many with bizarre shapes. Eggs are laid in stems and buds, sometimes causing minor damage. Eggs hatch the following spring. Young are similar to adults.

Lice

The Bug of the Day is lice. Lice are minute, wingless insects that live and breed on their hosts. All are parasites; some carry disease. Biting lice (bird lice), a distinct group, feed on hair, feathers, and fragments of skin. The sucking lice take the hosts' blood directly, by means of sucking mouth-parts. The hog lice (¼ in.) are the largest of this group. The head louse infects humans and is known to carry typhus, trench fever, and relapsing fever. Six to 12 generations of lice may mature annually. Young, similar to adults, develop rapidly. Phew.

Those aren't ants!

Bug of the Day is the termite. Though sometimes called white ants, termites are not ants, and some are not white. Of some 2,000 species, only about 40 are found in this country. Many more are tropical. These highly socialized insects live in colonies composed of four distinct castes. The king and the queen, and the winged termites which can become kings and queens of new colonies, form the first caste. The enlarged and almost helpless queen produces thousands upon thousands of eggs. Most of these hatch into whitish, blind workers who make up the second caste. Soldiers with large heads and jaws, and nymphs which take over the task of reproduction should the king or queen die, make up the last two castes.With the aid of protozoa living in their digestive tracts, termites feed on wood and do some $40,000,000 worth of damage annually to buildings in this country. The young pass through six stages in two years as they develop into adults. Tropical termites build huge nests or mounds, often higher than a man.

There's my description. I went to Casey's party yesterday, and Aaron went to Caesar's. It was a big pool party. I swam around in a hot tub stabbing people with a foam sword. We had a pillow fight. Also I half played Evan's i Pad. There were these plants that give off money and attacked zombies and I picked up the money.