I just love to learn about insects. I know that a lot of people think that they are gross, but I find them to be interesting and some of them, like the tortoise beetle are really cute!
This is list that I created of some interesting insects that I found in the wild in Louisiana, along with some comments:
1. Actias luna (Luna Moth, a huge, beautiful green moth) 3/3/11 Found on my pants leg at Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA
2. Automeris io (Io Moth) 3/25/11 Found on stairs in Baton Rouge, LA
3. Cotinis nitida (Green Beetle) 3/12/11 Found on wall in Baton Rouge, LA
4. Loxosceles recluse (Brown Recluse) 3/12/11 Found on the wall in Baton Rouge, LA
5. Agabus erythropterus (Predacious Diving Beetle, will hunt down other insects and eat them and bite humans) 3/28/11 Found on stairwell in Baton Rouge, LA
6. Hippodamia convergens (Lady Bug, thought of as a sign of love) 3/28/11 Found on wall in Baton Rouge, LA
7. Polistes fuscatus (Paper Wasp) 3/28/11 Found on the wall in Baton Rouge, LA
8. Apis mellifera (Western Honeybee) 3/28/11 Found on the wall in Baton Rouge, LA
9. Culex quinquefasciatus (Mosquito that carries the parasite for Malaria) 3/28/11 Found on wall in Baton Rouge, LA
10. Steatoda triangulosa (Triangulate Cobweb Spider) 3/28/11 Found on wall in Baton Rouge, LA
11. Caenurgina erechtea (Common Grass Moth) 3/28/11 Found on the wall in Baton Rouge, LA
12. Danaus plexippus (Monarch Butterfly) 3/31/11 Found flying outside at Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA
13. Hiles lineate (White-lined Sphinx Moth) 4/2/11 Found on wall in Mandeville, LA
14. Anax junius (A Green Dragonfly) 4/4/11 Found hovering in front of me while walking on the sidewalk at Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA
15. Bombus impatiens (A Furry Bumble Bee) 4/4/11 Found on a flower at Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA
16. Musca domestica (Housefly, Geneticists love these.) 4/4/11 Found on the window screen in Baton Rouge, LA
17. Estigmene acrea (Salt Marsh Moth) 4/4/11 Found in hallway in Baton Rouge, LA
18. Scapteriscus vicinus (Gopher Cricket) 4/20/11 Found on the sidewalk in Mandeville, LA
19. Amynothrips andersoni (A Microscopic Thrip) 4/14/11 Found on a weed that I collected at Southeastern Louisiana University and viewed using SOAR (microscope on a rope) technology at a training workshop that I attended in Hammond, LA
20. Tabanus atratus (Giant, Black Horsefly, it bites!) 4/27/11 Found next to doorstep in Mandeville, LA
It seems as though, some of these insects like the luna moth and the dragonfly found me instead of me finding them!
I enjoyed my experience of observing insects and hope more people can gain the appreciation that I have for them.
Who knows what kinds of interesting creatures one could find snuggled up underneath silver-haired leaves in a warm, sunlight-dappled forest or hugging the earth? These little creatures often seem so insignificant to us, yet they are an essential part of our world. Without them, not many things would be able to live, making them a great sign of life and how the world changes around and us, and we change with it.