One of the pleasures of summer is observing insect behavior, particularly wasps. This Sphex ichneumoneus female has prey for its offspring. This paralyzed orthropteran will be entombed and fed upon by the wasp larvae.

Mosquito larvae in the insectary. We rear them to adults and use them to test chemical efficacy against them. They don’t know what is coming 😊.

This is more than a bunch of improperly stored tires, it’s the ideal environment for an invasive mosquito, Aedes aegypti, a species known to transmit pathogens 🦠 that have caused Zika, Dengue, and Yellow fever. Despite this, people still do this with tires.

A rare sight in much of its natural range, the Green anole. Other Caribbean anoles are displacing this species.

Found interesting millipede, it appears to be Yellow banded millipede, Anadenobolus monilicornis while in Vero Beach Florida. This species is from the Caribbean but is established in Florida.

In Florida, we are fighting to stop invasive species like climbing ferns, cogon grass, and Brazilian pepper. Unfortunately we have a serious uphill battle.

Always exciting to come across Ellipsoptera hirtilabris. It is a challenge to see them against the white sand.

Some days you just gotta hang on a little longer than others… robber flies get it!

Can you say Cryolophosaurus ellioti? Jurassic dinosaur found in Antarctica. Yeah it ate meat!

These tussock moth caterpillars got a lot of attention last year, so much I was invited to discuss them on tv… who knew?

Mosquito larvae in our insectary! Soon to be test subjects in bottle bioassay work.

Moths can be beautiful too! Nice to see a rosy maple moth.

Agama anyone? During the Florida Mosquito Control Association in Orlando Florida, this beautiful Peter’s Rock Agama came out for sun.

Ae. albopictus statue at Anastasia Mosquito Control District.

We had a busy spring with tussock moth caterpillars everywhere in some places. This caterpillar was a victim of parasitoid wasps.