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Since writing about the imminent, magical, cicada emergence last month several intriguing follow-up questions have been posed, including; “Where do these strange insects come from…
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Spring break seems to mark a rite of passage into full-blown adulthood for some college-age students. Many feel compelled to experience it at least once…
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The other day I found myself pondering one of life’s biggest entomological questions. Pondering is not an uncommon activity for me. A large part of…
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When we see a newborn baby, we sometimes use the phrase “cute as a bug’s ear,” or even more commonly, “cute as a bug in…
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I don’t often get questions about new insect outbreaks in the home at this time of year, but when I do it is often near…
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Food consumption is on Americans’ minds right now with recent Thanksgiving Day feasts under our belt (literally if not figuratively), and Christmas dinners, Hanukah celebrations,…
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As the smallest of six brothers, I was often patted on the top of my head by my grandfather, who would say, “It ain’t the…
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The heat of summer is almost in the rearview mirror, bringing thoughts of apples, pumpkins, football and …. crickets. It hit me just now when…
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The whole country was abuzz a few months ago when reports of Asian giant hornets hit the media. The news story was evidently a good…
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One of our greatest social fears is to appear in public at a party wearing the identical dress or shirt or outfit that another person…
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I don’t spend a lot of time pondering what might cause the end of our world as we know it, be it an asteroid colliding…
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After my children progressed from the stage where they argued with friends about whose dad was biggest or whose dad could beat up whose dad,…
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A lot has happened since my last column. Our sense of normality has been drastically altered. We are staying home more, and when we do…
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Viruses are at the top of nearly everyone’s list of concerns right now, and understandably so. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc within our medical community and…
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On several occasions photos of huge camel spiders, the size of a human’s calf, have exploded across the internet, accompanied by alarming stories describing how…
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An entomological rule of thumb is that insects are active in the spring, summer, and fall, but not the winter. It is what we always…
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Leaf-footed pine bugs can be inadvertently carried into a home on Christmas trees. Boxelder bugs brought into a home on firewood. If you are convinced…
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When teaching about insects, biologists almost never say “always” or “never.” The words “almost always,” usually,” “most often,” “generally,” “ordinarily,” and “normally” can save a…
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Some time ago I wrote a Spineless Wonders column about the invasion of stink bugs – specifically, the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys). I…
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Dear Dr. Tim, What’s up with all the locusts, or whatever you call the “hoppy” insects that are all over our neighborhood. Is this the…
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