Video credited to @ssbutterflypark on Instagram.

Mosquitoes kill ~700,000 people a year — and they’re breeding in a bottle cap of water in your yard.

I'm a Board Certified Entomologist, and every summer I watch people fog their entire yard with pesticides while completely ignoring the actual problem: standing water.

A few things most homeowners get wrong about mosquitoes:

1. You don't have a "yard" problem, you have a water problem. Aedes mosquitoes (the ones that spread dengue, Zika, and yellow fever) can complete their entire larval cycle in something as small as a bottle cap. Plant saucers, clogged gutters, tarps, kids' toys, that bucket behind the shed — that's where your population is coming from.

2. Larvae are your early warning system. Before you ever get bitten, the larvae are visible — little wriggling "tumblers" hanging at the water's surface. Dump the water and you've eliminated hundreds of future adults without spraying anything.

3. Spraying is the last resort, not the first. Broad-spectrum fogging kills pollinators, beneficial predators, and often barely dents the mosquito population if breeding sites remain. Source reduction first, then targeted larvicides (Bti dunks are cheap and won't harm pets, birds, or bees), then adulticides only if truly needed. This is just standard IPM — Integrated Pest Management.

4. It takes about 7-10 days from egg to biting adult in warm weather. Which means a weekly "tip and toss" walk around your property is genuinely one of the most effective mosquito control measures that exists. Costs you nothing.

#BugOfTheWeek #Mosquito #PestControl #IPM #Entomology #NameDatBug #AskDeeBug #BCE #EntomologyMatters #PestManagement #MosquitoControl #DiseaseVector #BackyardPests #PMP

I love stumbling upon these beauties.

ETA: IDs!

1. Giant Leopard Moth
   
2. North America Luna Moth
   
3. North America Luna Moth & Imperial Moth
   
4. Imperial Moth
   
5. Imperial Moth
   
6. Regal Moth
   
7. Banded Tussock Moth
   
8. Broad-headed sharpshooter
   
9. Polyphemus Moth
   
10. Ornate Tiger Moth
    
11. American Giant Centipede
    
12. Gulf fritillary
    
13. Io Moth
    
14. Rosy Maple Moth
    
15. Beautiful Wood-nymph
    
16. Suzuki’s Promalactis
    
17. Chinese Mantis
    
18. Bold jumping spider
    
19. Io Moth
    
20. Cecropia Moth

Location: TN

I love how these little buggers live underground for years and only emerge during the late summer months.

Chinese mantis nymph. not sure what instar. found him lurking in my milkweed patch. i dont want to cull him but i also dont want him eating the monarchs so i took him inside lol. ill probably get a 12-16" mesh enclosure for him or something. in abundance in my yard there are lots of bugs that i could catch and feed him but im not sure what they eat? his abdomen doesnt look too thin atm so im not too immediately worried about him starving yet haha

Here we have an l3 larva (that still have quite a lot left to grow) of Mecynorhina torquata ugandensis, blue line. This is a famous flower beetle from central Africa widely kept in captivity for its ease of care, huge color variability and relatively fast larval time; it's also impressively sized, second only among flower beetles to (not even all) species of the genus Goliathus, the Goliath beetles. This specimen in particular is a male... in the second pic he kinda looks like the brainbug from Starship Troopers.

While on my morning walk, found this beautiful one who had passed away. Felt wrong to leave it on the sidewalk so I moved it under a tree in the grass. Would love to know if it was male or female, and how to tell 😊

Is this what I think it is? In Georgia, USA, it’s in my backyard garden and while I was watering some droplets got its webs and it shot out fast asf to attack. It’s actually really big. Should I kill it because I do have young kids.

Located in Houston Tx area. Found them eating my jumping spider’s meal worms. The container is well sealed and they weren’t there a few days ago. Looks like they are eating the worms. Can I also feed them to my spider?

This is a nice, not cheap brand of home products and I do not understand why they did not put dragonflies or butterflies instead of them...

Edit: I took this two days ago but if you want the set, here it is https://www.finlayson.fi/products/suukko-pussilakanasetti
it is not AI . The print is called Kiss (Suukko). "The Suukko pattern, designed by Jenna Kunnas, challenges the formula of traditional floral patterns. There are many surprising and intriguing elements among the flowers and kisses."

Found this Beautiful wood nymph on a downspout at work. Such an interesting adaptation. Real beautiful LOL

I can’t seem to ID this wasp down to species but I also can’t quite tell what it’s doing. It’s ovipositing into the flower head of a purple coneflower, but why? The only wasp I could find that maybe made galls in them looks nothing like it. Perhaps it was ovipositing into something inside the head like the parasitic mites or midges that cause galls? I’m not quite sure but hopefully someone can help with this

Ended up in my car going 55 down the road, very mild freak out and caught it. That’s kief and weed dust all over it lol that was the only empty container I had

Looks like a worm, comes out from both ends, but not at the same time. In Colombia. Looks the same on both sides. Thank you!

Is it a female? I read that females can have an orange/yellowish coloring instead of the green. Or is the ID off?

Cool dude that hung out at an Airbnb I stayed at. So big.