Crab Spider (Thomisidae):

Female crab spiders are larger than males and are around 0.16-0.3 inches in length. Females are usually green, white, or yellow with a pair of red dots. Males are usually darker with brown strips and a greenish white underside. 
 

• There are more than 2,000 different species of crab spiders around the world. 

• Their name comes from their crab-shaped body and their ability to move sideways and backwards like crabs. 

• Crab spiders do not have a need for creating a web to catch their prey. They are considered ambush spiders since they blend into the colors of flowers and ambush insects that come near them.

• Crab spiders can change their color over the course of a few days to blend in better with a flower that they are waiting on. 

• Crab spiders produce silk, but use it for wrapping their eggs instead of web construction. They also use this silk to form balloons to lift them away in the air!

• Females will protect their eggs and wait for  them to hatch which can take around three weeks. She does not eat during this time and dies shortly after eggs hatch from exhaustion and lack of food. 

National Geographic Video: Color Changing Spider.

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National Geographic: "Spiders Spin Balloons to Fly Away." 

 
Soft Schools: Crab Spider.

 
BioKids: Thomisidae.

Silverfish Centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata):

Silverfish centipedes have 15 pairs of long slender legs that are banded white and brown. They are around 1 ½ inches in length. The body is brown/greyish yellow with dark bands across back. 
 

• Silverfish centipedes prefer moist dark areas and feed on small insects, their larvae, and spiders. 

• Active at night, Silverfish bury themselves during winter and become active again in the spring.

• Males create a silk pad where he places his sperm and female uses this silk pad to fertilize her eggs after-which she buries the eggs in the soil. 

• Silverfish centipedes are often found in homes usually in the basement, closets, or bathrooms but can also be found in parks. 

• They could bite humans, but they are not considered a threat, rather more of a nuisance in homes even though they eat many other household pests. 

Animal Diversity Web: Scutigera coleoptrata.

UKY Classes: Silverfish Centipedes. 

Millipede (Eurymerodesmus spp.):

Range in size from 0.12 in-5.12 in. Come in colors ranging from black, red, brown, and white. 
 

• There are around 10,000 different species of millipedes in the world!

• Their name comes from the Latin: milli=thousand and ped=foot so “thousand foot” however millipedes do not have a thousand legs but more around 80-400 legs and some having up to 750 legs. 

• Millipedes are thought to be one of the first animals to set foot on land around 443 million years ago! 

• Millipedes will coil up in a ball to protect their legs when threatened. 

• Millipedes contain spiracles or tiny holes on the sides of their bodies that allow them to breath fresh moist air in their body. 

• They normally feed at night on things like dead plant matter and fungi helping to keep things moving in the food cycle. 

Insect Identification: Millipede.

Animal Corner: Millipedes.

 
Nevada Appeal, JoAnne Skelly: “Crawling visitors.”

Water Penny Beetle (Psephenidae):

Mostly found clinging to the undersides of rocks, these creatures are round, flat and brown that resemble pennies as larvae. They have segmented bodies and legs on their underside. ​Small, brown beetle when adult. 

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• This beetle is so called a “water penny” since the larvae of this beetle looks like a penny in the water as opposed to most beetles that have grub-like larvae. 

• While they don’t live long as adult beetles, water pennies can live up to a year as a larvae. 

• Using their legs, Water Pennies scrape off algae from rocks as a source of food. 

• Water Penny Beetles are a sign of a healthy river as they cannot live with high amounts of pollution, sediment, fungi, or algae growth.  

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MDC Discover Nature: “Water Penny Beetle Larvae.” 

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A monarch’s wingspan can reach 5 inches in length although most reach 4 inches. Their wing color is a distinctive orange and black with white marking on the trim of the wings.
 

• The color of the monarch butterfly warns predators such as birds to back off and find food elsewhere as they are slightly toxic to predators. 

• Monarchs get this toxicity from eating the milkweed plant in its caterpillar stage which is the only plant that monarch eggs will be laid on and the only food source for these caterpillars. 

• Monarchs are widely known for their massive migration that can take place over 2,000 miles from as far north as Canada to as far south as Mexico! 

• Scientists are still trying to figure out how monarchs intuitively know where to go to make it back to the exact same spots each year, especially since multiple monarch generations are needed to complete the full migration. 

• Monarch butterflies travel from summer breeding grounds to winter hibernation spots. 

• Monarch have around 3-4 generations during the summer that simply breed and live in their summer location, but the last generation is physically and behaviorally different from the previous generations allowing this last generation to make the longer migration south for the winter. This last generation also lives the longest ensuring that they can make the journey and allow for future generations.  

Monarch numbers are reducing drastically from loss of habitat and loss of milkweed needed for their eggs/caterpillars to feed on.

How you can help! Plant native milkweed in your yard. Put out a pollinator water station in your yard. Help get our parks pesticide free. Encourage the planting of milkweed at our parks. Advocate for the preservation of monarch habitat. 

Nevada Bugs and Butterflies.

 
National Geographic Kids: Monarch Butterflies.

 
“Pollinator Friendly Gardening” by Rhonda Fleming Hayes.

Pandora Moth (Coloradia pandora):

The Pandora Moth has brown/gray main wings that are around 7-11 cm in length and bottom wings that are greyish pink. Eggs are bluish green/gray and are laid in globular clusters from 2-50 eggs. Larvae are yellow/green to brown and are around 6-8cm. 
 

• Pandora Moths have a two year life cycle with moths emerging in late July and eggs being laid within a few days of hatching. 

• Eggs develop for around 40 days and larvae are cold hardy eating needles during the daytime in the winter months. 

• Larvae crawl down trees in late June where they pupate underground for around 12-13 months.

• Larvae can cause extreme defoliation in the areas they populate.

• Larvae were harvested and eaten as a protein source by the Paiute of the Owens Valley. 

• Trenches around the Ponderosa tree were dug to catch the larvae for harvest. 

US Forest Service: Pandora Moth. 

“Harvesting Pandora Moth Larvae with the Owens Valley Paiute” by Catherine S. Fowler and Nancy Peterson Walter. Online here.

Echo Azure (Celastrina echo):

The echo azure is a butterfly colored blue-lavender with a light-colored border on the upper side of its wings, and chalky colored with dark speckles on the underside. It is a fairly small butterfly, just 2-3 inches in wingspan. It can be found in chaparral, forest, and suburban neighborhoods.

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• Echo azures lay their eggs on flower buds. 

• Sometimes, they will pupate (when the caterpillar morphs into a chrysalis) in an ant nest.

• They may exhibit a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with ants: the caterpillars excrete a sugary substance from their “honey gland”, which the ants eat. Additionally, when the caterpillar feels threatened, it can release a chemical similar to an ant pheromone, to which the ants respond with aggression towards a potential predator, thereby protecting the caterpillar.

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Butterflies and Moths of North America: Echo Azure 

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Idaho State University Digital Atlas: Celastrina Ladon

Common Snakefly (Agulla adnixa):

Called a snakefly due to its long body, this flying insect has a remarkably long head and prothorax (where the first legs attach). Attached at the main thorax, their relatively long wings are mostly transparent, with thin black veins.

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• These friendly insects may eat your pests! Adults will eat other kinds of insects, including aphids, and even the larvae will eat garden pests like grubs.

• They are commonly found cleaning their antennae and legs.

• The larvae can walk forwards and backwards.

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Insect Identification: Snakefly 

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Encyclopedia Britannica: Snakefly 

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Bug Guide: Order Raphidioptera - Snakeflies

Ladybug (Coccinellidae):

Small beetles ranging from .03 to .71 inches, colored yellow, orange, or red with small black dots on their wing covers. Depending on their species they can have either stripes, spots or no markings at all.

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• It is a myth that the number of spots indicate the insects age, rather the spots are determined by the species genetics. 

• Ladybugs can play dead and secrete a foul tasting liquid from their joints to prevent being eaten by predators. 

• Considered helpful garden insects because many species prey on agricultural pests such as aphids. Adolescent ladybugs eat the most aphids so keep them around!

• Scientists are studying the delicate ladybug’s wings for potential advancement in engineering. See video here to see the folding of their wings up close! 

• The name ladybug, or ladybirds as they are referred to in Britain, has been linked to the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. There are many different versions of why ladybugs were named after Mary, including the red color association, seven spotted varieties linked to the seven sorrows of Mary, and even a story about medieval farmers praying to Mary to save their crops from a pest infestation. The next morning the farmers found their fields covered in ladybugs, so the beetle was named in honor of Mother Mary.

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National Geographic: Ladybugs

National Geographic: First-Ever Look at the Intricate Way Ladybugs Fold Their Wings Video

Merriam-Webster: “A ‘Ladybug’s’ Spots”

Today I Found Out” “The Fascinating Reason Why Ladybugs are Called That” 

Wikipedia: Coccinellidae

Pill Bugs (Armadillidiidae vulgare):

Wingless, with oval or slightly elongated bodies about ½ inch long. Pill bugs have armor-like shells, and they can roll up into a small ball for protection.

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• Pill bugs, also known as roly polies, are actually crustaceans and not insects at all. They evolved from the sea and are more closely related to shrimp than to beetles! 

• Also known as “wood shrimp” because their taste when cooked is similar to shellfish. 

• Pill bugs use gills to breath, which need to be kept moist. This is why you will only find pill bugs where there is potential moisture, like the damp soil under rocks, or wet rotting wood. 

• Pill bug mothers carry their eggs in a pouch. Pill bugs can have up to 50 eggs in one pouch.

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PBS: Roly Polies Came From the Sea to Conquer the Earth | Deep Look Video 

Pest World for Kids: Pill Bugs

Sciencing: Roly-Poly Bug Facts

Wikipedia: Armadillidiidae

Nightcrawlers (Lumbricina terrestris):

Nightcrawlers are one type of earthworm. They tend to be red and/or brown, but a few have been sighted as greenish. They can reach 12 inches and live up to 10 years. They are deep dwellers of soil down to depths of 6 feet.
 

• Earthworms have 5 hearts! Their bodies consist of mainly water, but they are high in protein and are an  important food source for birds, shrews, and moles. 

• Nightcrawlers can regenerate lost parts of themselves.

• Earthworms are both female and male, but still reproduce between two separate organisms. 

• There is some debate as to when earthworms first appeared, but most scientists agree that earthworms have been around for at least 120 million years.

• Charles Darwin was fascinated by earthworms and studied them for 32 years! He remarked that “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals in the world that have played so important a part in the history of the world.”

•  Earthworms have been referenced by other famous people such as Cleopatra and Greek philosopher Aristotle. Cleopatra held that earthworms were “sacred” and Aristotle referred to earthworms as “the intestines of the soil.”

“The Worm Book” by Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor.

 
National Geographic Kids: Earthworms. 

Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida):

Red Wigglers' bodies are a rusty brown color and can grow up to 3 inches. They live shallow in the soil (within first few inches). Each segment of body has bands alternating of yellow and maroon. 
 

• Red Wigglers are most commonly used for home vermicomposting systems (composting using worms to breakdown green waste). 

• These worms can go through compost waste fast, eating its' body weight in one day and converting that waste into rich compost. 

• Red Wigglers are also used a lot for home composting because they reproduce quickly, doubling in numbers every 60-90 days. 

• Red Wrigglers can handle more fluctuations in temperature, pH, and moisture levels than most other worms species. 

• Red Wrigglers are also used a lot by fishermen since the worm exudes a smelly fluid that is said to attract fish (although others say the wiggle is what attracts fish). 

“The Worm Book” by Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor.