www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

Garrett and the Caterpillar

Insects A site honoring bugs, insects, and critters of all kinds! (Also opposed to indiscriminate poisonings,    "zapping," killings, and exterminations!)

(Click on any of this page's "thumbnail" images for a larger view)

Snail at my brother's house Spider at the Butterfly Pavilion

I've always loved living things, including insects. The beauty and diversity of life fascinates and astonishes me. Insects first caught my attention, like everyone else, when I was a child. Their small size, intricate body parts, and unpredictable behavior still captivates the kid in me. As a child I was also saddened by our complete disrespect for animals and insects of all kinds. We kill them for fun, pleasure, or just out of boredom. Even today, in the neighborhood I live in west of Denver, people install powerful bug "zappers," set ant traps and hang yellow bee traps outside their homes. For what purpose? Do you really need to kill all of the insects outside of your home? It's even more amazing to think we're killing all of those outdoors insects when we, ourselves, are too wrapped up in television or eating to make our way outside the door to enjoy our surroundings anyway!! Then, of course, there's our national mania with killing anything that even appears like it'll crawl, fly or slither near a flower garden, school yard, golf course or picnic area. We spray deadly poisons that not only kill the insects but endanger our own lives and wellbeing as well. I hope my little page here will help foster more respect for not only insects, but all living creatures and life in general. Our track record is poor so we've got a long way to go. Nevertheless, I know we can learn to do the right thing!

Insecticide and Lawn Chemicals:

"Looking back, I often speculate on just how my parents viewed the natural world. Although they were not religious people by any means, I'm convinced that when it came to nature, they took their cues from Genesis, believing that man should have dominion over all the earth. They fought crabgrass as fiercely as our nation was then fighting communism. Insects, regardless of their size, function, or level of threat, were obliterated with extreme prejudice. Employing the doctrine of overwhelming force, they sprayed our trees so relentlessly with chemicals that flocks of birds fell dead onto our perfectly clipped lawn. (Spring in our neighborhood was an intensely silent affair.) The roses, the only flowering plant on our embattled landscape with the courage to bloom, were so encrusted with white fungicide powder that many years passed before I knew they were red."

- Mark Winne
Closing the Food Gap Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty, p. 5

Stop the Bug Zappers!

As I suggested, above, there's almost no reason to indiscriminately kill insects outside your home. These first four photographs were taken at a house in my neighborhood on March 26, 2006. In Colorado, where I live, winter can easily linger well into May so there's no real reason to be killing insects all year long because there aren't many out and about until late spring. Nevertheless, it's obvious from these photos that these people intend to kill bees every chance they get (in #4 you can still see clumps of snow on the ground at the house across the street) regardless whether anybody is even home or not!. Even more amazing is that this same house appears to have a bee trap in its backyard - just 15 feet away from their garden that needs the pollination each year!

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#5. Is a picture of a Honey Bee Glue Trap. Although I'll probably post pictures of all kinds of other "bug zapper," on this page, I won't be identifying manufacturers since that last thing I want to do is encourage people to buy their products!

#6. This tennis racket hand zapper device is especially goofy. I found this description for a similar tennis racket device (but not the same one): "Small tennis racket looking device which is used to electrocute insects. It is powered by two "AA" batteries, which are not included, and works very well at delivering a zap of electricity which is more then strong enough to instantly fry most any insect. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT A TOY AND SHOULD BE KEPT AWAY FROM CHILDREN. IT WILL NOT HARM ANYONE TOUCHING THE ELECTRIC GRID BUT IT DOES HURT QUITE A BIT AND IS PAINFUL TO TOUCH."

More Green Mountain Madness...

Denver in the distance...

This is what bees are supposed to do!

Desert Idiocy:

GT 200 "Elite" zapper...

Tucson carts & zapper

I'm very lucky, I've been able to travel to many places and experience all kinds of environments. To me, Tucson (Arizona) is especially enjoyable because its desert environment can be so free of pests and pollutants (most of the time, anyway...). So, it seems especially idiotic to kill insects in such a delicate environment especially since the ones that bite and do harm are so rare. So, I couldn't help photographing this bug zapper in a favorite Tucson retail store. And, this isn't meant to pick on this particular store, either, as bug zappers can found in other parts of Tucson where they are needed even less...

Insect News:

What's happening to the bees?
(Chirstian Science Monitor - April 04, 2007)

"Scientists call it 'colony collapse disorder' (CCD). First reported in Florida last fall, the problem has since spread to 24 states. Commercial beekeepers are reporting losses of between 50 and 90 percent, an unprecedented amount even for an industry accustomed to die-offs."

"Many worry that what's shaping up to be a honeybee catastrophe will disrupt the food supply. While staple crops like wheat and corn are pollinated by wind, some 90 cultivated flowering crops - from almonds and apples to cranberries and watermelons - rely heavily on honeybees trucked in for pollinization. Honeybees pollinate every third bite of food ingested by Americans, says a Cornell study. Bees help generate some $14 billion in produce."

"For many entomologists, the bee crisis is a wake-up call. By relying on a single species for pollination, US agriculture has put itself in a precarious position, they say. A resilient agricultural system requires diverse pollinators. This speaks to a larger conservation issue. Some evidence indicates a decline in the estimated 4,500 potential alternate pollinators - native species of butterflies, wasps, and other bees. The blame for that sits squarely on human activity - habitat loss, pesticide use, and imported disease - but much of this could be offset by different land-use practices."

"Moving away from monoculture, say scientists, and having something always flowering within bee-distance, would help natural pollinators. This would make cropsless dependent on trucked-in bees, which have proved to be vulnerable to die-offs."

"The stress on honeybees grew as native and wild pollinators diminished and farmers came to rely more on honeybees. We've put 'all of our pollination eggs in the honeybee basket,' says Mace Vaughan, conservation director of the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation in Portland, Ore. 'We need more baskets.'"

[Note: The article goes on, at length, about how mites, the stress of transportation, being fed high-fructose corn-syrup in the winter, pesticides, and genetically modified crops effect and kill bees.]

The Xerces Society
(Dear Xerces member - May 2007)

"Lately, there has been a lot of media coverage about the widespread declines in honey bee colonies from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). In light of this issues, the Xerces Society is promoting wild native pollinators as an insurance policy for when honey bees are scarce."

"Although European honey bees are certainly the most important single crop pollinator in the United States, research from across the country demonstrates that a wide range of native bees helps with crop pollination - in some cases providing all of the pollination required.

"Hundreds of species of native bees are available for crop pollination. These free, unmanaged bees provide a valuable service, recently estimated by scientists from the Xerces Society and Cornell University at $3 billion dollars annualy in the U.S."

"Why are native bbes so helpful? Some species, such as mason and bumble bees, are active when conditions are too cold and wet for honey bees. Collectively, native bbes are more versatile than honey bbes. Some native species can buzz-pollinate flowers, which honey bees cannot do; this vibration releases pollen from deep inside the anthers of certain flowers. Plants such as tomatoes, cranberries, and blueberries produce larger, more abundant fruirt when buzz-pollinated."

Teacher loses hand over exploding paperweight
(Tuesday, April 4, 2006)

A Ventura, California teacher blew off part of his hand when he used a 40 mm shell, on his desk, to smash a bug.

The teacher, Robert Colla, apparently used the five-inch-long shell as a paperweight.

In front of 25 students, in the adult education class he was teaching, Colla slammed the shell down in an attempt to kill an insect that was crawling or buzzing across his desk.

According to the Associate Press, the blast severed part of Colla's right hand in addition to creating burn and shrapnel wounds to his forearms and torso.

Luckily no one else in the classroom, other than the unidetified insect, was injured. Colla reportedly found the 40 mm round a few years ago, while hunting, and didn't believe it was still live...

Backyard and Around the World: In addition to my childhood encounters, I've had the great pleasure of encountering all kinds of wonderful bugs, "crawlies," and flying things all around the world. Starting in my own little backyard, where my wife and I try to encourage all kinds of natural diversity, to the Amazon Rainforest and jungles of Africa I've seen all kinds of strange and wonderful insects! The main thing, of course, is taking action in our own backyards by doing everything we can to encourage insects and wild nature to flourish. If everyone did their part, around the world, countless species and individuals would begin to thrive again!

It was a calm day, late in the summer, and these creatures all but ignored my intrusion
into their small and private world. Nevertheless, I still tried to not disturb them as
I moved in real close with my inexpensive camera - I suspect they were all intoxicated by
the warm sun and pollen bounty - life probably couldn't be much better for them other than
having me away!

Pollination

Alone

Lovers

Commonsense!

Yes, there are some insects that can do us harm and deserve our attention before they inflict disease or create other problems. Mosquitoes, ticks, flies and other carriers of diseases and poisons should be controlled in a commonsense fashion that doesn't do unnecessary harm to our environment or ourselves. DDT, Malathion and other chemicals have a long history of causing serious damage to countless species (including us!) and the environment. So, if you must kill insects why not take a cautious, thoughtful approach to controlling the problem without inflicting damage over a wide area and other people?

Grand Canyon Insects:

By age 50 I had been lucky enough to travel through Grand Canyon, on foot, over 15 times. Unfortunately I never owned a camera of sufficient quality to properly photograph the different insects I've encountered in that magical desert environment. Nevertheless, I gave it another try during a week-long hike with Doug in April, 2006. These ants came out pretty good and I also feel lucky to have captured a bee in mid-flight near me. The caterpillar didn't come out too clearly but I felt it needs to be represented here as we encountered thousands all along the trail that week...

Grand Canyon Ants

More Ants

Bee in flight

GC Caterpillar

Speaking of ants, I found an interesting article on how they
travel in a British tabloid article by Jo Steele (Metro - Wednesday,
October 18, 2006, p. 16.). Here is some of what he wrote:

• "Ever wondered how ants seem to be able to find the food at barbecues no matter where you put it in the garden? It is all thanks to their memories, which allows the insects to map out an exact route by remembering landmarks along the way."
• "A small group of 'searchers' are sent out to locate the food. They leave a chemical trail behind to guide other members of the colony. The following ants also store images of the route along the way. This map can then be recalled, allowing them to make subsequent visits. When the landmarks were taken away, the ants were not able to locate the food source, researchers at Sussex University found."

Wasps in my Backyard:

On Monday afternoon (5 pm), July 11, 2005 I photographed these
wasps in our backyard birdbath. At any one time there were a half
dozen of these wonderful little creatures present. Unfortunately
they were quite agitated by the intrusion of my primitive camera
- someday I'll purchase a camera that's a little more sophisticated
that doesn't require resting my wrist on the rim of the bath!

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If you click on #4 I think you'll notice something especially interesting - the wasp is resting securely on the water's surface tension! I know they do this all of the time but in this particular photograph you can almost see a film of molecules that's spread-out beneath the wasp to keep it afloat. Granted, it is birdbath water but I change it almost daily so there really isn't any "pond scum" or debris that's creating this effect - it's something wasps and other small creatures experience all of the time...

Humane Bug Catcher!!

While looking through the Summer 2006 edition of PETA's Animal Times I found this great little bug catcher for sale on page 3 of their Cruelty-Free Living section. I doubled checked their website, as well, where they described the device like this; "Are you the kind of person who wouldn’t hurt a fly? Is your motto 'live and let live,' even when it comes to tiny, six-legged, uninvited house guests? Then the Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher is for you! Simply place Katcha Bug over the bug and slowly slide its plastic trapdoor shut. The bug will step onto the trapdoor as it closes, and you can carry Katcha Bug outside, where all you need to do is slide the trap door open, allowing the bug to walk away. You’ll have no problem catching even large spiders with this handy gadget. Katcha Bug measures 9 inches in length, so you won’t have to get too close for comfort." - At only $6.95 it sounds like a great idea to me!!

Other Insects in and around my House:

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I ran into this unusual spider while painting my garden shed during the summer of '06. Luckily I was able to safely move him and he stayed away, long enough, for the paint to dry. I came back to that same corner (he/she is living under the eve of the shed's roof), four days later, and the spider was there safe and sound!

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