Only eyes for insects

Another summer come and gone. The highlights include several species we’ve never seen before. And not a single European Wasp in sight! This pest boomed in the early post-fire period. We are rejoicing in its disappearance.

Were insect numbers lower than normal this year? It did feel that way. Many of the large, showy butterflies barely made an appearance. Even my well-studied sand-nesting crabronids are harder to find. The crazy weather probably has something to do with it. Flooding summer rains after a long winter drought is not normal for our region. And perhaps the growing population of insect-eating birds is partly to blame. Those fairy-wren chicks are all doing just fine!

Yet the diversity of insects remains impressive.

beetles & dragonflies

bees, wasps & ants

butterflies & moths

flies

last orders