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• Post #4314284

  In case you missed it, scientists have confirmed that cats sometimes lick each other just to be annoying. #cat #cats #caturday #licking #jerks [gift link] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/science/cat-grooming-licking-research.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2FA.0VpR.SCUmRDnPUgYv&smid=url-share

• Post #4304680

  When I have small insects that move too quickly for photographs, I like to dump them onto a white platform that sits on ice, to slow them down a bit. If you zoom and squint you can some wasps that I discovered loitering on my yarrow plants. I'm still editing the close-ups but will share soon. A eulophid, I think. #macro #macrophotography #photography #wasps #insects #wasps

• Post #4304679

  Small (~1.25mm) wasp that I've been finding in large numbers on yarrow growing in my yard. I'll probably never be sure, but my guess is that it's Aprostocetus anodaphus (Eulophidae), an endoparasite of Ozirhincus millefolii (Cecidomyiidae), which I've found on the same inflorescences in equally large numbers. As far as I know it has never been reported in North America. Please go out and check for them if you have yarrow and a macro lens. #wasps #hymenoptera #yarr...

• Post #4304678

  Here's another scam I'm trying to get removed from the market: the BiteShield Mosquito Trap. It's filled with yeast and sugar and is supposed to draw in and trap mosquitoes. Currently for sale in the USA, the UK, and Canada. Owner information is hidden behind a Wyoming LLC but I'm pretty sure it's the same scammer who runs Tougher Than Tom, a company based in Austin, Texas. #mosquitoes

• Post #4304677

  Female reproductive structure on a common liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha). I'm hoping the area has a male because I'd very much like to see the yellow sporangia form. The end product looks very much like a mayapple. #liverworts #plants #botany #macrophotography

• Post #4240354

  In case anyone needs to know, if you jostle an inflorescence of yarrow over a piece of white paper, very small (1 mm) wasps fall out. Most tend to hop around instead of flying away. Extremely hard to photograph, disappearing and reappearing like miniature Nightcrawlers from the X-Men universe. Am going to chill some plants to slow them down, so stay tuned if you're interested. You're interested, right?? #wasps #yarrow #achillea #insects #hymenoptera

• Post #4209095

  Egg cartons make good phone stands.

• Post #4208551

  Baking egg shells, as one does. For most of my life I added these to holes dug for tomatoes (because Mom), but I've since learned that that has no effect at all because the calcium carbonate doesn't really dissociate in real time unless you dose it with acids. Same reason I've stopped adding them to the compost. I'm going to grind them up and offer to local birds (I don't have chickens anymore). #CalciumCarbonate #eggs #eggshells #birds #calcium #calcite #chemistry #compost #...

• Post #4118694

  Was hoping this article in the New York Times would be about bats eating mosquitoes but I was wrong. Headline and a single sentence in the article were there to make bats seem like friends (they are, but not because of how many mosquitoes they eat, which is very few). Digital version [follow gift link] has a different headline. #bats #chiroptera #mosquitoes #nyc #newyork #insects #nature #biology #journalism #nytimes https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/nyregion/bats-nyc-highline-prospect-park.htm...

• Post #4118679

  If you spray your yard with garlic to repel mosquitoes you might be inadvertently inhibiting the reproduction of other insects. I.e., garlic-based whole-yard sprays are not as "eco-friendly" as pesticide companies claim. That's my take-away from this lab study showing effects on mosquitoes, fruit flies, and wasps. #mosquitoes #garlic #insects #pesticides https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092867426003387

• Post #4118631

  If you make a mosquito bucket, please cover the top with screening so that toddlers don't fall in. Per the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, approximately 40 toddlers drown each year in the United States. Happens all over the world. Happens even when buckets are half full. #mosquitoes #buckets #health #safety #parenting #kids

• Post #4116880

  PSA: Wood boxes with slits that are marketed as "butterfly houses" are purely decorative. Multiple studies have confirmed that butterflies never use them. But paper wasps (Polistes) do, which is not great for butterfly populations because these wasps hunt caterpillars. Plus they sting, so not great for humans walking by. #butterflies #scam #insects #nature #garden #lepidoptera #wasps

• Post #3499088

  Made another mosquito-killing box fan to set up near chairs on my front porch. As mosquitoes approach they get flattened against the netting, which I spray with permethrin, a contact insecticide. #mosquitoes #permethrin #fan

• Post #3448634

  Brick fans, is the spiral pattern here evidence that several different types of clay were rolled together prior to shaping? I'm not positive of age but nearby residence was built in 1834. Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana. #bricks #clay #paving #masonry #beneficiation #louisiana #plantation

• Post #3446299

  Stilt roots of maize are really creepy when they are reaching out for soil. #maize #zea #roots #corn #botany #garden #gardening #allotment

• Post #3171095

  Friends, I managed to come up with a full ten (10) reasons why you shouldn't buy bug zappers. At the top of the list, of course, is that they barely kill any mosquitoes. But they also create noise pollution and can burn your house down, among other problems. #mosquitoes #insects #nature https://colinpurrington.com/2026/06/10-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-buy-a-bug-zapper/

• Post #3171094

  We need more articles in nature and conservation magazines about the evils of bug zappers. Americans still think they work and seem to be OK with the billions of innocent insects that are killed each year. Moth people, I'm looking at you. #BugZappers #moths #lepidoptera #insects #mothing #entomology

• Post #3171093

  Sharing my solution to squash vine borers (Eichlinia cucurbitae), the larvae of which burrow into the roots and eventually kill the plant: inject Thuricide Bt into stem wherever you see frass accumulating. This is easier to do if you train your plant vertically so that lower parts are visible. I also regularly police for eggs. #garden #gardening #squash #zucchini #vegetables #allotment #insects #lepidoptera #moths

• Post #3123436

  Top reasons to NOT buy a bug zapper. 1. Kills a minuscule number of mosquitoes 2. Fries pounds of innocent insects per week (and thus starves local birds) 3. Confuses lightning bugs (probably) 4. Wastes electricity 5. Generates light pollution 6. Generates sound pollution 7. Creates germ risk when insects explode (if near table w/ food) 8. Can catch fire and burn your house down #mosquitoes #insects #nature

• Post #3073184

  Apples protected from insects by nylon sleeves and from squirrels by stainless steel bags. Now I need to surround the whole tree with fencing to keep the deer away. I have no idea what type of fruit I have. Per the label at the garden store it has four grafts so it will depend on which branch they develop. Can't wait. #apples #orchard #fruit #garden #malus #grafting

• Post #3073183

  Just a reminder that Mosquito Dunks are sold in 20-packs for approximately $26. More economical than the 6-packs, which are usually in the $8-15 range. And definitely avoid the 2-packs. These things can last for years on the shelf as long as they are kept out of sunlight and high temperatures. #MosquitoDunks #bti #bacteria #mosquitoes

• Post #3051269

  Wordpress gave me an award for endlessly fussing over a post. #blog #blogging #wordpress

• Post #3051268

  One of the shelling peas grew up on the wrong side of the bird netting. Sad, but a nice reminder that all the effort setting up the structure was worth it. #peas #sparrows #gardening #pisum #birds #allotment

• Post #3051267

  Podcasts for bird fans. Not on the list is my favorite, "Birds of a Feather Talk Together." #birds #birding #podcasts [gift link] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/arts/bird-watching-podcasts-sean-bean.html?unlocked_article_code=1.nFA.0kdK.AB4uR6wn52bv&smid=url-share

• Post #3027212

  Why a story LEAD is now, often, spelled LEDE. #etymology #journalism #newspaper #news #language #linguistics https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/bury-the-lede-versus-lead

• Post #3027211

  One of my favorite mosquito facts is that there's a spider in Africa, the vampire jumping spider (Evarcha culicivora), that specializes on mosquitoes plump from a recent blood meal. It was described in 2003. #inaturalist #mosquitoes #spiders #blood #salticidae #insects #africa https://youtu.be/dA6sCQlHPEs?t=78

• Post #3027210

  I added a PDF to my page about mosquito-killing buckets in case anyone wants to print something off to give to neighbors. Link to the file is near the bottom. #mosquitoes https://colinpurrington.com/2024/08/bti-honeypot-traps/

• Post #2916156

  French speakers, does one spell it "le shampooing" or "le shampoing"? #shampoo #french #language #shower #soap

• Post #2916155

  Wallpaper at Fraunces Tavern Museum in NYC depicting General Washington arriving in Boston. The full 49-foot, 32-panel, 360-color "Views of the American War of Independence" is still produced by Zuber & Cie (est. 1797) in Rixheim, France, using 2,300 (!) wood blocks carved between 1834 and 1852. It takes a full year to print and is likely the world's most expensive wallpaper ($100,000?). The blocks themselves are classified as Historic Monuments by the French Mi...

• Post #2867433

  Duck decoys found in 1924 inside Lovelock Cave (Nevada), sealed up approximately 2400 years ago by an earthquake. The one on the right is apparently a canvasback (Aythya valisineria). Museum of the American Indian, NYC. #ducks #archaeology #hunting #cave #birds #nevada #indian #smithsonian #nyc #anatidae #museum