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Bee Banter, part 1 – Honey Bees vs. Native Pollinators

Posted on February 20, 2026 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

The importance of Supporting Ecological Diversity

*Hemaris thetis* moth nectaring at Catmint *(Nepeta sp*.)

With spring around the corner, I thought it might be a good time to write up a post about bees. For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been a San Juan Island resident now for over 17 years. When I was finishing my Masters Degree in Entomology and Nematology, I was required to take bee keeping as part of my advanced Apiculture coursework.

I won’t lie, I did enjoy the bees. I had one of the hives under a bedroom window, and it smelled so wonderful to open that window and smell the bees in the house. In my studies, I learned a lot about social insects. The other thing I learned was bee keeping sure is an expensive endeavor.

Why? Well mostly because the bees had to be replaced every year after they died over the winter from starvation. They didn’t always starve, but in the 6 years or so of keeping bees on the island, I think my longest surviving hive lasted about 4 seasons. That one, I can assure you, only lasted that long because I fed them sugar water. I was feeding the bees a quart of sugar water at least twice a day. They had all of that, and I never took any honey from my hives. All the costs added up. They also sting.

In my experience, I concluded honey bees weren’t exactly the best pollinators here either. As I spent more and more time in my study of insects and moved to a property with an old orchard (plums and apple trees), I saw the insects doing most of the pollination were flies. We have some incredibly cool species of flies too! At night, the insects pollinating these trees included many moths. Just an FYI, flies and moths are particularly attracted to the color white (same color as early flowering fruit trees).

Honestly, I am not much of a food gardener, but I do love watching for insects in our garden and observing the relationships that exist. Not just between the insects and the plants, but also the relationships between different species of insects (and I’ll lump spiders in here too).

Every year, I watch our resident chickadees and nuthatches glean insects off twigs and branches. Nature’s pest control. The little tree frogs gobble bugs off garden plants. Those same frogs are also food for a species of female mosquito. Yes, you might detest mosquitoes, but even mosquitoes are pollinators. Go out at night with a flashlight and look at those fruit tree flowers!

Culex territans mosquito feeding on tree frog

Even now, in February, I watch our year round, Anna’s hummingbirds zip along eaves of our home taking spider webbing to glue their nests together. They also eat many small bugs like fungus gnats and other small flies, even spiders!

If you just take a moment to look closely, there are many varied relationships between species at all trophic levels going on around us that have evolved to work in balance in our island ecosystem. Native species usually have multiple roles in the ecosystem. Some are pollinators, but also pest predators. Others we may consider pests, but they are also predators of pests. Most are food for some other organism in the food chain. Remember too, that just as we are healthier with a diverse diet, other organisms also stay healthy from sourcing nutrients from an assortment of food. When we lose diversity, we all suffer. We need a complex working ecosystem, and that comes from nature!

Some of our island native bee pollinators include bumble bees, sweat bees, alkali bees, blood bees, orchard bees, leaf cutter bees, nomad bees, digger bees, fairy bees, and others. These bees may not produce honey, but they are pollinators of immensely great value.

Golden Furrow Bees Subgenus Seladoniaa member of Furrow Bees Genus Halictus

In fact, research over the past decade is illuminating just how critical these native bees and other native pollinators are for biodiversity. Biodiversity that is disappearing from our world due to habitat loss, land use changes, agricultural practices, and competition over resources with non-native species (like honey bees). You don’t have to take my word for it though. The Washington Native Bee Society and the Xerces Society will give you similar information.

Melissodes microstictus Small Long-horned Bee

Try Googling a bit on your own and you might find some pretty cool statistics about how native bees are actually better pollinators than honey bees, AND that their pollination services can yield larger, healthier fruits (like blueberries and strawberries for example). Competition over resources and displacement of native bees due to honey bee keeping isn’t limited to our island or our state. It’s been something happening world wide where honey bees are used for agricultural practices, whether for pollination or honey production. The encouraging news is that supporting native pollinators is gaining momentum. I’ve compiled a resource list for you to look at, read, and share if you are inclined.

If you are still dead set on setting up a honey bee hive, I’m happy to walk you through it. I can give you a list of everything you’ll need, provide the cost of all those supplies, and advise you on how not to get stung, why you should never eat a banana near your bee hive, what problems you can anticipate with pests and pathogens, and how to avoid losing your bees due to swarming. I will also tell you that if you set up a honey bee hive, you must file and register your colony with WSDA per state law. Hopefully, you will make your way to the same conclusion as I have. It’s cheaper and also ethically responsible to support native pollinators and conserve habitat in your own yard for pollinator diversity. It’s also quite fun and rewarding to watch and learn about native bees and the bugs you probably never even knew existed.

References and Further Reading

Anderson, H. L. D. (2024). Nocturnal moth communities and potential pollinators of berry agroecosystems in British Columbia (T). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0447737

Brast, C. 2024. Where are all the Bees? Bugging You From San Juan Island. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/category/bees/

Brast, C. 2022. Musings on the complicated topic of native pollinators, food production, and climate change. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/2022/08/17/musings-on-the-complicated-topic-of-native-pollinators-food-production-and-climate-change/

Brast, C. 2025. Fantastic Fly Friday. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/2025/04/11/fantastic-fly-friday/

Dlugo, J. 2022. Seven Native Bees to Know in Washington State. Washington Native Bee Society. https://www.wanativebeesociety.org/post/seven-native-bees-to-know-in-washington-state

Hatfield, R. And M. Shepherd. 2025. Want to save the bees? Focus on habitat, not honey bees. Xerces Society. https://www.xerces.org/blog/want-to-save-bees-focus-on-habitat-not-honey-bees

Hatfield, R., S. Jepsen, M. Vaughan, S. Black, and E. Lee-Mäder. 2018. An Overview of the Potential Impacts of Honey Bees to Native Bees, Plant Communities , and Ecosystems in Wild Landscapes: Recommendations for Land Managers. 12pp. Portland, OR: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. https://www.xerces.org/publications/guidelines/overview-of-potential-impacts-of-honey-bees-to-native-bees-plant

KEARNS, C. A. 2001. North American dipteran pollinators: assessing their value and conservation status. Conservation Ecology 5(1): 5. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol5/iss1/art5/

MacInnis, G, Forrest, JRK. 2019. Pollination by wild bees yields larger strawberries than pollination by honey bees. J Appl Ecol. 56: 824– 832. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13344

Mallinger, R.E. and Gratton, C., 2015. Species richness of wild bees, but not the use of managed honeybees, increases fruit set of a pollinator-dependent crop. J Appl Ecol. 52: 323-330. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12377

Angelella GM, McCullough CT, O’Rourke ME. 2021. Honey bee hives decrease wild bee abundance, species richness, and fruit count on farms regardless of wildflower strips. Sci Rep. Feb 5;11(1):3202. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-81967-1. Erratum in: Sci Rep. 2021 Aug 17;11(1):17043. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-95368-x. PMID: 33547371; PMCID: PMC7865060. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7865060/

Page, Maureen L., and Neal M. Williams. 2023. “ Honey Bee Introductions Displace Native Bees and Decrease Pollination of a Native Wildflower.” Ecology 104(2): e3939. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3939

Lorenzo Pasquali, Claudia Bruschini, Fulvia Benetello, Marco Bonifacino, Francesca Giannini, Elisa Monterastelli, Marco Penco, Sabrina Pesarini, Vania Salvati, Giulia Simbula, Marta Skowron Volponi, Stefania Smargiassi, Elia van Tongeren, Giorgio Vicari, Alessandro Cini, Leonardo Dapporto. 2025. Island-wide removal of honeybees reveals exploitative trophic competition with strongly declining wild bee populations. Current Biology. 35(7) : 1576-1590.e12,
ISSN 0960-9822, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.02.048 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225002623

Thomson, D. (2004), COMPETITIVE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE INVASIVE EUROPEAN HONEY BEE AND NATIVE BUMBLE BEES. Ecology, 85: 458-470. https://doi.org/10.1890/02-0626

Spiny Fungiculturists, a short species profile from my recent trip to Quintana Roo, MX

Posted on February 19, 2026 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

Acromyrmex octospinosus scraping something off the railing that led down to the Cenote. I’m not sure what the bird species was in the background. Location: Tulum, Quintana Roo, MX

This is a Neotropical leaf cutter ant, Acromyrmex octospinosus, a taxonomically challenging species complex of fungus farming ants found ranging from Brazil to Northern Mexico, and including Cuba and the Lesser Antilles (Mera-Rodriguez et al.,2025).

I observed more than a few of these while we were visiting in Quintana Roo, MX in late January. This one was on the handrail of the steps leading down to a cenote in a shaded area in Tulum. I also found specimens daily in the swimming pool at the property where we lodged during our stay.

These spiky, dark-red leaf cutter ants practice what is known as fungiculture, meaning they utilize fresh vegetation, including flowers, to grow their obligate fungal symbionts. The spiny projections on the exoskeleton of the ant help it to maneuver vegetative material around on their backs. These fungus-farming ants provide their fungal cultivars with food, dispersal, waste management services, and protection.

This fungus farming practice is extraordinarily sophisticated and the ants’ investment in labor even includes “weeding” their food garden. The ants even have their own sanitizing and pharmacy tools on hand. They have special infrabuccal pockets https://sci-hub.su/10.1016/j.asd.2022.101154 to filter the material they collect for their fungus gardens, screening out spores of fungal contaminants that might interfere with the ants’ specialized garden (Quinlan, 1978). They are also able to produce antimicrobials to protect their fungi from pathogens. The ant farmers utilize the fungi they cultivate as their main food source for themselves and their larvae.

Leaf Cutter Ant in Tulum, MX

I don’t have time to go into an extensive write-up about them, but did link some interesting papers and websites for your review in case you’re interested in learning more.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

References

AntWiki. 2026. Acromyrmex octospinosus. https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Acromyrmex_octospinosus#Life_History_Traits
Barke, J., Seipke, R. F., Grüschow, S., Heavens, D., Drou, N., Bibb, M. J., … & Hutchings, M. I. 2010. A mixed community of actinomycetes produce multiple antibiotics for the fungus farming ant Acromyrmex octospinosus. BMC biology, 8(1), 109.

iNaturalist. 2026. Acromyrmex. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/50162-Acromyrmex#articles-tab

Mera‐Rodríguez, D., Fernández‐Marín, H., & Rabeling, C. 2025. Phylogenomic approach to integrative taxonomy resolves a century‐old taxonomic puzzle and the evolutionary history of the Acromyrmex octospinosus species complex. Systematic Entomology, 50(3), 469-494.

Quinlan, R.J., Cherrett, J.M. 1978. Studies on the role of the infrabuccal pocket of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Hym., Formicidae). Ins. Soc 25, 237–245 . https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02224744

Quinlan, R.J. and Cherrett, J.M. 1978, Aspects of the symbiosis of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) and its food fungus. Ecological Entomology, 3: 221-230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1978.tb00922.x

Therrien, P. 1986. Behavioral ecology of the leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich), in Guadeloupe, F.W.I. (T). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0097339

Wang, Chu, Alessio Cocco, Chung-Chi Lin, Johan Billen. 2022. Morphology and ultrastructure of the infrabuccal pocket in Strumigenys ants. Arthropod Structure & Development. Volume 68, 101154. ISSN 1467-8039.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2022.101154. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1467803922000159

Wetterer, James. 1991. Foraging Ecology of the Leaf-Cutting Ant Acromyrmex Octospinosus in a Costa Rican Rain Forest. Psyche. 98. 361-371. 10.1155/1991/46737.

Life in Miniature: A Scaly Barklouse (Pteroxanium kelloggi)

Posted on January 14, 2026 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

Key words: Barkfly, Barklouse, Pteteroxanium kelloggi, Lepidopscocidae, aerial plankton, Psocoptera, Psocodea, cosmopolitan

Last week, I went out to poke around in the yard. The weather has been so dismal and gray. Bug watching is typically an uplifting activity for me. It gives me a chance to escape the troubling news in the world of late. I keep telling myself things will be okay, but I have doubts all the time these days.

I saw this tiny critter scurry across the rotted log I turned over in our driveway last week. It was HAIRY. I’d never seen one of these before. Hurriedly, I ran inside to grab my light and camera, hoping I would spot it again when I returned. Lucky me. It was still there, but the first photos I took were just really terrible. Terrible, but enough to tentatively ID this critter as one of the scaled barklice.

Barklice are sometimes called barkflies. Even though they have wings, they are not known to be very good fliers. Taxonomically, they aren’t flies at all. Formerly classified in the insect order Psocoptera, they are now categorized as Psocodea (Barklice, Booklice, and Parasitic Lice). Taxonomic revision information can be found here – https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect-identification/order-psocodea/ .

Much of the literature I found about barklice in North America was by one primary author, a man named L.E. Mockford. I was quite sorry to learn he is deceased. I would have enjoyed reaching out to him directly. I wanted to learn more. I’m going to refer to the barklouse as a “friend.” I found no records indicating it does any harm. It seems harmless to anything or anyone. In fact, calling it a louse seems rather derogatory.

This barklouse is in the family Lepidopscocidae. Etymology is fascinating to me. Let me translate this one for you as well. Lepido means scales. Psocus comes from Ancient Greek psōkhos (ψῶχος) or the verb psōchein (ψώχειν). It means “gnawed,” “rubbed,” or “ground.” This describes the chewing mouthparts psocids use to grind fine organic matter like lichen, fungi, and detritus. In layman’s jargon, A scaly gnawer.

Pteroxanium kelloggi

The Latin binomial name for this little one should be Pteroxanium kelloggi. Translation: Pteros = wing. I looked up xanium in A Dictionary of Entomology by Gordh and Headrick (2011). I found that “xanthos” in Greek translates to yellow. I believe it refers to the golden shimmer of the hairs.

At maybe 2mm in size, it was difficult to photograph. The dark and gloom of the PNW in winter added to the challenge. Even with a handheld light, I was still not satisfied with the images I managed to get. I went back the next day, turned the log over, and I found my friend again.

The second set of images were improved, but still not great. I noticed the underside of the log had growing patches of a crust fungi in the family Meruliacae (Genus Phlebia). There was also a little patch of slime molds (Comatricha nigra) in the family Amaurochataceae. The louse seemed to want to stay within these areas of fungi. I observed that it didn’t appreciate the light I was using to illuminate my photo taking. It was negatively phototaxic and would scurry to a shaded spot, out of the light beam.

Pteroxanium kelloggi video footage from San Juan Island, WA

Geographic Distribution

P. kelloggi has been recorded from North America, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. A few sources included other countries, like Belgium (Lock et al. 2016), and some omitted North America entirely. It was confusing. Geographic distribution records need updating.

Map of observations for *Pteroxium kelloggi* – from GBIF.org https://www.gbif.org/species/1031796

Mockford (2012), described this species as having a “cosmopolitan” geographic distribution that includes Western North America. Cosmopolitan means they are found in many areas worldwide. P. kelloggi is most likely an introduced species that has now adapted to living here. Mockford (2012) stated that this species’ mode of dispersal was probably as aerial plankton or long-distance wind transport. Wind currents carry so many things around. Who knows where they’ll land? There is another paper I found about aerial plankton by Lanna Cheng and M. Birch (2008). It’s titled Insect Flotsam. Flotsam is what happens when the insects don’t make it to land.

Life History and Morphology

While geographic distribution records for this insect species call for revision, I’d say the life history and morphology of P. kelloggi also need updates. Wikipedia and iNaturalist describe this species as feeding on “ash, cedar, gorse, ivy, larch, oak, pine, yew, and rhododendrons.” I believe this is incorrect. They do not feed directly on trees or shrubs.

I ended up reviewing studies by Saville (2010), Mockford (2012), and Footit et al. (2018) and found they yielded more helpful information. Saville (2010) studied the feeding and egg-laying preferences of bark dwelling Psocids, and Foottit et al. (2018) provided detail about the feeding behavior. They also offered an in-depth description of the feeding mechanisms (mouthpart anatomy) of Psocids. Saville (2010) documents evidence of P. kelloggi feeding on algae and Mockford (2012) documents the family group as feeding on epiphytic and epigaeic algae and lichens. I believe this information to be most representative of the family Lepidopsocidae. It also fits with the habitat of the individual I found on the rotting log.

Mockford, in Foottit et al. (2018) describes morphology for Lepidopsocidae with adults measuring about 1.5-3 mm in body length. The body typically is covered with scales or dense hairs. Psocoptera (Psocodea) typically have a relatively large, rounded head. They have well-developed, multifaceted compound eyes. An exception to this would be the one record of a blind, cave-dwelling species on St. Helena Island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Antennae are filiform with eleven or more segments. Mouthparts are chewing type, with strong mandibles that generally bear a pointed incisor tip and large, grinding molar region. They have laciniae. These are blade-like or styli-form “pricker” or “chisel.” They are developed as a pair of rods with “splayed, enlarged, often denticulate (tooth-like) tips.” It is believed the laciniae are utilized as stabilizers and thrust into the substrate to secure positioning. This allows the insect to bite or chew into tough material (Footit et al., 2018). The modified hypopharyx is a remarkable apparatus for obtaining water molecules from the atmosphere (Mockford, 2012; Footit et. al, 2018; Rudolph, 1982a; Rudolph, 1982b). I’ve linked both of Rudolph’s papers in the reference section. You can find wonderful microscopic images of the mouthparts in Rulolph (1982b).

Barklice may be tiny, but they play an important role in natural ecosystems. They serve as clean up crews eating molds, algae, and fungi and decaying matter. They also are consumed by other organisms. If you’re interested in learning more, please DO check out the reference section. 🙂

Thanks for reading

References

Bugguide. 2013. Pteroxium kelloggi. Bugguide.net. Iowa State University. https://bugguide.net/node/view/344970

Cheng, Lanna & BIRCH, M.. 2008. Insect flotsam: an unstudied marine resource. Ecological Entomology. 3. 87 – 97. 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1978.tb00907.x. https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1978.tb00907.x

Foottit, R.G., H. Adler, P. and Mockford, E.L. 2018. Biodiversity of Psocoptera. In Insect Biodiversity (eds R.G. Foottit and P. H. Adler). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118945582.ch16

iNaturalist. 2025. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/318307-Pteroxanium-kelloggi

Lock, Koen & Wallys, Henk & Claerebout, Stéphane & Soors, Jan. 2016. Pteroxanium kelloggi (Ribaga, 1905) and Mesopsocus fuscifrons Meinander, 1966: two Psocoptera new to Belgium. Bulletin de la Société royale belge d’entomologie. 195-197.

Mockford, L., E. 2012. Aspects of the Biogeography of North American Psocoptera (Insecta). InTech. doi: 10.5772/33413

New, T. R. (1987). Biology of the Psocoptera. Oriental Insects, 21(1), 1–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/00305316.1987.11835472

New, T. R. (1974). Psocoptera. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, 1(7). https://www.royensoc.co.uk/shop/publications/out-of-print-handbooks/psocoptera/

North Carolina State Agricultural and Life Sciences. 2015. Psocodea. General Entomology. North Carolina State University. https://genent.cals.ncsu.edu/insect-identification/order-psocodea/

Perotti MA, Clarke HK, Turner BD, Braig HR. 2006. Rickettsia as obligate and mycetomic bacteria. FASEB J. Nov;20(13):2372-4. doi: 10.1096/fj.06-5870fje. Epub 2006 Sep 28. PMID: 17012243. https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1096/fj.06-5870fje

Pteroxanium kelloggi (Ribaga, 1905) in GBIF Secretariat (2023). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-01-08.

Rudolph, D. 1982a. Occurrence, properties, and biological implications of the active uptake of water vapour from the atmosphere in Psocoptera. Journal of Insect Physiology 28: 111–121. https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/0022-1910(82)90118-4

Rudolph, D. 1982b. Site, process and mechanism of active uptake of water vapour from the
atmosphere in the Psocoptera. Journal of Insect Physiology 28: 205–212. https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/0022-1910(82)90078-6

Saville, R. E. 2010. An initial study of the feeding and egg-laying preferences of bark dwelling Psocids (Psocoptera) using composite bark blocks. Entomologist”s Record and Journal of Variation, 122(1), 35. https://schemes.brc.ac.uk/barkfly/downloads/Ent%20Rec%20122%20pp35-42.pdf

Smithers, C. N., 1972. The classification and phylogeny of the Psocoptera.
Australian Museum Memoir 14: 1–349. [31 December 1972].
doi:10.3853/j.0067-1967.14.1972.424

Yinghua Su, Ho-Chen Lin, Li Szhen Teh, Fabienne Chevance, Ian James, Clara Mayfield, Kent G. Golic, James A. Gagnon, Ofer Rog, Colin Dale. 2022. Rational engineering of a synthetic insect-bacterial mutualism, Current Biology, Volume 32, Issue 18, pp. 3925-2938.e6 ISSN 0960-9822, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.036

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December 18, 2025, A Kybos bug story

Posted on December 30, 2025 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

It’s been a good while since I’ve written up a blog post, but I found something I thought worth sharing after seeing these little ones on the side of our above ground pool the afternoon of December 18, 2025. My story, however, is going to take us back to September of 2022.

One evening, carrying out the recycles to our barn storage area, I noticed this pile of sawdust and peculiar arrangement of little green bugs around a hole in the middle on a cedar log in our yard.

Identification of the occupant and creator of this unique arrangement took me awhile. I believe the wasp is a Crabronid wasp in the genus Crossocerus. She was using an old beetle exit hole as the perfect burrow for her nest construction.

Crossocerus sp. Crabronid Wasp – September 27, 2022

Fascinated, I sat and watched her for hours on end for about two weeks. She would be gone by morning when I woke up, but at the end of the day, I’d find a little pile of sawdust from her excavation work and a circle of ONLY these green bugs arranged so carefully on top.

Just before sunset, she would return to pack in her assembled collection of tiny prizes one at a time, provisioning each of the cells she had constructed for her eggs with the little iridescent green bugs, paralyzed, but still alive. Creepy, right? Later, the eggs she would lay in these cells would hatch into little wasp larvae and consume the still-living, little green bugs…one by one.

Alas, later that winter, I noticed my wasp’s cluster of burrows in that log had been excavated by one of our resident Hairy Woodpeckers. They find all the buried bugs – especially it seems they find the ones in the wood siding of our house. We have a line of little holes pecked all ‘round. Naughty birds!

Identifying the little green bugs took me a long while. Mostly, because I get distracted and have to come back to a multitude of projects! I believe these little green bugs are in the genus Kybos. Kybos bugs are a type of leafhopper in the family Cicadellidae. They are associated with Salix sp. (Willows) and (Populus sp.) Poplars which are their host plants (Hamilton, 1972). The bugs feed on sap. That would certainly fit. We have lots of Willows nearby and three Quaking Aspen trees on our property.

And the wasp? One of the identifying features of Crossocerus is the ocelli form an equilateral triangle. In the video, I think I can make out just enough of this to be definitive. The ecology for some species in this genera also fits with a description found in Krombein (1979) about this group modifying pre-existing cavities or burrows in wood formed by wood boring insects.

The relationship between this wasp and the Kybos leafhoppers was intriguing to me because it was the ONLY species of bug I found the little wasp to collect and arrange to provision her offspring with. While I looked for information about this relationship extensively, I did not find any literature with previously reported documentation about this. Krombein (1979) mentions the collection of prey for various species, but none more specific than family Cicadellidae.

I wish it had been possible to identify the wasp to species. It would be amazing to see this again. Perhaps I will be lucky enough to stumble upon another one in action one day.

Coming back to the video I began with. Yesterday, December 18, 2025, I saw another of those little green bugs on the side of our pool. It was hanging out with a friend, a Bark Louse (Eptopsocus sp). Either they were enjoying the wind in their antennae or hanging onto the rim for their very lives. It was a very blustery day!

Kybos sp. Leafhopper and Eptopsocus sp. bark louse, December 18, 2025, San Juan Island, WA

References

Bugguide.net. 2025. Kybos. Iowa State University. https://bugguide.net/node/view/120601

Hamilton, K G A. (1972). The leafhopper genus Empoasca subgenus Kybos in southern interior of British Columbia. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia, 69, 58–67. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/213774

Krombein, Karl V. (1979). Catalog of hymenoptera in America north of Mexico (Vol. 2). Smithsonian Institution Press. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/26295

Krombein, Karl V. (1979). Catalog of hymenoptera in America north of Mexico (Vol. 2, p. 1665). Smithsonian Institution Press. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4575889

Why You Should Appreciate Native Plants: Ocean Spray Insights

Posted on June 25, 2025 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

For the past few years, I have observed one of our native shrubs to see what pollinators are visiting. Calscape has recorded Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor) as a host plant to approximately 14 species of Lepidoptera. Yet, I have actually never seen a single pollinator visiting the cascades of snowy white, delicate blossoms. I’ve also heard from a handful of local folks on San Juan Island. They say Ocean Spray is “invasive” and should be brush-hogged. According to them, it’s a “fire hazard.” This view is disturbing to me. I felt it important to find concrete evidence of this native plant’s value in our ecosystem.

Well, the other evening, I documented the first pollinator I’ve ever seen visiting these blossoms. There is a gorgeous Ocean Spray out our bathroom window. I noticed movement in the upper portions of the shrub. It wasn’t windy, so something else was causing the movement. I went out later, around 9:00 pm, to investigate the cause of the disturbances. Can you guess what I found? Bumble bees!

I also experienced annoyance from another buzzer. A Cattail mosquito, Coquillettidia perturbans (say co-KEE-luh-tih-dee-uh PURR-tuh-binz) promptly discovered my bare arm. It slipped its hypodermic proboscis into my epidermis with effortless precision, a precision superior to any medical professional’s injection. I didn’t feel it at all.

Cattail mosquito (Coquillettidia perturbans)

I would describe the bites from these mosquitoes as a very mild annoyance. I didn’t have any after-reaction at all. It was certainly not anything like the bites from some of the other insects I’ve experienced here, especially not thrips. I’m definitely not a thrips fan! You can read about thrips here in case you’re interested. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/2021/06/29/public-health-alert-and-some-free-advice/

Getting back to the other buzz in the Ocean Spray. The buzz I was so happy to discover is the bumble bee (Bombus flavidus ssp. flavidus). I didn’t make the identification to subspecies on my own. That was with the help of a fellow named John Ascher on iNaturalist. If you’re curious about his work, you can learn more here: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/podcast/pollination-podcast/137-john-ascher-problem-measuring-bee-decline

Bombus flavidus ssp. flavidus

Bombus flavidus is a species of Cuckoo Bumble Bee, and one of the most widespread species in the world. These bees don’t have a worker cast like other species of bumble bees. They find nests of other bumble bees to occupy and invade these nests. The host bumble bee workers then rear the offspring of the cuckoo bumble bee along with their own offspring.

I hope my discovery leaves you curious about what pollinators visit Ocean Spray in your yard. My next goal is to make nighttime observations. I want to see what is visiting the flowers while they are still in bloom. I suspect they have nocturnal pollinators. If you find any, I hope you’ll report your findings with me. 🙂

To see more of San Juan Island’s invertebrates, please join and follow me on iNaturalist – https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=cyndibrast&verifiable=any . If you have never used iNaturalist, try it out! I love it because it’s a way to connect with other entomologists. It also helps me organize my findings into appropriate categories for referencing when I want to look something up.

You can also find my bug observations on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cynthia.brast.bormann or join one of the bug groups I help admin: Bugs of the San Juan Islands at https://www.facebook.com/groups/3594158544144419 or Pacific Northwest Bugs at https://www.facebook.com/groups/904079732957442/

Also, please don’t go crazy with the brush hog. Nature loves messy. Humans cause fires. We can do much on that end to prevent them by changing our behaviors and being more careful. Scraping the earth bare and/or parking out your parcel to be “fire wise” is actually not kind to nature. We need to protect habitat for the wild things, not eradicate it. Even mosquitoes have a role in the food web.

Thanks for reading!

Bombus flavidus ssp. flavidus

References

Brast, C. 2021. IT’S ALL CONNECTED! KNOW YOUR ECOSYSTEM – BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS LOVE OCEAN SPRAY (HOLODISCUS DISCOLOR). Bugging You From San Juan Island. https://buggingyoufromsanjuanisland.com/tag/holodiscus-discolor/

No author. 2024. Fernald Cuckoo Bee Bombus flavidus. Bumble Bee Atlas and the Xerces Society for Insect Conservation. https://www.bumblebeeatlas.org/pages/bombus-flavidus

No author. No date. Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor). Calscape – California Native Plant Society.

Mayer, M. 2021. Cuckoo Combo: Re-Classification Makes Bombus flavidus World’s Most Widespread Bumble Bee. Entomology Today. https://entomologytoday.org/2021/04/28/cuckoo-combo-reclassification-bombus-flavidus-worlds-most-widespread-bumble-bee/

Murray, T. 2024. Species Coquillettidia perturbans. Bugguide. Iowa State University. https://bugguide.net/node/view/26971

Identifying the Nicocles canadensis Robber Fly

Posted on June 17, 2025 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

It has taken a bit of time to finally sort out genus and species for this very cool Robber fly with beautiful caramel-brown mottled wings I spied the evening of June 6, 2025. It perched on a dried apple mint stem from last season, no doubt scouting the terrain to see what might be on the menu for dinner. Robber flies (Family Asilidae) are predatory. They catch other small invertebrates to eat, paralyzing them with special salivary digestive enzymes and then sucking up the liquified contents through the proboscis (Cannings, 2013).

Getting to an identification beyond Genus for this one has been incredibly frustrating, and complicating the process is the limitation of the key I was using (Wilcox, 1946), which primarily describes male specimens.

Robert Cannings has studied the Asilidae for many years in British Columbia and states this genus “sorely requires systematic attention.” I finally just gave up and reached out to Rob for help. He wrote me and said, “I’m pretty sure this is Nicocles canadensis. It’s a female, and some females are difficult, even when under a scope, because the Wilcox key, which is the best we have for now, deals with them poorly and concentrates on males. Nicocles canadensis is the species in the genus most often seen on BC’s south coast and, I assume, in your area.”

This is the only Nicocles fly I’ve ever found on our property on San Juan. According to Rob’s 2014 publication (linked in the references below) in Canada, ” Nicocles canadensis is restricted to Garry oak savanna and adjacent dry woodland on southern Vancouver Island (Saanich is the type locality),” so I anticipate this may be similar for our neighboring area.

Check out the attached references if you are interested in learning more about Robber Flies in our region.

Thanks for reading!

References

Cannings, R.A. 2014. The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of Western Canadian Grasslands. 10.3752/9780968932179.ch7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268524943_The_Robber_Flies_Diptera_Asilidae_of_Western_Canadian_Grasslands

Cannings, R.A. 2013. Robber Flies (INSECTA: DIPTERA: ASILIDAE) Of The Montane Cordillera Ecozone.

Cannings, R.A. 1994. Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) new to Canada, British Columbia, Yukon,
and the Northwest Territories with notes on distribution and habitat. J. Entomol. Soc.
British Columbia: 91: 19-26. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/213777

Cole, F. R. 1969. The Flies of Western North America. University of California Press. Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Fisher, E.M., and Wilcox, J. 1997. Catalogue of the robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the
Nearctic Region. Unpublished preliminary draft.https://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Catalog-Nearctic-Fisher-Wilcox-1997-manuscript-copy.pdf

Geller-Grimm, F. 2008. Robber Flies (Asilidae). Internet site at http://www.geller-grimm.de/asilidae.htm

Melander, A.L. (1924) Studies in Asilidae (Diptera). Psyche [1923] 30: 207-19. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1155/1923/83461

Wilcox, J. 1946. New Nicocles with a key to the species (Diptera, Asilidae). Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 40 (1945): 161-165; New York – Lancaster. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50573094#page/180/mode/1up

Exploring Dry Soils: Nature’s Resilience in Difficult Conditions

Posted on June 10, 2025 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

Globular springtail (Fasciosminthurus quinquefasciatus)

I’m quite fascinated by the rapid colonization of the very dry soil in the strip where our internet fiber cable was installed this past spring. Because disturbed soils can be great for seeding native wildflowers, I threw out several packets of a Pacific Northwest seed blend to see what might grow and I’ve been checking often to see what is coming up. In spite of the very dry weather we are having, there are some lovely Bird’s-eye Gilia (Gilia tricolor) blooming now.

I see some Farewell to Spring (Clarkia sp.) popping up too, though they have not bloomed yet. There are others I have yet to identify. It’s been so hot and dry, I’m hoping the lack of water doesn’t ruin my efforts at re-wilding this spot.

In spite of the dry, cracked earth, there are Andrena sp. mining bees already claiming this strip. There are little holes everywhere.

I also saw one quite unique hole surrounded with round dirt “pebbles,” that looked to have been arranged to mark the entrance.

As I leaned closer to inspect this architectural oddity, I saw something I would never have even noticed without the help of my macro lens. It was a colony of Globular springtails (Fasciosminthurus quinquefasciatus). There were easily about 8 or so. Can you spy the one on one of the “pebbles?”

I was able to get one or two in focus. These springtails are incredibly small – perhaps only 1mm, and recognizable by the 5 transverse bands (jailbird stripes) across the dorsal abdomen. This species is unique among springtails in that while most species require moist habitats to survive, F. quinquefasciatus thrives in arid environments with little to no vegetation in areas with southern or south western exposure.

If you follow closely in the video here, you might notice that the individual I was tracking either pooped or laid an egg on that piece of straw (between the 45 and 55 second mark. I will add some still shots clipped from the video as well.

A personal note ~ While our daily lives are often complicated with work and family obligations, as well as anxieties many of us have about climate change and political uncertainties, taking time to notice the natural world around, even in seemingly uninhabitable habitats can bring a bit of hope. There is life around us. We just might have to sit on the ground and get dirty to see it.

Thank you for reading and thank you for caring about nature.

What’s Biting Me?

Posted on May 31, 2025 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

I may have used this title before, so I’ll have to double check, and perhaps since I get this query frequently I will go back and edit with a numerical system or something like that.

So in this video, I am receiving a bite from 1) a mosquito? 2) a tick? or 3) a thrips? or 4) a bug?

If you chose option 4, a bug, you are correct. Indeed it is a bug, but not just any kind of bug. It is a bug in that it falls into the insect order Hemiptera (the true bugs). This “bug” is a species named Campyloneura virgula, a type of plant bug in the family Miridae.

It’s not the first time one has bitten me either, though most of my reactive bites on San Juan Island have been from thrips in the summertime when it is super dry and they are looking for moisture. I react badly to thrips bites. My husband says they are so small you can’t even see them. I think he really believes I am imagining them, but hey, I’m the entomologist in our family, right?

They’re not imaginary.

Neither is this biter. You can see the action on my ankle for yourself.

Then read the reference material and watch out for ankle biters in your yard.

References

Thomas J. Henry “First Eastern North American Records of Campyloneura virgula (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Bryocorinae),” Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 114(1), 159-163, (1 January 2012). https://bioone.org/journals/proceedings-of-the-entomological-society-of-washington/volume-114/issue-1/082.114.0101/First-Eastern-North-American-Records-of-Campyloneura-virgula-Hemiptera/10.4289/082.114.0101.short#:~:text=It%20also%20is%20known%20to,(Lattin%20and%20Stonedahl%201984).

Zarrabi Ahrabi, Salar & Şakacı, Zafer & Akyıldız, Gürkan & Gargili, Ayşen & Talay, Şengül & Kar, Sirri. (2024). Human Biting Plant Bug Campyloneura virgula (Hemiptera: Miridae): First Case Report in Türkiye. Clinical and Experimental Health Sciences. 10.33808/clinexphealthsci.1268203. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381681450_Human_Biting_Plant_Bug_Campyloneura_virgula_Hemiptera_Miridae_First_Case_Report_in_Turkiye

Discovering the Golden Paper Wasp: A Native Treasure

Posted on May 12, 2025 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

The other morning when I was watering our garden, I spied the most beautiful creature I’ve seen in a long time, a Golden Paper Wasp (Polistes aurifer). In fact, in sixteen years of living on San Juan Island, I have only seen one colony of these wasps (April 14, 2024) at the San Juan County Land Bank’s Mount Grant nature preserve. These wasps are native to North America and once considered a subspecies of Polistes fuscatus. However, P. aurifer has a western geographic distribution ranging from BC-CA to AB-MT-w.TX; ne. Mexico (Bugguide.net).

Polistes wasps build open faced nests suspended by a petiole in varied sites. Some select relatively exposed areas under eaves of structures or in shrub-type vegetation, while others utilize more protected cavities such as abandoned rodent burrows or hollow trees. Most often, the ones we see are the non native European paper wasp species (Polistes dominula), that seem very comfortable establishing their nests under the eaves of our homes.

It is believed the more frequently observed (P. dominula) are displacing native Polistes aurifer, but since it is more difficult for scientists studying insects in natural or wild habitats, most formal observations have taken place utilizing sites associated with man-made dwellings (Liebert, 2004). Liebert published a short communication in Insectes Sociaux (2004) where she describes finding ground nesting colonies of this species at an observation site in California, and concludes that the “displacement” theory may be overstated. However, given the loss of natural areas due to habitat loss/conversion, a decline in populations of the native P. aurifer (I believe) would more accurately be attributed to humans. Humans also unfortunately resort to wasp spray to eradicate nests around their homes without understanding that most nests pose minimal or no risk to human comings and goings.

Polistes wasps (native and non-native) are generally considered to be beneficial insects. They are pest predators, capturing and dismembering caterpillars to feed larvae they are rearing. In Eastern and Southern regions of the U.S., some species of Polistes wasps exert significant pressure on the cotton bollworm and the tobacco hornworm, both pests of considerable economic significance.

If you spy one of these Western natives, you’ll know immediately because they have the most beautiful golden brown or caramel colored eyes!

Thanks for reading. 🙂

Polistes aurifer

References

Bohart, G. E. 1942. Notes on Some Feeding and Hibernation Habits of California Polistes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Pan-Pac. Ent. 18(1): 30-31. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/piru_pubs/15/

Buck, M., Marshall, S.A. and Cheung D.K.B. 2008. Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the northeastern Nearctic region. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 5: 492 pp. (PDF version).
Published on 19 February 2008. With 3 Tables and 1073 Figures.

Bugguide. 2023. Polistes aurifer. Bugguide.net. https://bugguide.net/node/view/24972

Liebert, Aviva. (2004). Ground nesting in the paper wasp Polistes aurifer (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Insectes Sociaux – INSECTES SOC. 51. 99-100. 10.1007/s00040-003-0714-0.

p.s. I found another (naturally deceased) individual in our barn/shop, so perhaps we have had these around and I’ve just been missing them.

Your Garden’s Guardian: A Soldier in Miniature (Silis sp.)

Posted on May 8, 2025 by BUGGING YOU FROM San Juan Island Leave a comment

This tiny little friend (approx. 6mm) sporting a red collar is a soldier beetle in the family Cantharidae. It is in the Genus Silis, but there are so many species, that I will just leave it at the genus level for now.

Silis beetles are quite cosmopolitan in distribution, associated with wooded areas and leaf litter, and active daytime fliers in early summer.

Adults are typically found on foliage and flowers. Primarily, they are pest predators, feeding on insects, but also serve as pollinators, feeding on nectar and pollen. Silis species are known to prey on aphid populations infesting trees, plants, and shrubs, so gardeners can appreciate them as a “friend.”

Silis beetles can also attack other groups of invertebrates, feeding on small soft-bodied specimens or consuming their eggs. However, the ecology of some species is remains to be investigated. While Fender (1973) found the larvae would eat earthworms and are mostly carnivorous in the soil, little else is known about the feeding habits in this stage. (Pelletier and Hébert , 2014).

The etymology of the nomenclature for the genus (Silis) comes from Σίλας in Greek. It is derived from the Latin name Silvanus, meaning “forest” or “wood,” and a contraction of the Greek form Silouanos, a transliteration of Silvanus. Silis or Silas is also associated with the Roman god of the countryside, Silvanus, a god who was worshipped by those who lived in wooded areas or worked with wood. Even older than the etymology is this tidbit. Silis beetles are quite ancient. Fairly recent research has identified specimens of the genus discovered in Baltic Amber (Parisi and Fanti, 2019).

While I have now scooped a few out of our pool, thankfully in time to save them from drowning, some of them (perhaps the ones I’ve rescued) are also finding me. I have had them on my clothing and peeping in the door at me!

Thanks for reading!

Soldier Beetle (Genus Silis) looking in our door at me!

References

Bugguide 2025. Genus Silis. Iowa State University. https://bugguide.net/node/view/11961

Green, John Wagener. 1966. Revision of the Nearctic species of Silis (Cantharidae: Coleoptera). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th Series, 32, 447–513. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/52839

Pelletier, G., Hébert, C. 2014. The Cantharidae of Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 25. February 28, 2014. Available online doi: 10.3752/cjai.2014.25

Parisi, F. and Fanti, F. 2019. On the first Silis Charpentier, 1825 from Baltic amber (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), Foss. Rec., 22, 119–123, https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-22-119-2019