Our Polyphemus Moth Emerges

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Entomologist Dr. Art Evans and WCVE Public Radio producer Steve Clark discuss the emergence of a polyphemus moth from a cocoon found just outside the radio station by WCVE’s Shawn Evans.

Shawn and another fellow employee, Derrick Starr not only captured an image of the freshly emerged moth, but also that of its male suitor and the cocoon from which the female emerged.

polyphemus moth

Dr. Richard Hoffman

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Entomologist Dr. Art Evans and WCVE producer Steve Clark note the recent passing of Dr. Richard Hoffman. Hoffman was the emeritus curator of the Department of Recent Invertebrates at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville. He was a world authority on millipedes, a superb entomologist, and one of the last true Virginia natural historians. Richard will be deeply missed by all those who knew him.

Evans & Hoffman

Collecting Insects

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Entomologist Dr. Art Evans and WCVE producer Steve Clark note the pleasures of insect collecting and discuss some of the techniques involved in gathering a diversity of species.

Art-Evans-False-Cape

Insect Fauna: Larvae

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Entomologist Dr. Art Evans and WCVE producer Steve Clark discuss a mostly unseen and certainly under appreciated element of our garden insect fauna--larvae.

Dynastes larvae

Paper Wasps

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Dr. Art Evans, entomologist and WCVE Public Radio producer Steve Clark comment on the upside of having wasps, especially paper wasps, in the garden.

Photo: Steve Clark

paper wasps

Cabbage White Butterflies Rescued

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Dr. Art Evans, entomologist and WCVE producer Steve Clark reveal a recent mission to rescue some wayward cabbage white caterpillars and pupae. A European species well established in North America, cabbage whites are one of the few butterfly species considered to be a pest.

cabbage white
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cabbage white
cabbage white
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cabbage white

Lord Howe’s Walking Stick:Part 2

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

In part two of a two-part series, Dr. Art Evans, entomologist and WCVE producer Steve Clark chronicle the apparent demise, dramatic rediscovery, and tenuous recovery of one of the world’s largest insects, Lord Howe’s Walking Stick.

Miss Part 1? Listen Here.

Photo: Peter Halasz. (Wikimedia Commons User: Pengo)

Dryococelus Australis

Lord Howe’s Walking Stick

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

In part one of a two-part series, Dr. Art Evans, entomologist and WCVE producer Steve Clark chronicle the apparent demise, dramatic rediscovery, and tenuous recovery of one of the world’s largest insects, Lord Howe’s walking stick.

Photo: Granitethighs-Wikimedia Commons

Lord Howe’s walking stick

Mysterious Pupae

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Dr. Art Evans, entomologist and WCVE producer Steve Clark ponder pupae from the garden and discover the pit falls of identifying insects solely from photographs.

Mysterious Pupae

The Flap Over Frap

Dr. Art Evans in What's Bugging You?

Dr. Art Evans, entomologist and WCVE producer Steve Clark examine the past and present use of cochineal. These waxy cactus-feeding insects are gathered, dried, ground up, and used to produce dye for cosmetics, fabrics, and food coloring.

Starbucks has announced it will stop using cochineal extract. Starbucks U.S. president Cliff Burrows says the company will transition to lycopene, a natural tomato-based extract used for coloring.

Photo: Dr. John Brackenbury/Science Photo Library

Cochineal insects (Dactylopius coccus) on a prickly pear cactus stem