Bugs
Monthly Archive: December Bugs
There’s more than one "cool" Drake in The Six (or in this case just outside The Six)
Meet the Eastern Green Drake Mayfly (Ephemera guttulata Pictet). This beautiful adult female was collected last year in the Terra Cotta Conservation Area during the Credit River Watershed Bioblitz.
A rare ‘dragon’ found….
Sometimes, there are really extraordinary stories that are uncovered in our day to day studies; this particular one was submitted by Dr. Henry Frania, an Entomology research associate at the ROM.
More Butterfly Migrants arrive
A second impressive ‘wave’ of butterfly migration has been taking place the last few days. More Red Admirals have been joined by some other migratory butterflies: Painted Lady (saw one in the schoolyard yesterday), American Lady, Common Buckeye, Question Mark, Mourning Cloak, Cloudless Sulphur, Gray Hairstreak, Variegated Fritillary, Little Yellow, American Snout, Dainty Sulphur, etc. The list is a long one. The occasional Monarch has already been recorded as well!
Monday’s Massive Migration
For some more info on the butterfly migration see Antonia’s blog plost from May 4, 2012.
Biodiversity Series wins award!
Last week, the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects recognized the City of Toronto Biodiversity Series of booklets with their Service to the Environment award. The award is “In recognition of the recipient’s ongoing contribution in supporting sensitive, sustainable stewardship of the environment.”
Does a mild winter mean more insects?
Given our warmer-than-average winter this year, ROM entomologists have fielded numerous enquiries about whether mild winter temperatures will result in more bugs this spring and summer. Unfortunately, there is no simple “yes” or “no” answer to this question — the best response is “It depends”.
Bugs are moving in (not bed bugs this time)
Question: It’s fall, why are all these bugs coming into my home? I’ve never seen them before!

Western conifer seed bug; copyright ROM images
The Butterflies of Toronto
To educate and foster appreciation for these much-loved colourful insects, the City of Toronto, in partnership with the ROM and Livegreen Toronto, has published a new book, Butterflies of Toronto: A Guide to their Remarkable World. With hundreds of full-colour photographs, this new publication shares the local history of butterflies and details on where they live in Toronto. It is part of a Biodiversity Series being produced by the City to commemorate the Year of Biodiversity 2010.
Yellowjackets (a.k.a. Late Summer Picnic Pests)
We love picnicking outside in the summer but in August and September our meals are inevitably cut short because of wasps. What are they and what can we do about them?
Entomystery – why did the beetles go to camp?
Antonia takes a closer look at the mystery beetle while solving the case of the unwelcome summer camp critters. Photo B Boyle.
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