The Bug Blog

The Earwig Myth  Earwigs were given their name from a folk story that they crawl into a person’s ears and eat their brains. Contrary to the stories, they are not aggressive, are not drawn to human ears, and do not spread disease. Their frightening presence normally alarms most homeowners when they are found. The long […]

Weather Bugs and You   Most people think of Arizona as hot and dry. There is actually a great deal of variation in the weather from season to season and year to year. A three to four inch variation in annual rainfall may have a dramatic effect on plants, animals and insects in the desert.

There are many types of wasps in Arizona. Most people only think of the paper wasps. They form the “nests” that look like open umbrellas or overturned wine glasses filled with “honeycomb.” Actually, these cells contain no honey and are made of paper manufactured by the wasps from chewed up tree bark. Paper wasps are

SPIDERS IN ARIZONA Arizona has a reputation for having lots of dangerous animals: cougars, bobcats, wolves, coyotes, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, killer bees and among other things, spiders. Though there are many kinds of spiders in Arizona, relatively few are a real concern to people, and even fewer are really dangerous. It is true that all

SCORPIONS IN ARIZONA  Arizona and the Sonoran Desert are known the world over for Saguaro cactus, high temperatures and scorpions. Scorpions are common and plentiful in Southern Arizona, but they are very secretive and nocturnal. Some people have lived their whole life in Arizona, but have never seen one. They are typically neutral in coloring,

DOORYARD PESTS IN ARIZONA Most people think of the desert as a vast wasteland, where nothing can survive. The reality is that the Sonoran Desert is a thriving wildlife community that, for the most part, has been undisturbed by man. Since a large number of insect, rodent and reptile species live in the desert and

CRICKETS IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA Douglas Seemann, Board Certified Entomologist There are several different types of crickets in Southern Arizona that a homeowner may encounter. The two most common are the field cricket and the Indian house cricket. The field cricket is a native cricket. They are black, round in cross-section, larger and, except for the

ANTS IN ARIZONA Arizona is the number one state for ant diversity. There are well over 100 different ant species!  It would be impossible to describe all the different types briefly. Let’s cover some ant basics and group ants by how we might find them.

AMERICAN COCKROACHES IN ARIZONA The American Cockroach can be found throughout most of the United States. It was introduced in the mid 1600s, but was originally from Africa. It is known by many names: Palmetto Bug, Water Bug and Sewer Roach among others. In our part of the country, they are commonly found in sewers,

BEDBUGS AT HOME, ON VACATION AND AROUND TOWN Bedbugs have become one of the most important pest species in the U.S. All you have to do is open a newspaper or surf the net to hear stories of people whose lives have been changed by a bedbug infestation.