Giant weta

The giant weta native to the Little Barrier Island of New Zealand (Deinacrida heteracantha) proudly bears the name of the heaviest and largest adult insect in the world, the record weight for one being of 71 gram and more than 10 centimeters in length. These insects can be heavier than a sparrow. 

Before humans began settling on New Zealand islands, bats were the only warm–blooded mammals in the ecosystem. All species of wetas thrived in safety. Sometime between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago, native people from Polynesian islands (Maoris) first traveled to the New Zealand islands. They brought with them the kiore, or Polynesian rat. It quickly became a predator of wetas. When European settlers began arriving in the eighteenth century, they brought to the islands an enormous array of other animals. They cut down the forests for timber and to create farmland, and the whole shape of the New Zealand landscape changed. 

All weta species are protected today and their limited habitats have been designated as reserves. However, predators remain in these habitats. Although domestic cats that had been living in the wild on Little Barrier Island have been exterminated, the wetapunga is still threatened by the kiore.

Black Damsel Bug

Have you ever heard of an insect called a damsel bug? Despite their name, these insects are anything but distressed and are in fact a very dangerous and effective predator! Many damsel bugs catch and hold prey with their forelegs, a predatory technique similar to that of the praying mantis. 

Careful inspection of fall flowers will often reveal these gray-brown bugs, often with half-consumed aphids hanging from their beaks. They are considered helpful species in agriculture because of their predation on many types of crop pests, such as cabbage worms and aphids.

Today’s damsel bug, Nabicula subcoleoptrata is a mimic of ants, usually wingless and lives in meadows from the Atlantic Coast to British Columbia.

Bathroom mothmidge

Moth flies such as the bathroom mothmidge (Clogmia albipunctata) love to live in places where wet, microorganism-rich films can be found, such as on wet rocks, near streams or in sink and sewage drainpipes. These small true flies are aptly named for their short, hairy bodies and wings which give them a fuzzy moth-like appearance. The adults have long antennae and are most active at night within their damp environments. 

Most North American moth flies do not bite, but some tropical members of this family are blood feeders and can be vectors for transmitting dangerous diseases such as leishmaniasis, which can cause extensive skin sores. Species of North American nonbiting moth flies can occur in huge numbers within compost heaps, a habitat they share with common members of the small wood gnat and scavenger fly families. 

European plant bug

Although Dicyphus errans lacks a common name, we have dubbed this interesting critter the European plant bug! As its name suggests, the bug is native to Europe and, since 2000, this species has been mass-reared and released in agricultural areas in Europe to control various pests, particularly flies and scale insects. A closely related species, Dicyphus hesperus, is similarly used to control whiteflies in North America. However, these species are not ideal for controlling pests because they are what is called generalist omnivore, which means they consume both small arthropods as well as plants. That also means once they've done their job of eating a pest species they start damaging the same crops that they were intended to protect along with neighboring plants. 

This species was recorded for the first time in North America in 2013 at a public school in Listowel, Ontario. The school participated at our School Malaise Trap Program and a few bugs of this European species occurred in their catch.

Club-Horned Wasp

Species in the family of sapygid wasps have unusually thick antennae, but possess the black and yellow striped bodies like so many other bees and wasps. Today’s species (Eusapyga verticalis) is a good example. These wasps are parasites which lay their eggs in the nests of other solitary wasps. Their larvae consume the larvae of their host and any other nutrients in the nest such as pollen. This type of lifestyle is called cleptoparasitism. 

They are not considered as pests, although other wasps that they steal from no doubt regard them as criminals in the insect world. This family is widespread but rare with only 11 species in North America and 82 species across the world.

Bagworm Moth

The Bagworm Moth (Dahlica triquetrella) is native to Europe, but was introduced to North America around 1940. Some winged males occur in Europe, but the population in North America contains only wingless females. You might wonder how offspring are produced without males – the females reproduce through parthenogenesis, laying eggs without being fertilized by a male.

The caterpillars, which feed on lichen, algae, and moss, make and retreat into a silken bag to spend the winter – this is why they are called “bagworms”. The bag is covered with fine debris such as grains of sand and dead plant parts. The larvae pupate inside the bag and adult moths emerge in very early spring and deposit eggs into the bag they just emerged from. Their diet has to be supplemented by dead insects for development to be successful. The adults don’t feed and probably only live three or four days.

Golden Stone

The Plecoptera are an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. There are approximately 3,500 species found worldwide, except in Antarctica. Almost all species of stoneflies develop as nymphs in clean, moving water and are intolerant of water pollution. Their presence in a stream or still water is therefore a good indicator of excellent water quality. Once hatched from the eggs, stonefly nymphs usually complete their development within a year. Some larger species may spend two to three years as nymphs before crawling out of the water as adults. A good example is our Golden Stone (Hesperoperla pacifica).

Once they emerge from the water, adult stoneflies will usually spend their lives within close proximity to the water’s edge. Unlike the outstretched wings of dragonflies and damselflies, stoneflies fold their wings neatly against their backs when at rest and are generally not strong fliers.