Hiking buddy Rich and I have already hiked the entirety of the Ozark Trail, doing so in 5–15 mile segments from 1996 through 2015. Since then, we have been redoing some other the segments in the reverse...

Granite “elephants” at Elephant Rocks State Park. After missing the past three weeks, I was finally able to rejoin the Webster Groves Nature Study Society Botany Group for their weekly Monday outing....

Tipularia discolor (cranefly orchid). …but craneflies are plants—specifically, orchids, or Tipularia discolor (cranefly orchid).* This past August, the Webster Groves Nature Study Society (WGNSS) Botany...

Don Robinson State Park comprises and protects much of the upper watershed of LaBarque Creek in northwestern Jefferson Co.—one of east-central Missouri's most pristine and ecologically significant watersheds....

Galls of Disholcaspis quercusglobulus (round bullet gall wasp) on twig of Quercus alba (white oak). Not all gall wasps (family Cynipidae) affect the leaves of their hosts—some instead affect the twigs....

Despite the relatively long drive from St. Louis, a healthy group of 15 showed up for this past Monday's WGNSS Botany Group outing at Hughes Mountain Natural Area; participation no doubt helped out by...

Walking Beau Diddley (my black lab) and blowing leaves today gave me an opportunity to glimpse into the world of leaf galls. Lots of organisms, both animal and disease, cause these bizarre structures to...

In any insect collection, space is expensive and, thus, almost always at a premium—especially a large, self-funded, private collection such as mine. As a result, I am constantly looking for creative...

This is the 10th “Collecting Trip iReport”; this one covering 13 days of collecting in western Texas, southern New Mexico, and southeastern Arizona July 19–31, 2021. This trip was a “two-parter”—the...

I've been collecting insects for a long time. A really long time… like, almost my whole life! In the beginning, as a child and adolescent, I collected everything—a so-called “general collector.”...