Blogs

The first three weeks of July had very changeable weather, with plenty of overcast, muggy weather and some showers. Sunny spells were few, short and far between until the last week, where we enjoyed a...

With the proliferation of nighttime security cameras, homeowners are seeing all sorts of wildlife activity on the driveway and porch. This week I had an inquiry about a mysterious "tubular flying insect"...

This post is essentially an updated reprint of a post from 2014 about a (then) sale on the Mallis Handbook of Pest Control. A new sale, announced today, is even better than the one six years ago. I am...

This year's ant ID class will be more physically distant than last year's class; but will offer the same hands-on opportunities to become an ant identification pro. I am happy to announce two new training...

June has been a much more variable month than the dry and sunny May, with some rain, storms, more windy and more cloud. There were some good days for dragonfly watching, including a heat wave on the 3rd...

This afternoon I walked to local pond in search of dragonflies. Only Azure damselflies were active, half a dozen males bobbing about searching for females on the pond edge, a pair mating. As I looked for...

Cigarette and drugstore beetles can be some of the most frustrating pests to deal with. Aside from putting out pheromone traps to try and pinpoint the origin of beetles in the house, and a good initial...

A variety of beetles with similar feeding behaviors, sometimes collectively called "plaster beetles". Drawing from Mallis Handbook of Pest Control . These are tiny beetles ranging in size from 1-3 mm....

We are running a Hull and surrounding area dragonfly and damselfly survey (Hull Dragons for short) in 2020, for comparison to 2019. I will post a monthly summary of the progress. This year is starting...

The large yellow-orange head and dark eyes and dark thorax distinguish the Asian giant hornet from similar large wasps. Photo courtesy Washington State Department of Agriculture. If ever there was an insect...