Comics by Bernie and Nature!
Laugh and Learn
De-bugging insects
Vermont single-panel comics. Captions by Bernie, images by nature. Sponsored by the Insect Alliance, Solidarity for All Life, and our highly valued Local Pollinators.
This comic strip introduced the term "Inverting" which means invertebrate watching as birding is to bird watching.
Inverting is being outside, observing, experiencing
the multitude, the diversity, the daily going ons of LIFE.
No bones about it, I am an 'inverter'!
Let's recognize our bond with all living species in nature.Nature Comic #127, April 27, 2024Snow white and the beauty queen
Maybe this ephemeral spring beauty will put some color in my cheeks. View more spring beauties at iNat.
Nature Comic #126, April 20, 2024Circus Act
Now that they know I am a Zebra Jumping Spider they expect me to do all kinds of circus tricks. I refuse to sit up and beg for a treat like a dog. Well maybe this once; that fly sure looks tasty.
Nature Comic #125, April 13, 2024Finding that narrow gap called spring in Vermont
The scout reports blue sky and warming temperatures with a chance of snow, wind, and cold.
Nature Comic #124, April 6, 2024On April 8 in VERMONT everything will be Black and White
Cows, and even the SNOWMEN 
And Snow Flies
Enjoy the solar eclipse and snow of Vermont!Come back again when Vermont is GREEN!Nature Comic #123, March 30, 2024Daddy, are we spiders?
No son, we are definitely not spiders. We are on the WEB but we don't make webs.
Harvestmen (Order Opiliones) are also referred to as "shepherd spiders" in reference to how their unusually long legs reminded observers of the ways that some European shepherds used stilts to better observe their wandering flocks from a distance.
Although superficially similar to and often misidentified as spiders (order Araneae), the Opiliones are a distinct order that is not closely related to spiders.
Sometimes, the male guards the female after copulation; in many species, the males defend territories. In some species, males also exhibit post-copulatory behavior in which the male specifically seeks out and shakes the female's sensory leg. This is believed to entice the female into mating a second time.
They have a gonopore on the ventral cephalothorax, and the copulation is direct as male Opiliones have a penis, unlike other arachnids.
The most easily discernible difference between harvestmen and spiders is that in harvestmen, the connection between the cephalothorax and abdomen is broad so that the body appears to be a single oval structure.
They also have no silk glands and therefore do not build webs.
The feeding apparatus (stomotheca) differs from most arachnids in that Opiliones can swallow chunks of solid food, not only liquids.
Because their eyes cannot form images, they use their second pair of legs as antennae to explore their environment.
-Wikipedia
Nature Comic #122, March 23, 2024
Cows, and even the SNOWMEN
Harvestmen (Order Opiliones) are also referred to as "shepherd spiders" in reference to how their unusually long legs reminded observers of the ways that some European shepherds used stilts to better observe their wandering flocks from a distance.
Although superficially similar to and often misidentified as spiders (order Araneae), the Opiliones are a distinct order that is not closely related to spiders.
Sometimes, the male guards the female after copulation; in many species, the males defend territories. In some species, males also exhibit post-copulatory behavior in which the male specifically seeks out and shakes the female's sensory leg. This is believed to entice the female into mating a second time.
They have a gonopore on the ventral cephalothorax, and the copulation is direct as male Opiliones have a penis, unlike other arachnids.
The most easily discernible difference between harvestmen and spiders is that in harvestmen, the connection between the cephalothorax and abdomen is broad so that the body appears to be a single oval structure.
They also have no silk glands and therefore do not build webs.
The feeding apparatus (stomotheca) differs from most arachnids in that Opiliones can swallow chunks of solid food, not only liquids.
Because their eyes cannot form images, they use their second pair of legs as antennae to explore their environment.
-Wikipedia
Senior boxing match.
Nature Comic #121, March 16, 2024
The Dot Game
"Don't worry", she said, "you'll grow out of them"; "eventually", she added with a smile.
Twice-stabbed Stink Bug (Adult C. lintneriana) are black with a red, orange, or yellow band across the pronotum a short red stripe along the midline, and two red spots at the apex of the scutellum. Nymph coloration ranges from red to white with black markings that change as they grow. - Wikipedia
Nature Nature #120, March 9, 2024
I'm in the spotlight but don't want to be.
Listen to the podcast to learn more: Life in the Dark: How Artificial Light is Impacting Insects.
Nature Comic #119, March 2, 2024
Vermont becomes 11th state to allow legal sales: On Saturday, October 1, 2022, legal cannabis sales for adults 21 and over will begin [began] in Vermont.
Finally, I can change my name from Grasshopper to Weedhopper!
Two-striped Grasshopper Melanoplus bivittatus: Melanoplus bivittatus participate in long hours of mating, with some copulation lasting up to 10 hours. Read more here.
Nature Comic #118, Feb 17, 2024
Muck on the menu - yum yum!
Good thing I have a strong sense of smell and rapid reflexes. When the battle for cowpats is underway, you have to be quick if you want to secure your slice of the pie. On a sunny day, they sell like hotcakes.
Despite their importance, things aren't looking so good for dung beetles as a group. Globally, 15 percent of the species are threatened. Changes in agriculture are largely to blame for the disappearance of the dung beetles.
- Extraordinary Insects, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson.
As part of nature's cleanup crew, onthophagus hecate contributes to a healthier and more sustainable environment. Dung beetles are a beneficial part of the agricultural integrated pest management toolkit, helping to control unwanted pests, such as horn and face flies.
These industrious insects play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem balance by efficiently recycling dung, improving soil quality, and reducing the prevalence of harmful pests. - Cornel College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Nature Comic #117, Feb 17, 2024
Traditionally, the male dance partner is the leader and the female dance partner is the follower. However, this is not always the case, such as in the Long-tailed Dance Fly. In their dance style, the males are the ...
followers and the females put on exaggerated displays and congregate in leks to attract males.
Rhamphomyia longicauda, the long-tailed dance fly, is a species of fly commonly found in eastern North America. This species of fly is most known for sex role reversal during courtship, as females put on exaggerated displays and congregate in leks to attract males. Females cannot hunt for food, so they receive protein from nuptial gifts brought to them by males. Female dependence on males for nutrition is the principal cause of sex role reversal in this species of fly.
While this fly species is termed the long-tailed dance fly and its Latin nomenclature resembles the same meaning (Rhamphomyia = “crooked fly;” longicauda = longtailed), the “tail” actually references the male genitalia, which forms an elbowed erection towards the rear of the abdomen.
Courting - Even with role reversal "Size Matters" at least conceptually*.
Before entering a lek, females rest on nearby vegetation and swallow air to inflate expandable pouches on the sides of the abdomen.[4] The size of the abdomen is made to look even bigger by wrapping their large, scaly legs around the abdomen. Males enter female leks and discriminate first for female wing size.
*Overall abdomen size does correlate to more developed egg maturity in R. longicauda, but inflation decreases the accuracy of body size as an indicator of egg maturity by 49%, making this a deceptive signal to entice males.
Read more at Wikipedia
Nature Comic #116, Feb 10, 2024
Who are you calling a "yellow-bellied wimp and a coward"?
Happy Valentine's Day
Nature Comic #115, Feb 3, 2024
Warming up for Valentine's Day!
She had the greenest thumb to grow the prettiest pink flowers in her garden. Her garden was a real pink paradise, till she broke her "pinky".
The phone went "green. green.", so I pinked it up and said, “Yellow”.
I’ll stop loving pink when
they make a prettier color.
Nature Comic #114, Jan 27, 2024
Off to work
Happy to have a place to come home to even if it is a 'hole in the wall'.
- Adult weevils overwinter in soil, leaf litter, and other sheltered places
- They emerge in May and June when they seek out host plants on which they lay eggs
- There are two generations during summer between May and late August
- When fully grown, the larvae spin spherical brownish cocoons on the plant stems in which they pupate
- These cocoons closely resemble the seed pods of figwort
View more photos of the Common Figwort Weevil Cionus scrophulariae.
Nature Comic #113, Jan 20, 2024
Amphibious Monster sighted in Richmond
Mystery, legend, or myth?
The creature burped something like, "Call me Sampson, Giganticus, Giant River Frog, or Goliath Frog; just don't call me CHAMP!
That darn cousin of mine, 'Champ', the Lake Champlain Monster goes around stirring people up, while I just want to float quietly about. Okay, I'll admit that once and a while I jump in and make a humongous splash to get some attention!"
Jim Andrews with the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas project reports on Wcax, "Wildlife Watch: Mild winter has some reptiles, amphibians on the move."
Nature Comic #112, Jan 13, 2024
Inverter meets birder
The Woodpecker replies, "Man the hummingbirds are small these days".
All our perspectives on other life is one of looking through our eyes. The challenge is to look through their eyes.
"Every animal [and humans] can only tap into a small fraction of reality's fullness. Each is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world." - An Immense World, Ed Yong.
Nature Comic #111, Jan 6, 2024
"This is Tom Bodett from Motel 6, and we'll leave the light on for you".
We give you a great price on a clean, comfortable room.
Great, they left the light on;
why did they
CLOSE THE DOOR?
And here is an oldie but goodie.
A man walked into a dentist's office and said, "Can you help me? I think I'm a moth."
The dentist said, "You don't need a dentist.
You need a psychiatrist."
"Yes, I know." the man said.
The dentist asked, "So then why did you come in here?"
The man replied, "The light was on."
Beautiful Wood-Nymph Eudryas grata
Truth be told, artificial lighting is detrimental to moths, birds, and other wildlife.
As a general rule, brighter lights impact nature more and create more glare and light pollution. We need surprisingly little light to safely navigate our driveways and barnyards, so often less is more.
It's also a good time to look at how your outdoor lighting is directed and controlled, or shielded. If we limit all light emitted to at least 15 degrees below the horizontal plane, that keeps the light on the ground where it's needed and can help limit light trespass and glare.
Good rules of thumb for outdoor lighting: outdoor lights should be:
1. No brighter than necessary to achieve their design goals. 2800K is great; avoid "daylight" bulbs (over 3400K and up to 5600K)
2. Fully shielded and downward directed
3. Used only when needed.
- Brad Vietje, Jericho, Vermont
Consider replacing your bulbs with LEDs which are 2000Kelvin and give off a warm yellow (instead of bright white) light. Look for bulbs that have the Kelvins listed in the product description - some are just white and they paint the outside yellow. Kelvins indicate the "warmth" or color of the light. 2000K is more like bright candlelight and daylight bulbs are 3-4000Kelvins or more. Why is this important? The yellow light is much less attractive to insects and prevents them from being harmed by our lights.
Insects play a huge role in the diets of our summer bird populations and their babies. More insects - healthier birds.
Do you enjoy seeing fireflies in the summer? Firefly populations are in decline and darker skies are one of the suggested ways to help them:
Firefly Conservation https://www.xerces.org/endangered-species/fireflies
Preserving the Dark Skies: https://www.outdoors.org/?s=Dark+skies. Recommended by Sabina Ernst
Life in the Dark: How Artificial Light is Impacting Insects (Xerces guest: Dr. Avalon Owens February 19, 2024)
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