Not all bugs are considered equal

We loves the bugs, we do, we do. We like their little faces. But not all of them. I am selective as to which bugs are adorable, and which are not, and the defining difference is whether or not they are in my house.

In the past week we have been infested with fruit-flies and my daughter managed to pick up lice. It is a good thing we didn’t get a locust invasion, or we would have started to get paranoid. As it is, we have confirmed that I am quite biased where bugs are concerned, and if the inappropriate glee I experience as I count up the number of fruit-fly carcasses is any indication, I might not be a very nice person.

HOWEVER. Bugs outside my house, approached with intent, are a different story entirely. North Dakota has a photo contest every year and under the theory that it never hurts to throw in I sorted through some of my photos from the summer. Since I haven’t gotten out with my camera all that much this year, and mostly it argued with me when I did, I didn’t think I had many photos to sort. However, apparently sneaking out for a half hour here and there add up!

My attempts to remove some of my staggering ignorance of the natural world have not been completely in vain. In addition to learning the difference between hover flies and bees I have now learned the difference between dragonflies and damselflies. If I keep this up much longer, I shall be able to easily identify my bugs in about three thousand years. That said, much searching on the internet and flipping back and forth through my bee book did not actually yield up any clear idea of how to identify my current bee, and I decided to give up and wait for one of my entomologist friends to take pity on me. Then, as I was about to pout off to bed, I looked at it again and realized that perhaps I had made a mistake and it was a fly, after all. Consulting with my personal entomologist proved that at least I am not the only one confused, since he thought it was a fly at first, but has changed his mind and decided it is, in fact, a bee (lots of anatomy reasons)–but he doesn’t know what kind. More consulting is to follow, and hopefully we figure it out later. Eventually I will figure out how to get one of those identifying apps on my phone. Maybe in February, when I forget how to paint.

The upside is that every time I stumble across something “new” (to me), it’s always a lovely little present/miracle/puzzle. Which may be part of the reason I never quite get around to getting the easy identification app.

Or I am lazy.

One of those.

Regardless, here are the five photos I submitted for the contest. Chosen or not, it was a lovely excuse to dig through a bit of summer since North Dakota decided to skip autumn and dive straight into winter this year.