Did you know...

The oak apple gall wasp, Biorhiza pallida, comes in two forms, and each makes its own type of gall. Wingless females lay eggs in oak buds, producing the familiar, spongy galls in which their larvae develop. These bud galls house the developing winged females and males. The winged females burrow into the soil, where they lay their eggs in the oak tree's roots. These larvae take may take 3 years to develop. The wingless females that emerge from the root galls must climb the oak tree, looking for buds in which to lay their eggs.

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This bug is evil. Can you identify it? For this Bug of the Week challenge, I'm not looking for anything as specific as a scientific name, and you don't need to ID it to species. Just leave a comment with a common name (and family, if you like) to participate in this Bug of the Week. Your clues are in the forum.

That pretty little fly in last week's post was the golden-backed snipe fly, Chrysopilus thoracicus. It's one of the prettier flies, if you ask me, and it's active in spring, so I thought it was an appropriate choice now. Kudos to Mike, kitenet (yes, folks from the UK are welcome!), and Moni for their correct identifications of this one.

_{Photo: Susan Ellis, Bugwood.org}

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We're finally enjoying consistent warm weather here in NJ, which means it's time to break out the shorts and sandals, right? Don't put away your long pants just yet, folks. Deer tick season has also arrived.

The deer tick (or blacklegged tick) is the only vector of Lyme disease in the eastern U.S. and Canada. Nymphs become active in late April or in May, seeking hosts from which to extract a blood meal. Because deer tick nymphs are so small, they're easy to miss, even if you're vigilant about checking yourself for ticks after outdoor activities. In some areas, 25% of deer tick nymphs may harbor the Lyme disease-causing bacteria*, Borrelia burgdorferi.

Your best offense against Lyme disease is a good defense against deer ticks. Before you head outside to enjoy the warm spring weather, read and follow these 10 Tips to Avoid Ticks.

_{* Source: Deer Tick Ecology, American Lyme Disease Foundation}

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Did you know...

When burying beetles reach adulthood and strike out on their own, they take one thing with them - mites. A mated pair of burying beetles will bury the carcass of a mouse or other small animal. The parents raise their young on the carrion. But without the help of mites, the carcass would soon be teeming with maggots of the carrion fly and food would be in short supply. The mites carried on the burying beetle's cuticle feed on carrion fly eggs, preventing maggots from consuming the family's food.

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