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Mark Berman

@bugman_education

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Helping people understand, respect, and appreciate the incredible world we live in with BUGS! 🐜
(Columbus, Ohio)

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SEE the BUGS!!
at HARVEST MOON
Saturday, October 3
NOON - 5 PM
Infirmary Mound Park ~ Granville

See the Live BUGS at this big, fun Autumn Festival - lots of stuff to do at Harvest Moon - and it's s'posed to be a beautiful day! taken in Infirmary Mound Park by @bugman_education

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8 hours ago

This is more like the photo I was trying to get.

The Orange Sulfur Butterflies (Colias eurytheme) and Cabbage Whites (Pieris rapae) are all over the place this Autumn. The Asters and Goldenrods in the unmowed part of the yard are cluttered with these Butterflies and some Skippers and Flies and Bees and Wasps - the flowers are bobbing around so much it looks like the wind is blowing.

This is a female Orange Sulfur. You can tell for sure by the yellow patches in the black borders of its wings - the males have all black wing edges. But if you didn't get that good of a look at it, you can sometimes tell by its behavior.

I first noticed this with Monarch Butterflies. Females are 'furtive' and fly close to the leaves. They make short flights and try not to go too far from the plant. Like they're hiding.

They are hiding from the males who are patrolling the stands of flowers looking for the girls. If a boy sees her, he'll swoop down and start messing with her, interrupting her feeding and egg-making.

That means if you're a patient photographer, it isn't hard to keep up with the females while the males soar all over the place. The hard part is getting her in the open, unblocked by flowers and leaves.

(Septmeber 28, 2026, Franklin County, Ohio, US) by @bugman_education

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2 days ago

Part of the unmowed part of the yard includes this small, dense Aster (Symphyotrichum spp) patch to the south of the patio. So it always has the Sun behind it from left to right.

Both the Cabbage Whites (Pieris rapae) and the Clouded Sulfurs (Colias philodice) who frequent these late-season nectar sources, look like stained glass with the Sun behind them, and it has ruined the last couple of days for me!

I spent a lot of time today waiting for this female Clouded Sulfur to get in just the right pose with the Sun and .... photo-bomb! It wasn't really a photobomb, though - that's a male Cabbage White and this time of year, males don't care - he was bombing her!

But not for long - I'm not sure, but I think I heard her say something like "what's the matter with you?!"

(September 27, 2026, Franklin County, Ohio, US) by @bugman_education

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4 days ago

Once again, this is not the picture I was trying to get... I'll get other chances, but I figured in the meantime I'd try to torture as much photo out of this one as I could.

The unmowed part of the yard is in all its glory this time of year - full of Goldenrods and Asters and other stuff that showed up. And there are bees and butterflies and moths and skippers and flies and wasps and all sorts of pollinators all over the place - and the constant background sound of many crickets.

When the White 'Cabbage' Butterflies (Pieris rapae) flutter around in the Hairy White Oldfield Aster ((Symphyotrichum pilosum) according to SEEK - Asters require effort to ID, so....) - anyway we have all these big clumps of White Asters loaded with blossoms - and the white-ish Butterflies look almost like stained glass in the Sun (the photo I didn't get yet!)

September 24, 2026, Franklin County, Ohio, US) by @bugman_education

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7 days ago

Look at these things - Spotted Lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) are obviously decorated for warning colors (aposematic). Big, fat females full of eggs have black and yellow stripes on their bellies - they look like yellowjackets!

When they eat Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) - their native preferred hostplant in Asia, and pest species here - they gain toxins from the plants and, with their warning bright yellows and reds and spots - even when they are young nymphs, they are protected.

But when they eat grapes, they don't taste bad anymore - chances are the predators will figure them out pretty quickly. I don't think they will last long as a big invasive threat - predators are too smart and hungry for that.

If we're lucky, selection will force them to focus on Tree of Heaven here to remain toxic, and they'll help eradicate that pest tree then die out themselves!

(September 23, 2026, Franklin County, Ohio, US) by @bugman_education

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8 days ago

I have thought for a while now that since Chinese Mantises (Tenodera sinensis) started being inappropriately sold as "biological pest control for your garden," there are too many Chinese Mantises in Ohio.

I will bet that these three agree with me.

I took about an hour-long hike the other day at Rocky Fork Metro Park near New Albany and saw 9 Chinese Mantises! Two males, three females, one mating pair, and these three - obviously there were a lot more!

Neither of these boys were... in copula at the time, and you'll notice they both still have their heads.

Take them out of Nature if you see them - they make great pets!

(September 17, 2026, Rocky Fork Metro Park, Franklin County, Ohio, US) taken in Rocky Fork Metro Park by @bugman_education

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9 days ago

Right when I got out of the car it started raining, of course, so I hung out at the shelter at Rocky Fork and looked for cool bugs This Labyrinth Orbweaver (Metepeira labyrinthea) was up in a corner of the shelter.

She is like a Trashline Spider (but different Genus) in that she hangs a bunch of stuff in her web to help disguise her presence from predators and prey alike. This girl had what appeared to be a string of egg sacs (oothecae) lined up toward the top of her complex web.

You can see her in context in the second image

(September 17, 2026, Rocky Fork Metro Park, Franklin County, Ohio, US) taken in Rocky Fork Metro Park by @bugman_education

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11 days ago

This is what the Carolina Mantis I posted yesterday will look like when he grows up.... his buddy, or rival, was on the mailbox this morning

Male Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina)
September 17, 2026, Franklin County, Ohio, US) by @bugman_education

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15 days ago

This sub-adult male Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) was out on the grapevine on the back patio today. It won't be long before he sheds his skin and gets his wings. He will be skinny and shiny brown, with bright green legs that look like sprouting twigs - a male Carolina Mantis looks like a little cherry tree branch. And they're skittery quick and flutter around.

In Ohio, we have two common Mantis species - this native Carolina Mantis, and the much larger, non-native Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis) (maybe there are some European Mantises (Mantis religiosa) around here, too - but not much anymore. They are very similar to Chinese Mantises).

[aside: about 20-25 years ago the garden industry starting selling egg cases (oothecae) of T sinensis (Chinese) and since then, they have gone from non-native 'naturalized' to almost surely invasive - they should be taken out of nature when encountered!]

Chinese Mantises start hatching from their eggs in early Spring - maybe mid-April. Carolina Mantises hatch a few weeks later. So all the Chinese Mantises have been adults for about a month, and by now most of the Carolinas are, too - but not this boy! Both species mature by the Fall and mate, lay eggs and then die when it gets cold. The eggs hatch next Spring.

While these staggered life cycles almost surely helps the Carolina Mantis avoid direct predation by the Chinese - they're always too small to be regular prey, the species still share resources and compete. The giant, "sold" species will always win that one!

(September 16, 2026, Franklin County, Ohio, US) by @bugman_education

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16 days ago

I found these two fat beauties today.... taken in Pickerington Ponds Metro Park by @bugman_education

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17 days ago

SEE the Live BUGS and all the other County Fair Stuff (they even have horse races!)

Delaware County Fair
At the Preservation Parks Tent!
Saturday, September 19
1 - 4 pm taken in Delaware County Fair, Delaware Ohio by @bugman_education

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18 days ago

Gravid female Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) eating for about 80.

(September 9, 2026, Three Creeks Metro Park, Franklin County, Ohio, US) taken in Three Creeks Metro Park by @bugman_education

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18 days ago