Tootfinder

If you're making mosquito-killing buckets, a great way to monitor for larvae is to add a white yogurt lid. And if you see them, add another chunk of Mosquito Dunk ASAP or dump everything out and start over. They also permit you to easily see egg rafts and thus get confirmation that mosquitoes are indeed visiting. (The photo here has many rafts but the two in the lid are easy to find.) Larvae and egg rafts are really hard to see in murky water inside dark buckets. #mosquitoes #diptera

Houdini fly (Cacoxenus indagator) that I found near one of my insect hotels. Kleptoparasitic on mason bees *and* not native to the USA, so unwelcome. I've been experimenting with different types of tape to see whether I can remove them by trapping, but so far no joy. Still looking for the Goldilocks product that is tacky enough to snag small flies but doesn't affect the bees. If anyone has suggestions of brands to try, I'd be grateful. #HoudiniFly #InsectHotel #BeeHotel #insect #cacoxenus #diptera #fly #bees #nature #macrophotography

I tested the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech, the Aion Mosquito Barrier, and the Tougher Than Tom Mosquito TNT in my Pennsylvania yard. tl/dr: they don't kill mosquitoes but plenty of Americans are still buying them. #mosquitoes #grifting #pesticides #nature #biology #insects #diptera #carbondioxide #co2 https://colinpurrington.com/2020/08/yeast-based-mosquito-control-devices/?nocache=1

A picture-winged fly (Delphinia picta) lurking in my strawberry patch. I probably have thousands of these in my yard, all strutting around while waving their wings. #fly #diptera #insects #nature #ulidiidae

Houdini fly (Cacoxenus indagator), a kleptoparasite of mason bees from Europe that showed up in North America circa 2011. Whenever I walk past my insect hotel I take a moment to squish them. #InsectHotel #BeeHotel #insects #diptera

Found two dozen mosquito egg rafts in the mini-pond today. All Culex, I think, and all oviposited overnight. I really need to set up a camera trap to record them in the act. #pond #diptera #mosquitoes #culex #culicidae #water #biology

Yesterday I decided to check my mini-pond for mosquito egg rafts and found 8. Two were easy to find (arrows) but the remainder were situated in little nooks obscured by plants. All Culex, I think. Each egg has a glossy apical cap filled with aggregation pheromones that induce other mosquitoes to oviposit. Pond is dosed regularly with Bti so I'm not worried about the eggs I've missed. #mosquitoes #culex #insects #diptera #pond #macrophotography

Here are the Houdini fly traps attached to my insect hotel. The malbec, grape vinegar, and water cups are all attached in a slightly haphazard way, but hopefully will be useful in assessing whether Nicole Kenney's idea (use malbec to attract them) works on the east coast, too. My big concern is that I only saw one Houdini fly today so I might be setting it up too late. #BeeHotel #InsectHole #osmia #flies #science #biology #diptera

April 30th is apparently World Robber Fly Day. These are Promachus princeps and the nuptial gift is a longhorned beetle. Madras, Oregon, USA. #asilidae #robberfly #fly #diptera #entomology #nature #beetle #insects

OK, I'm off to the garage to make Houdini fly traps. Learned via reddit that Nicole Kenney of Portland, Oregon, has been busy testing attractants for several years and THE WINNER IS MALBEC. Brilliant. #MasonBees #BeeHotel #InsectHotel #HoudiniFly #cacoxenus #science #diptera #wine #malbec #drosophilidae #flies #portland