What makes wasps be such jerks? Who knew that just like humans, bad behavior of wasps turns out to be family related? Wasps are very village family oriented, doing their work on a daily basis for the good of the group instead of the good of just one. Every year hornets and yellow jackets will remake their home and colonies. With the spring time comes a newly crowned queen who builds the colony from the ground up, teaching her offspring how to help. Sometimes these colonies can house up to 1000 worker wasps. The offspring of the queen, or larvae, appear and get very angry during the summer because they are growing through the toddlerhood and adolescence phase of their lives and are hungry. These young soon to be full grown wasps need protein to continue to grow. They obtain this necessary protein from family deliveries of small insects. Yellow jackets are scavengers who search for these insects to feed their sibling spawn. By the middle of the summer, humans tend to be on the lookout for these nests and colonies, yellow jacket have a tendency to create them in the walls of our homes creating a major problem. Throughout the season of summer into fall, the worker hornets and wasps grow to be very tired of delivering food to their larvae and queen. Because of all of that work, and the annoyance of humans trying to destroy their homes, but the end of the season they are rightfully grumpy and tend to sting. To read more on Yellow Jacket Wasps and bald face hornets, click here

A patch to stop mosquitos? I'll take 10! In a recent study, scientists have located a facility that is actually creating a patch to be worn by humans that will disorientate mosquitoes, making us virtually invisible and unwanted to their confused senses. The study walked a user through every home remedy and chemical you can think of to see which actually works in the world of repelling mosquitos. The user first put his untreated and unprotected arm into a test box filled with mosquitos, and yes; 35 bites in less than a minute. The next test was different forms of protection from bands and clothing to DEET spray. While each worked minimally, none of them worked effectively 100% of the time. Until the user was introduced to the Kite facility, and the Kite compound. It essentially is a patch to put on your clothing, which should be released to market in 2016. When the user was wearing this patch covered in the proprietary blend of exactly what (we don't know). The user was completely unaffected or bothered by the mosquitos. The new compound is said to work by confusing mosquitos. They target humans based on our breathing and exhaling specifically. This compound emits an odor that hinders a mosquito's ability to locate humans up close. I will be the first in line to purchase this patch if in fact it is found to continue its effective results. It will change backyard BBQ's one swat at a time. No more citronella, or awful chemical spray smells? I'm in! More information on the research in process for repelling mosquitoes can be found here

Glowworms Turn Caves Into Natural Starscapes

Gliding Spiders Make an Appearance

The Hollywood Spider horror films have led to many nightmares in the past, but nothing on the big screen could prepare anyone for truly seeing spider webs consuming entire groups of trees like they recently did in Rowlett, Texas. Down a single road filled with trees, entire webs covering the leaves and branches of these trees can be seen, so large that it looks like only one horse-sized spider could have made it. But in reality it might be something even more frightening. These giant webs are actually made from a community of spiders

Battling Mosquitos with the Diseases they give us

Texas Infestation of Aphids

Bed Bugs Are Back! 10 Tips To Protect Yourself

Cicada Killer Molly Keck, an entomologist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, has the scoop on a massive swamp that is showing up in Texas and other parts of the country. They're one of the largest wasps that we have in Texas." The cicada killer wasp can grow up to 2 inches long. The insect preys on cicadas. With a sting, they paralyze the noisy bug and literally carry them back to feed their young. "It's pretty impressive because the cicada is usually too heavy for the wasp to fly with it. It literally drags it a long way, from the top of the tree back down," said Keck. And while the cicada killer wasp looks malicious to most humans, it poses very little threat to humans. They are territorial, but not aggressive. "They're not going to hurt you. They'll scare the heck out of you, but they're not going to sting you, most likely," said Keck. "So if you come across their nest, they'll buzz around your head and scare you, but they really won't sting you unless you touch them first." Keck says that cicada killer wasp appear to be showing up in higher numbers. The weather could be playing a role, but the reason for the increased numbers remains uncertain. Cicada killer wasps live in holes in the ground the size of a dime or nickel. According to Lee Townsend, Extension Entomologist at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, these solitary wasps choose sites with specific characteristics such as well-drained, light-textured soils in full sunlight that are near trees harboring cicadas. They may dig along sidewalk or patio edges, in flower beds, gardens, or lawns. As much as 100 cubic inches of soil may be brought to the surface as tunnels are formed. This can be unsightly in highly managed turf and the accumulations may smother grass. http://www.ksat.com/content/pns/ksat/news/2015/07/24/giant-wasps-showing-up-in-south-texas.html