Into the Woods with Curio: Summer Bugs

“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, …and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:25

Summer is the season for bugs. They are all around Beacon – deerflies and horseflies down at the waterfront, ants around the buildings, spiders in the washrooms, and mosquitoes everywhere. What a nuisance! What good are they, anyways?

Annoying as some of these bugs are, they all serve a purpose. Many are food for animals, especially birds, such as the vireos and whip-poor-wills and thrushes that we see and hear around camp. Frogs, salamanders, snakes, fish and even other bugs also eat bugs as a big part of their diet.

Some of the bugs that are found around camp are quite amazing, as well. One example is the ichneumon wasp, (pronounced ‘ick-NEW-monn’). Also known as the ‘stump stabber’ it is up to 8.5 cm long, with the female having an ovipositor that same length again. The female is usually seen on tree trunks or stumps, where she’ll circle around as if looking for something she dropped. What she is actually doing is drumming on the bark with her antennae to locate a wood-boring grub inside the tree. Once she has somehow figured out if one is there and where it is she bores into the wood with her ovipositor, right down into the wood-boring grub. Then she lays an egg on the grub through her ovipositor. Once that egg hatches it then feeds on the grub.

Another amazing bug is the whirligig beetle. You’ve seen these down in the shallows at the waterfront, where they race about on the surface of the water in dizzy circles. Their eyes are actually split it two, allowing them to see up into the air and down into the water at the same time! They are predators, and fast enough to catch a water strider, which is another bug that uses the surface of the water as its home.

Some bugs are also colourful and beautiful. These include the butterflies, of course, as well as many moths, and some of the iridescent beetles. The dragonflies and damselflies also fall into this category. Anytime you are down at the waterfront there is usually one or more species of dragonfly or damselfly zipping around the waterweeds or perched on a bare branch. They range in size from the diminutive, strikingly coloured bluets to the large ‘dragonhunter’, so called because it sometimes chases and eats other dragonflies. A bonus is that dragonflies and damselflies eat mosquitoes and other pesky bugs, as well.

While bugs can be a nuisance and even a concern, they are also amazing examples of God’s Creation. Bugs are also one of the animals found at camp that are easy to watch, and enjoy, all summer long.