beetles

The Hidden Diversity of Fireflies: Glow-Worms, Blinkers, and Ghosts

June 5, 2026 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

In the deepening twilight, the pines edging my backyard merge into a wall of shadow. I hold my breath, staring hard into the darkness. Will they come? No matter how many times I repeat this ritual, I’m never sure… but then the magic happens.

A little greenish pulse of light, floating somewhere in the middle distance. Then another. And another. Those memories are decades old, but the magic of encountering fireflies remains undimmed. [Read more…] about The Hidden Diversity of Fireflies: Glow-Worms, Blinkers, and Ghosts

Oak Wilt Quarantine District Expanded in Yates, Ontario Counties

February 8, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has expanded the oak wilt quarantine districts in Yates and Ontario counties in the Finger Lakes after finding new trees infected with oak wilt. [Read more…] about Oak Wilt Quarantine District Expanded in Yates, Ontario Counties

Silver Fly Combating Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

October 24, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In summer 2025, DEC and Cornell University’s New York State Hemlock Initiative (NYSHI) confirmed the first establishment of Leucotaraxis argenticollis, a type of silver fly, in New York State.

These silver flies were released to help control hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), an invasive insect that attacks and kills hemlock trees. The silver fly population was confirmed in the own of Bath, in Steuben County, NY. [Read more…] about Silver Fly Combating Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

Invasive Laurel Wilt Confirmed on Long Island

September 3, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Laurel wilt, an invasive fungal disease that affects sassafras and spicebush, was detected on Long Island this summer, marking the first discovery of the deadly plant disease in New York State.

Originating in Asia and first identified in the United States in Georgia in 2002, the disease is now present in multiple southeastern states, with the northernmost cases prior to the New York find occurring in Kentucky and Virginia. [Read more…] about Invasive Laurel Wilt Confirmed on Long Island

A Firefly Atlas: Research Hopes to Help Declining Species

August 3, 2025 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Most people have heard about insect declines, with recent headlines like “Insect Declines: The Great and Merciless Thinning.”

Bumble bees and butterflies are the best-known examples of declining groups, but there is a growing body of evidence documenting downward trends in other insects. Fireflies, famous for their impressive light-shows in the eastern US, are one such group. [Read more…] about A Firefly Atlas: Research Hopes to Help Declining Species

Dung Beetles: Rollers, Tunnellers, and Dwellers

July 15, 2025 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

Greek mythology holds that Zeus punished the murderous tyrant-king Sisyphus by banishing him to Tartarus for eternity, where he has to roll a big rock up a hill, only to have it tumble back down as he nears the top. Big deal – he got off easy.

Zeus could have condemned him to push a towering sphere of solid excrement that weighed ten times more than he did, walking backwards the whole time, and then dig a hole, bury the thing, and return to where he started to repeat the process. [Read more…] about Dung Beetles: Rollers, Tunnellers, and Dwellers

Surprising Sugarmakers in the Late Winter Woods

March 13, 2025 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

As steam rises from sugarhouse cupolas and early morning coffee pots, sugarmakers are working overtime to turn maple sap into golden syrup.

But as it turns out, they aren’t alone: other living things are sugaring too, and their stories affect the syrup that is poured on your pancakes (or into your morning coffee). [Read more…] about Surprising Sugarmakers in the Late Winter Woods

List of Species of Greatest Conservation Need Being Revised

November 18, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public input on the draft list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need and associated species status assessments for use in updating New York’s State Wildlife Action Plan for 2025-35. [Read more…] about List of Species of Greatest Conservation Need Being Revised

Beneficial Insects in the Garden: A Primer

August 3, 2024 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

A common reaction when you see a bug in the garden is to reach for the insect spray. Not so fast! Are you sure that is a pest? Maybe it’s actually one of the good guys that helps keep those bad bugs under control. Most insects found in the home landscape aren’t harmful to our plants.

There are many “beneficial” insects that pollinate our plants or provide us with bug control services. Still others are the clean-up crew and take care of dead or decomposing things. It is important to learn to recognize beneficial insects, so they can be appreciated and conserved. [Read more…] about Beneficial Insects in the Garden: A Primer

The Endangered Nine-Spotted Ladybug: New York State Insect

April 28, 2024 by Tom Kalinowski Leave a Comment

Among the many groups of insects that exist on our planet, the most abundant, diverse and ecologically successful are the beetles. And while many of these hard-shelled bugs are viewed as ugly and unwanted by humans, the ladybug beetle is considered to be one of the most attractive and environmentally friendly creatures in nature. [Read more…] about The Endangered Nine-Spotted Ladybug: New York State Insect

Insects & Winter Streams

December 25, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

One winter day, while teaching a winter ecology class, I pulled on waders and rubber gloves, grabbed a catch net, and led my “Minibeasts of the Stream” program, discovering a rich variety of insects in the frigid waters of Kedron Brook in South Woodstock, Vermont. [Read more…] about Insects & Winter Streams

A Short History of Logging Whitney Preserve in the Adirondacks

November 9, 2023 by Noel Sherry 2 Comments

Nehasane, Brandreth and Whitney Preserves were three private parks in the Adirondacks that included logging railroads built to extract large stands of virgin timber in the late 19th century.

The illustrious career of William Collins Whitney (1841-1904) was chronicled in a New York City social diary titled “The Gilded Age Billionaires”: “His political star rose right along with his business ventures … and he eventually entered national politics through Grover Cleveland’s Administration where he was Secretary of the Navy.” [Read more…] about A Short History of Logging Whitney Preserve in the Adirondacks

Check Your Pool Filter for Asian Longhorned Beetle

July 30, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is active from now through Labor Day. Pool owners should check filters for the invasive insect regularly and submit a report if any are found.

ALB attacks and kills maples, birches, willows, and other hardwoods. They emerge from infested trees in the late summer to find a new host. The beetles are 1.5 inches long, have long black-and-white antennae, and have black-and-white spots on their body. [Read more…] about Check Your Pool Filter for Asian Longhorned Beetle

It’s Firefly Season: Increasingly Rare Lightning Bugs

June 11, 2023 by Guest Contributor 6 Comments

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies, / And here on earth come emulating flies, / That though they never equal stars in size, / (And they were never really stars at heart) / Achieve at times a very star-like start… —Robert Frost, “Fireflies in the Garden”

It happens on a warm June evening: in the darkening field near my house, I notice a brief flicker of light. Then another. And another. It’s the opening act of firefly season – a nightly light show, courtesy of a family of ½-inch-long insects. As fleeting as it is spectacular, firefly season lasts only a few weeks, during which the newly emerged adults mate and lay eggs. [Read more…] about It’s Firefly Season: Increasingly Rare Lightning Bugs

Long Island Pine Barrens Southern Pine Beetle Control

April 29, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Crews from DEC Lands & Forests and the Central Pine Barrens Commission worked last month in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens to prevent the spread of southern pine beetle. Southern pine beetle (SPB) is a bark beetle that infests pine trees, killing a tree within 2-4 months. Since SPB was first found in Long Island in 2014, DEC has been managing the Central Pine Barrens using forest thinning and prescribed fire. [Read more…] about Long Island Pine Barrens Southern Pine Beetle Control

How Do New York’s Pests & Diseases Survive Winter?

February 18, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

I can’t help but think about the forest pests and diseases that I work with, and how they fare in winter weather.

We know that monarch butterflies migrate to avoid our cold winters, but what about the insects that stay put? Many of our forests pests and diseases have adaptations and strategies to survive the cold. [Read more…] about How Do New York’s Pests & Diseases Survive Winter?

Beetles, Silver Flies Being Used Against Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Infestations

October 8, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Hemlock trees are being threatened by an invasive insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). Only the size of a sesame seed, this tiny aphid-like insect has the ability to take down an entire forest by feeding on and weakening hemlock trees – causing mortality within 5-7 years if left untreated.

As a foundation species, hemlocks are an important component of forests and provide many beneficial ecological services, like filtering water, shading streams, and providing food and habitat for wildlife. [Read more…] about Beetles, Silver Flies Being Used Against Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Infestations

Rethinking the Lawn: Cutting the Grass

September 4, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

This spring, we went the no-mow route on about a quarter-acre of our lawn, the last remaining groomed piece we hadn’t turned into vegetable garden or permanent meadow. What a relief! During the hottest, driest spells over the summer, the grass wasn’t growing anyway. The lawn we did mow during the drought – mostly pathways – turned unhappily brown. [Read more…] about Rethinking the Lawn: Cutting the Grass

Security Lights Threaten Fireflies

August 20, 2022 by Paul Hetzler 3 Comments

As a kid, many a June twilight was spent trailing the beacons of fireflies in the deepening dusk to try and catch them in my hands. I was endlessly enthralled. Endlessly until Mom called to clean up for bed, at least. It pleases me that my own two children went through this phase, presenting me with Mason jars of flashing green magic before they released “their” fireflies outdoors. [Read more…] about Security Lights Threaten Fireflies

Cobblestone Tiger Beetles

July 30, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Earlier this summer, I joined graduate school friend and beetle biologist, Kristian Omland, in search of the elusive cobblestone tiger beetle (Cicindela marginipennis). We loaded a canoe with insect nets, jars, and binoculars to view beetles while minimizing handling.

Absent from our kit: entomologist’s killing jars. Ours was a catch-and-release mission. The cobblestone tiger beetle is a species of greatest conservation need (SGCN), and we certainly would do nothing to lower its numbers. [Read more…] about Cobblestone Tiger Beetles

beetles

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