Articles by: Brenna Shea

What’s Buzzin’ – May 24th, 2024

You don’t need to go all the way to the East Coast to find cicadas; we’ve had several submissions of cicada sightings around Missoula and western Montana this week. The […]

Read More

What’s Buzzin’ – May 17th, 2024

We recently learned that a group of butterflies is called a “kaleidoscope,” and we sure have a kaleidoscopic showing this week. The bug activity has exploded with the nice weather over the […]

Read More

What’s Buzzin’ – May 10th, 2024

I hope you’ve got your bug lenses ready because, after a slow start this spring, we’re looking at perfect buggin’ weather for the foreseeable future. We’re seeing more and more […]

Read More

What’s Buzzin’ – May 4th, 2024

 The spate of freezing temps recently has thinned our bug sightings this week, but regardless, we received some stunning submissions! Our header photo features a Brown Elfin, a small species […]

Read More

What’s Buzzin’ – April 26th, 2024

The first submission of our state butterfly, the morning cloak, has arrived! This distinct tortoiseshell is often the first and last butterfly we see every year. They overwinter as adults […]

Read More

Notes from the Lab: The Schmidt Pain Index

Welcome back to the Lab! We’ve all been there; contentedly enjoying a summer afternoon, traipsing across the lawn in bare feet when: boom. Bee underfoot. A yelp is issued. Obscenities are […]

Read More

Notes from the Lab: Insects in Medicine

Welcome back to the Lab! Typically, when it comes to bugs and diseases, our minds immediately jump to the diseases that are spread by insects. We definitely don’t need more […]

Read More

Notes from the Lab: True Body Horror

Love them or hate them, insects have mastered a myriad of strategies to ensure their permanence in our world. Even those with an affinity for bugs have to admit that […]

Read More