April 18, 2026

I am an adult Milkweed Bug

I'm in my 5th molt, so I'm ready to breed

I only eat seeds

Of the plant, Milkweed

Unlike Monarchs, I don't eat the leaves

Location: My house, Fellsmere

Sources: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/milkweed-bug#:~:text=Milkweed%20bugs%2C%20Oncopeltus%20fasciatus%2C%20are,per%20day%20in%20small%20clusters.

Photo and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

November 22, 2024

I am a Mexican Bordered Plant Bug

I'm in the family Largidae

My forewings are edged with a contrasting color

And I feed on plant juices and seeds.

Location: Corpus Christi, TX

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largidae

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

October 18, 2024

I am a Giant Leaf-footed bug

I'm harmless but watch out for my scent

I'm not venomous and I won't bite you

But terrible body odor is my defense. 

(Do NOT step on one of these - I've never done it, but have been told by people who have there that there is an extremely valid reason they are also known as "Stink Bugs!")

Location: Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/84994-Acanthocephala-declivis

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

September 24, 2024

I am a Bush Katydid

You would have to see my supra-anal plate

To determine my exact species

But we're all widespread across the United States.

Location: Private residence, Warne, NC

Sources: https://theincorrigibleentomologist.wordpress.com/2017/01/06/bush-katydids/

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

September 4, 2024

I am a nymph in the genus Acanthocephala

A genus in which the species are many

When I'm an adult, you'll be able to tell my species

Based on my legs and the color of my antennae.

Location: Private residence, Blountston, FL

Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2718

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

November 27, 2023

I am probably a Rice Stink Bug

It's difficult to tell from a side angle

Possible clues are my color and eyes

And my head's shaped like a triangle.

Location: TM Goodwin WMA, Broadmoor Unit

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/295792-Oebalus-pugnax

Photo and text © 2023 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

September 22, 2023

I am an Epicauta batesii

A Blister Beetle in the Meloidae family

When I was a larvae I preyed on bees and grasshoppers

As an adult I defoliate crops, including beets.

Location: Rock Springs Run State Preserve

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/medical/blister_beetles.htm

Photo and text © 2023 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

September 4, 2023

I am a Milkweed Assassin Bug

I eat everything from caterpillars to flies

I catch prey with my sticky forelegs.

Insert my stylets, and my prey is paralyzed.

Like spiders I use extra-oral digestion

And then drink my preys insides.

Location: Titusville Field Station, Titusville

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/bugs/zelus_longipes.htm

Photo and text © 2023 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

August 20, 2023

I am a nymph of a Helmeted Squash Bug

As an adult I'm sometimes known to play dead

Adults can also damage oranges and potted plants

And  they are brownish, not orange-red.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/flowers/euthochtha_galeator.htm

Photo and text © 2023 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

June 20, 2023

We are two Spotless Lady Beetles

Having some romantic fun

We might raise a family or we might have a snack - 

Sometimes we cannibalize our young!

Location: Oyster Bar Marsh Conservation Area, Vero Beach

Sources: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN327

Photo and text © 2023 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

May 11, 2023

I am nymph in the genus Largus

Though I'm harmless, I have that red spot

To let predators they should leave me alone

And that I'm mean and scary (though really I'm not.)

Location: Crane Point Hammock, Marathon

Sources: http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2014/05/livin-largus.html

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

May 8, 2023

I am a bug in the genus Largus

I have very little impact to people 

So I am not well studied, but they know what I eat:

Plants, carrion and sometimes matter fecal.

Location: Crane Point Hammock, Marathon

Sources: http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2014/05/livin-largus.html

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

May 1, 2023

We are Cochineal Insects on a Prickly Pear cactus/

To you, we probably look like white mold

But we are actual insects used in red dye

After we are collected, dried, processed and sold

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park

Sources: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientists-are-making-cochineal-a-red-dye-from-bugs-in-the-lab-180979828/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 25, 2023

I am a Sri Lankan Weevil

In Florida, I was introduced

I am a pest, 

And I do my best

To eat your ornamental plants and tasty produce.

Location: Riverside Park, Vero

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/sri_lankan_weevil.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 23, 2023

I am known as a Black Horse Fly

Females bite cattle and feed on their blood

They also occasionally bite humans

But males drink nectar and should not be misjudged.

Location: Riverside Park, Vero

Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/view/17584

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

March 15, 2023

I am a Southern Sculptured Pine Borer,

I'm a type of wood-boring beetle

In real life I am shiny copperry-gold

Like an ancient Berlin cathedral.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/choate/chalcophora1.htm

https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-cathedral

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

January 16, 2023

I am a female Northern Plushback fly

You know I'm not male - my eyes don't meet in the middle

My eyes are separated with space in between

I look like a bee, but the similarities are just superficial.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55264-Palpada-vinetorum

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 21, 2022

I am a female or young Eastern Pondhawk

Superficially, I resemble a Regal Darner

You can tell I am me, although we're both green

The Regal Darner is about two times larger.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.php?identification=Eastern-Pondhawk

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 20, 2022

I am a Regal Darner dragonfly

I am bright green with many brown stripes

You can find me in lakes and slow moving streams

I also like to hang out at tree-top heights.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: Dragonflies through Binoculars by Sidney W. Dunkle https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/dragonflies-through-binoculars-a-field-guide-to-dragonflies-of-north-america-butterflies-and-others-through-binoculars-field-guide-series_sidney-w-dunkle/471716/#edition=4297468&idiq=13582376

Bonus source article: This is a very cool article, printed originally in a 1944 edition of The Florida Entomologist. It describes an influx of dragonflies (including  Regal Darners) after a long drought in New Smyrna Beach ended. You can read this article by signing up for a free JSTOR account, it is absolutely worth it. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3492160

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

October 19, 2022

We are two Blue-ringed Dancers

Blue means we're male, brown is young or female

We all have rings on our abdomen

Which you might look at and think that's a tail.

Location: Orlando Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL

Sources: https://bugguide.net/node/view/2641

Bonus source: More detail than you could ever hope to know regarding how to ID a Damselfly: https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Vol-15-No-2.pdf

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson