Cicadas are an interesting insect. Adults are typically between 1 and 2 inches long while some tropical species can reach 6 inches in length. Worldwide there are about 3,000 species; nearly all of them have their own distinct song. The songs are produced by structures, located on each side of the abdominal segment, called tymbals. The tymbals are ribbed membranes with muscles that are used to contract the membrane inward producing the distinctive click of the cicada. As the membrane expands back another click is produced. Each membranes alternately contracts. To amplify the songs the male has a hollow, air-filled abdominal cavity. Interested females respond to the songs with wing flicks that produces a sound similar to snapping one’s fingers.

When a pair has mated the female will deposit her eggs in branches with her ovipositor, laying up to several hundred eggs at a time. When the eggs hatch the nymphs will burrow into the ground to live out their juvenile lives. Most species will spend two to five years underground sucking the xylem from the roots of trees. However, some species such as the Magicicada, known as periodical, will spend 13 or 17 years underground before emerging.

Periodical cicadas have five distinct juvenile stages before they are ready to leave their burrows. When they are ready to leave the ground the nymphs will begin digging tunnels to the surface and at night they will climb up trees en masse to molt and reveal their transparent and delicate wings. Adults will live only a few weeks to a month starting the cycle all over again.

See my Framed Cicadas

Tags: cicada

How much is a bee worth?



Insects pollinate almost a 1/3 of our food and provide this service for free! So why are they not factored into the GDP, an economic number giving an estimate of our countries total economic output every quarter? How much would it cost us if bees were to disappear, which is happening to a degree right now.

This GDP fails to account for the billions of dollars of FREE services that nature provides, which impacts policy makers who tend to only look at numbers. These free services are called Ecosystem Services and include things we take for granted like clean air, carbon sequestration, climate regulation, pollination and seed dispersal – to name a few.

The BIG question is how much would it cost us if nature were not there to perform these services? Scientists are trying to figure this out the cost of these services. One study wanted to highlight an estimate of the total output of insects in the United States – $57 Billion. This is a conservative estimate and ONLY for the United States. Without insects, the authors note, human life on earth would eventually be extinguished.


Here is a breakdown of some of the services by economic value:

Value of crop production from pollination by native insects: $3 billion

Crop losses averted by beneficial insects from predation or parasitism of agricultural pests: $4.5 billion

Percent of native pests controlled by other insects: $65 million

Economic losses averted every year by burial of livestock waste by dung beetles: $380 million

Amount spent for hunting, fishing and observing wildlife that relies on insects as a food resource: $50 billion

Number of North American bird species that are primarily insectivores: $395 million

So, how much is a bee worth to us? Priceless.


Source: BioScience, April 2006, reprinted in Scientific American July 2006

Tags: ecosystem services, economic

The B.U.G. studio is situated in one room of a San Francisco 3 bedroom flat. Our apartment was built one year after the 1906 earthquake, so it has lots of old charm.


Finished insects are stored in the back against the wall. Mr. T (upper right) watches over me.


In the center of the picture, in the terrarium, are my Madagascan Hissing Cockroach family (8 members). They like to come with me when I do insect presentations at local schools.


Once insects are dried and spread, I store them in the same drawers museums use. These drawers were acquired from the California Academy of Sciences and Berkeley entomology collections.


Pinned beetles drying. The pins are used to make the beetles perfectly symmetrical.


My shipping station which is an old IKEA bar stand.


(In the upper left) My mausoleum for "Debbie" the South African Darkling beetle, who lived with me in Cape Town until a parasite crawled out of her and killed her. Also displayed are my Green Business certificate and Blue Ribbon award from the 2008 Maker Faire, the largest DIY festival in the world.


This is where I pin & spread my specimens and also make my butterfly wing jewelry. My world is full of little drawers.


One of the best things about working from home is I get to hang out with my son all day. He loves to watch me spread butterflies and often gives some good advice, although I don't understand it.


Bathroom break for a Rhino Beetle.


Butterfly Wing Jewelry waiting to be finished.


A rough gang of tricycle weevils that sometimes cause trouble in my studio.


I only use perfect specimens in my insect displays. The ones that are not up to my standards go into the "Bone Yard" where I can harvest parts if I need to repair a specimen. Maybe I should send these to Fear Factor?


Ten of the most enjoyable days of my science career were at the Ant Course, a unique workshop sponsored by Harvard University and the California Academy of Sciences that brings together some of the best ant scientists in the world together. One of the greatest living scientists, E.O. Wilson, signs every certificate.

Tags: work studio, work space

Welcome to my first BUG give-a-way! Listed below are 5 ways you can enter up to 5 times to win one of THREE prizes. I am giving away three (3) BLUE MORPHO Butterfly Wing jewelry pieces from the Sterling Silver Single Oval Butterfly Wing Collection – a $39 value each (You can get up to FIVE entries (but only one winner per prize - 3 different winners), here’s how:

1. Become a facebook fan and leave a comment that you just joined. Current fans can just leave a comment on my facebook fan page that you want to enter the contest. (1 entry)

2. Share my facebook fanpage on your facebook and leave a comment letting me know. (1 entry)

3. Tweet (@bugunderglass) about this Giveaway. (1 entry)

4. Write a blog post about your favorite BUG piece or about my work and link back to this post or comment. (1 entry)

5. Do all four of the above and receive a fifth entry (make sure to leave a comment!) (1 entry)

The giveaway begins today and ends Sunday, November 13th at 12 midnight, PST. I will choose the winners that night from a random number generator and post the winner on the following Monday (the next day)!

Thanks for all your support!

(this giveaway is open to United States residents only)

Tags: butterfly wing jewelry

New Insect Diorama (9x9 inches) - Weevil Riding a Camel


Available here: ETSY

Tags: beetle, diorama, miniture