Insect Study Merit Badge

Today I began working on the Insect Study Merit badge!

To begin with, you learn about the kingdom, phylum, and class of insects, along with the major orders and families.  You also label the parts of an insect.

I also need to observe 20 insects in my area... I took it upon myself to sketch them in my journal.  I started with 6, but I'll keep observing until the badge is complete.  Here we have the common Black Carpenter Ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus), the Green June Bug Beetle (Cotinis nitida), the Lady Bug Beetle (Coccinella magnifica), the Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa micans), the Green Darner Dragonfly (Anax junius), and the Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula).

I did realize, that most of the photos I've taken while camping and hiking weren't insects...

A black widow (Latrodectus hesperus) while we were camping at South Mountain State Park.... very poisonous.

A flat millipede (Apheloria tigana) on a hike (seen both in South Mountain State Park and the Eno River)... also poisonous (secretes a poison that irritates humans, nothing deadly).

An Eastern Harvestmen (Leiobunum vittatum) - one of many common species of "daddy longlegs" when we were camping in South Mountain State Park.

This guy.

This beautiful girl - unidentified as of yet.


Anyway, the point is that what I learned about insects has helped me identify a bunch of non-insects too!

My last task, after observing 14 more insects and sketching them, will be to raise an insect through its metamorphosis - from caterpillar to butterfly or from larva to adult... should be interesting and super gross.  I'll post again when this one's complete.

Now, back to my day job.


-the adventure continues

-Mouse