Archives for the "insects" Category

Metamorphosis into a Social Butterfly

Butterfly nets, bug boxes and jars filled with lightning bugs. To a child who spends his days exploring the seemingly magical outdoor world, these tools are essential. Sometimes, as we […]

Native Bees, Bumble Bees & Honey Bees

Bees, bees, bees! Recently there’s been a lot of talk about saving the honeybees. Many articles explain the importance of honey bees as pollinators, and their declining numbers due to […]

Unicia Buster:
Human Cecropia

My love of moths continues as I channeled the spirit of the Hyalophora cecropia Linnaeus or Cecropia moth, the largest native North American moth for my latest work of art. […]

Insects Take the Heat

Humans aren’t the only ones who feel the heat. Global warming affects insects, too. Their responses vary by species and environs, including creative adaptions over time. “Insects and mites are […]

Garden Talk: Get to Know Leah Purdy

All year long the Garden is full of budding plants. We start to see bright daffodils and colorful tulips in the spring, full hydrangeas in the summer, striking camellias in […]

Battle of the Bugs

While most gardeners try to keep insects out of the garden, Horticulturist Chelsea Mahaffey invites them in – selectively, of course. “The trick is knowing which bugs are beneficial and […]

Beneficial Bugs: Facebook Live!

In case you missed it, here’s a recap of our Facebook Live post with Director of Horticulture Grace Elton and Conservatory Horticulturist Chelsea Mahaffey. In this video, we take you on a brief […]

Good Bugs in Your Garden

Is the term “good bug” an oxymoron? Mosquitoes bite. Ants invade. Wasps sting. Termites demolish. What’s good about that? You may think of bugs as the enemy in nature’s narrative, […]

Cecropia Silkmoth Makes a Big Impression

This Cecropia silkmoth (Hyalophora cecropia) is beautiful enough to be in our Butterflies LIVE! exhibit, but actually, it’s not from the exhibit at all. Horticulturist Leah Purdy found this beauty […]

Vegetable Gardening Help: Harlequin Bugs

by Laura Schumm, Community Kitchen Garden Horiculturist, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden A recent Tweet from the folks over at Kersey Creek Elementary School in Hanover County got us thinking about Harlequin bugs and […]