Jan 4, 2015 | Caddisflies, Insects
The following is from Aquatic Insects in Alaska by John Hudson, Katherine Hocker and Robert H. Armstrong One of the biggest dangers to living tissue is ice. Freezing binds up water that is essential to life, and sharp ice crystals pierce cell walls, damaging or...
Dec 31, 2014 | Insects, Other Insects
During winter in Juneau I often notice a variety of insects on the snow. This seems to happen mostly when the temperature rises above 32 degrees for a short period. Why would an insect run about on the snow during winter? It could be for mating — easier to find...
Dec 4, 2014 | Ants, Insects
Colonies of aphids may develop near the top of fireweed plants. To find them look for darkish areas on the plants. These are often tended by red ants which eat the sugary honeydew excreted by the sap-feeding aphids. The ants typically stimulate the aphids with their...
Nov 28, 2014 | Caddisflies, Insects
I have been keeping these caddisfly larvae in an aquarium on the back porch. I hope to raise them to adults which are easier to identify to species. During a cold snap a layer of ice formed on the water surface in the aquarium. At night I noticed that the caddisfly...
Nov 26, 2014 | Caddisflies, Dolly Varden
This is an example of a young Dolly Varden contemplating a meal of caddisflies. You will notice that the fish has a bulging belly so it probably does not have room for much more. I have observed these fish grabbing a caddisfly by the head and shaking its case off...
Nov 22, 2014 | Insects, Mosquitoes
This video illustrates an adult mosquito emerging from its pupal skin at the water surface. Usually this process takes about 5 minute so I speeded up the video by 4 times. To learn about mosquitos in Alaska open up Aquatic Insects in Alaska — Flies by John...