Bug Fest

Jasper on a bug hunt.

Tualatin Hills Nature Park hosts BugFest every year. Somehow we have never made it before, and didn't want to miss it this time.  I was surprised to find it's a really huge event with lots to see and do!  

A well disguised praying mantis.

A rather dramatic nest from paper wasps.

Some student posters were on display, and I was startled to see this
sage bit of advice.  It's easy to verify that licking a banana slug
will make your tongue go numb, but sadly I've been unable to verify
these dramatic claims.

One of the most popular activities was digging for bugs in a couple of kiddie pools full of dirt!  Jasper
thought this was rad!

Some of the critters he found.  The adult beetle is a snail eater.

An enormous Mormon cricket. 

Jasper checked out a slide of a flea through their microscopes.

A lovely millipede.

Kristie of The Bug Chicks shows off a friendly tarantula.

Outside the Nature Center there were garter snakes.

Garter snake.

Wow!  A honeybee hive.

Wild rose hip.

Common tansy with a sweat bee visitor.

Praying mantis.

A grass skipper butterfly drinking from common tansy.

Jasper captured a sweat bee.

Jasper also caught a lacewing.

Jasper playing a spider game, where the "spider" tries to feel the "insects"
touching the web.  But this time the insects try to sneak up on the spider.