Recent content

Good "Bugs"

All "bugs" aren't bad. Entomologists call insects that belong to the suborder Heteroptera (order Hemiptera) the "true bugs" and insects belonging to the hemipteran family Reduviidae are collectively known as “Assassin Bugs.” The family includes over 190 species in North America and they are all meat-eaters. The common name for the family clearly describes how these predatory stealthy hunters make a living.
Published on
Authors
Joe Boggs

Winterberry Gender Reveal

"Is my winterberry a male or female?" "I thought I bought a female and a male but I don't have any berries." 

Comments and questions like the ones above usually come during the fall or winter when the bright red berries begin to show up on Ilex verticillata, winterberry. But at that point in the season it is too late to tell. If you purchase a female but don't have a male (or the right male) and end up with no berries, you may think that you bought a male and go out and buy another female. 

Winterberry is dioecious, meaning there are separate male and female plants...

Published on
Authors
Paul Snyder