Bryan's Posts About Insects

A Rare Bee and an Audacious Beetle

I have become one of the few people in this world to have photographed this bee on its favorite flower. Even so, I have yet to see a frog shit out a living beetle.

The Winds of August

Summer readings, flowers and flying things. Oh, and a couple of puppy pictures.

Waiting (and Rooting) for Mulberrywings

In a sedgy wetland, beside a lone milkweed, I wait for an endearing little butterfly.

The Virtue in Uncertainty

Lessons from the lovely, confusing butterflies here in my backyard — and most likely in yours.

Little Brown Butterflies and the Pandemic

Finding refuge from the coronavirus pandemic among rare brown butterflies and remote northern bogs.

Announcing: The Viral Spring

Your field guide to nature during the pandemic, with regular updates as we practice “distant socializing” (including in the wilds of our homes and back yards).

Orange and Metal

Orangetip and metalmark butterflies, their charisma, coronavirus, and the human condition this coming spring.

Butterflies in Tribute to Darwin and Lincoln

Butterflies in celebration of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, each born on this day 211 years ago.

Insects and Impeachment

Pygmy dragonflies, charismatic butterflies, atomic bombs and toxic politics.

Cheating Death

A moth, a carnivorous plant, a Barbara Kingsolver novel and its cover illustration launch me on a journey of natural history and mistaken identity.

Flowers and Light

New research on butterfly evolution helps explain the force that drove these insects from the darkness into the light.

The Monarch Monsoon

A Monarch on its way to Mexico would seem to have no legitimate business 10 miles out to sea. Try telling that to the thousands of Monarchs here in the Gulf of Maine on Monhegan Island.