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Monarch butterflies
Monarch butterflies are
the Texas state insect. These butterflies are orange
and black. Their larvae are yellow, black and white
striped. The larvae, or caterpillars, feed on milkweed.
Milkweed has a toxin in it that makes the adult butterfly
poisonous to birds that eat them.
Monarchs
are migratory and will fly from north to south in the
autumn and then from south to north during the spring.
They can be seen overwintering in trees in California
and Mexico.
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Tiger Swallowtail
Tiger swallowtails are a
type of butterfly. Swallowtails usually have a tail at
the end of each hindwing. These butterflies are yellow
and black with some red and blue spots on their wings.
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Dragonflies/ Damselflies
Dragonflies and damselflies
are in the order Odonata. Dragonflies hold their wings
out when they are at rest, while damselflies hold their
wings up over their back. Odonates are wonderful to have
in your backyard since they are predaceous and will feed
on other insects. They actually capture their prey, what
they eat, while flying. They have large eyes to view the
prey with and also their head can turn almost all the
way around.
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Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are very common
and come in a variety of colors. They can be green, yellow,
black, red or orange. They have large hind legs for jumping.
Grasshoppers can create sound by rubbing their hind leg
against their front wing. Grasshoppers feed on plants.
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Crickets
Crickets are closely related to grasshoppers.
Crickets can make noise by rubbing their front wings together.
Male crickets chirp to attract a female cricket to mate.
There are different types of crickets you may find-they
can be black, brown or whitish.
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Praying Mantids
Mantids are large insects that, in
Texas, are usually green in color. They also can be brown,
white or even pink! There are some mantids that mimic
flowers to help them capture prey. Mantids have large
raptorial front legs, which they use to capture and hold
prey. Mantids feed upon insects, but larger species sometimes
eat lizards or even hummingbirds.
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Walkingsticks
Walkingsticks have a name that gives
away their body shape-they look like a stick. These insects
use their bodies to blend into the plant they sit on to
avoid being eaten by birds or other predators. Walkingsticks
feed on leave of trees and shrubs. Species found in the
United States range from 2-7 inches in length. There are
species in the tropics that can reach 1 foot in length!
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Beetles
Beetles are in the order Coleoptera. This is the largest
order of insects with over 80,000 known species. Beetles
have hardened front wings called elytra. This hardened
wing helps to protect the hindwings, which are soft
and membranous. The hindwings are what the beetle uses
to fly.
Ladybugs
are a type of beetle. Usually ladybugs are red with
black spots, but they can also be orange with black
spots or black with red spots. Ladybugs sometimes don't
have any spots at all! These beetles are good to have
in your yard. They will eat aphids, an insect that sucks
juices out of plants. Ladybugs are actually sold for
people to place in their gardens as a natural control
of insects.
Scarab
beetles were actually worshipped by the ancient Egyptians.
These beetles will locate a pile of dung and create
a ball out of it. They will roll the dung ball to a
nest they created and lay an egg on it. When the egg
hatches, the larvae that emerges will eat the dung ball.
Egyptians saw this as a symbol of rebirth and so worshipped
the dung beetle.
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Cicadas
In the autumn, you can usually hear the chirping of cicadas
in the trees. These are fairly large insects, up to two
inches in length. You can usually find cicada cast skins
on trees. These are brown cases that have an opening along
the back from where the adult cicada crawled out. Cicadas
suck juices out of trees.
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Orb Weaver Spiders
These are the gardens that are typically found in backyards.
Some of these spiders can get fairly large. Orb weavers
spin a web out of silk that has a ladder shape down the
center. Spiders feed on insects and other arthropods.
They will consume pest insects around your home, so they
are good to keep around. Many people actually believe
that it is good luck to have spiders in their homes.
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