The luna moth has an average wingspan of four and a half inches, but they can be as large as seven inches! Males and female luna moths are of near identical size and coloring, making them hard to distinguish from one another. They have elongated tails on their hindwings, which are thought to confuse bats’ echolocation techniques! Luna moths are named in part after Luna, the Roman moon goddess. The first recorded discovery of a luna moth was in the year seventeen hundred.
Did you know that there are more than three thousand discovered subspecies of cicada worldwide? Cicadas produce an exceptionally loud sound in using their tymbals, which are membranes located in their abdomens. The oldest known fossil of a cicada is from the Permian period, nearlt three hundred million years ago. Cicadas spend most of their lives underground as larva, emerging only after nine to seventeen years. Cicadas can often be heard calling from high up in Michigan trees.
While there are many types of honey bees, the most common is the Western honey bee. The Western honey bee has been domesticated for crop pollination and honey production. Worker bees, which pollinate plants and produce honey, are always female. The male bees are called drones, and they do not have stingers. Each hive has one queen, who mates with the drone bees. Western honey bees live for about half a year on average.
Grass spiders are not insects, they are arachnids! They weave sheet webs that have a funnel shelter on one end. The webs that grass spiders weave are not sticky, instead, the spiders run very quickly to catch their prey. A bite from a grass spider causes rapid paralysis to insects, but is not harmful to humans. Larger grass spiders can grow to almost two centimeters in body length. There are over one thousand species of grass spiders! Several of these species are found in Michigan.
Monarch butterflies are recognizeable by their bold black-and-orange coloring. They have a wingspan of three-and-a-half to four inches. In late summer or early autumn, monarch butterflies migrate south to Florida or Mexico for the winter season. Did you know that monarchs have been bred on the International Space Station? The first recorded discovery of a monarch was in seventeen fifty-eight. Monarchs are thought to be named in honor of King William III of England, who secondary title was “Prince of Orange”.
There are many species of mantis. In Michigan, both the Chinese and European praying mantises can be found, but neither of them are native to the region. Praying mantises feed primarily on other insects, but occasionally also eat small vertebrae, such as small reptiles and even hummingbirds! The Chinese mantis is the largest in North America and can reach up to eleven centimeters in length.
A zine is a small self-published book that can be about anything you’d like, from drawings to poems to stories to guidebooks like this one! If you’ve finished with this zine, pass it along to a friend or family member to enjoy, or leave it in public for someone else to find!