B.I.M.B.Y.

For all folks living around Central Texas, I was just turned on to a great resource for identifying those fascinating six- and eight-legged critters flitting and rooting around in your gardens:

Entomologist Mike Quinn's web site B.I.M.B.Y. (Bugs In My Back Yard!).

Quinn is obviously the kind of guy who--opposite of the NIMBY attitude--actually wants bugs in his backyard. And we should too. Most of the time, anyway.

(Full disclosure: even a bug lover like me doesn't allow cockroaches, ants and termites into the house. They are fine out in the green world, but my built environment is mine and does not need to be composted and fertilized, thank you very much.)

Below are some cool bugs that you may find in your backyard, courtesy of B.I.M.B.Y.

The Aztec Spur-throat grasshopper (which I just posted about here):


The black banded or green stink bug:


The Southern flannel moth:


Anyway, the list goes on...cool resource for Central Texas gardeners interested in insects and spiders.