Bugs of the Watershed
By Robin Brick
Bugs may be small, but did you know that arthropods make up 42% of all animal biomass? To put that into perspective, humans make up 2.5%, wild mammals only 0.3%, and wild birds only 0.1% (Bar-On et al, 2018.) What I’m saying is that the world gets a whole lot bigger with an appreciation of the bugs around you!
But what is a “bug?” Some use it to refer to insects, a class of animals known for their three segmented bodies and 6 legs. Yet many also refer to animals like spiders or centipedes as bugs, animals that certainly do not fit this definition. Some however, may not go broader, but narrower, using “bug” to refer to the “true bugs” of the order Hemiptera, insects united by their piercing mouthparts. Personally, because “bug” is not a scientific group akin to “insect,” I believe any arthropod to be fair game to count as a “bug.”
Beauty is often associated with butterflies, but moths deserve credit too! Some of the best examples are those in the family Saturniidae, more commonly known as the “giant silk moths” or “emperor moths.” They live up to their names, the Cecropia moth is North America’s largest native moth, and has five to seven inches (13 to 18 centimeters). They’re about as big as an adult human hand! (NWF, nd.)
These moths have quite the interesting life cycle. Most caterpillars will pupate in the fall, and won’t emerge until spring. (Coleman, 2012.) When the adult moths emerge, they have no mouth! Their only goal is to mate, and they will do so using only energy stored from their larval stage. Females that have not yet mated will release pheromones, and males can pick them up up to 7 miles away using organs in their antennae called sensilla. Because of the importance of antennae to pheromone detection, males will have larger antennae. (Chathuranga, 2013.)
A cecropia moth perched on a human hand. Photographed by Elizabeth Sellers on June 19, 2011, on Flickr.
A list with images of all Saturniidae species observed in Ohio on iNaturalist, including quantities of observations.
Our next bug may be a “natural enemy,” but don’t let that name fool you, they could be your friend! They’re the jumping spiders! These spiders have very large, distinctive eyes. Perhaps what is more distinctive, however, is that unlike other spiders, they do not spin webs to capture their prey. Instead, they stalk and pounce, being able to go 29 times their body weight! (Griffith & Gardiner, 2016.)
Jumping spiders have also become popular pets recently. Personally, I think they’re adorable, so it’s easy for me to see why. However, interestingly, many owners began as arachnophobes, and adopted these creatures in an attempt to overcome their fear of spiders. These attempts are often successful, as owners, and viewers of their social media videos, see their cuteness and become acquainted with their personalities. (Hartounian, 2025.)
A bold jumping spider, photographed by Harlem S. on iNaturalist
This last bug may be a favorite of gardeners, horror movie fans, or both. It’s the lacewings! You may also know of these bugs as “aphid lions,” a name given to their larval stage due to their predation habits. These bugs will pierce aphids and other insects with their sharp mandibles, and then suck out all the liquid inside of them. One larva can eat 200 insects a day, leading many gardeners to purchase eggs for their gardens. As adults, they may remain predatory, or begin feeding on pollen, nectar and honeydew, depending on species. (Griffith & Gardiner, 2016.)
An image of a green lacewing adult, photographed by Robert Webster on the Wikimedia Commons.
An image of a lacewing larva, or “aphid lion,” photographed by Katja Schulz on the Wikimedia Commons.
The bugs featured here are just a tiny, tiny fraction of what the watershed has to offer! If you’d like to learn about more bugs the Watershed has to offer, you can explore iNaturalist, or just simply keep your eyes open when you go outside, and maybe snap a few photos of the bugs you see! If you’d like to see a sequel to this article, do let us know, I certainly have plenty more to say!