About 70% of the bee species in the U.S. raise their young in underground tunnels. These ground-nesting pollinators select loose, well-drained soil in open, sunny sites. Tunnel entrances are holes about the diameter of a pencil.  Entrances are surrounded by…

Cicada killer wasps are active across Kentucky during July and August.  Females are intent on their tasks of: 1) digging underground burrows and 2) provisioning them with the paralyzed cicadas that will be food for their grub-like larvae. These insects…

Several species of wasps patrol landscapes by air or ground. A few nest in loose, well-drained soil in gardens, flowerbeds, and along sidewalks. Usually, they have warning coloring and intimidating behaviors, but they do not attack without provocation. If left…

Green June beetles (Figure 1) fly noisily and unpredictably over the ground, occasionally crashing into objects or people as males search for females, and females search for soil with high organic matter content. Females lay batches of up to 75…

Southern and northern masked chafers are probably the small tan beetles that you see skimming over turfgrass or flying toward outdoor lights at night. Active from early June through July, the beetles are mating and laying eggs that may lead…

Cool spring weather is ideal for crane flies. Many species of these long-legged mosquito-like flies live in Kentucky. They come in many sizes and resemble their close relatives: mosquitoes (Figure 1). Crane flies do not have the long sucking mouthparts…