Rudy Mancke

Wheel bugs prey on caterpillars and beetles, such as Japanese beetles, the cabbage worm, orange dogs, tent caterpillars, and the Mexican bean beetle, all of which they pierce with their beak to inject salivary fluids that dissolve soft tissue.

The double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Its habitat is near rivers and lakes as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico.

This species is native to the southeast United States, but ranges all the way up the East Coast of the United States and Canada to southern Nova Scotia. It favors moist, sandy, acid soils, and has appeared in areas in the interior of the US around acid mine seeps, thus being one of the few species to benefit from acid mine drainage.

The defensive behavior of this non-venomous snake makes it seem a threat to humans. It is not.

The red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America.

The spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern United States and Canada. They are so called because of their chirping call that marks the beginning of spring.

It's the first day of spring!

A Lowcountry resident spots some "duck-like" birds on a small pond...

A listener finds a feather on the street in Oconee County...

A listener shares an impressive list of birds spotted in his backyard during his Backyard Bird Count.

Leaf-Footed bugs can be a pest to gardeners.

Yes, you can find "disjunct" populations of Mountain laurel in pockets on the coast of South Carolina where the micro-climate is just right.

Rudy shares a first-hand observation of a parasitoid/host relationship.

Camel crickets are found all over the world.

Rudy shares some meaningful words by John Muir and by Ri