We spotted this stinkhorn mushroom covered with plenty of flat footed flies on the North Trail at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. The stinkhorn mushroom is kind of nasty looking, white with a brown/green slime.

Stinkhorn Mushroom and Flat Footed Flies

Despite weather stripping, quite a few stink bugs are finding their way inside our home. Stink bugs can make themselves flat to invade through even the smallest openings. I photographed this one outside.

Stink Bug Outside

What do stink bugs smell like?

Do stink bugs stink? I do not detect an odor from nearby stink bugs. However, just catching one with your hand leaves a stench on your hand. Smashing them really brings out the smell. Smells can be a bit difficult to describe, but I’d say they have a chemical odor.

Do stink bugs fly?

While I most often find stink bugs standing around somewhere, they can also fly. As stink bugs fly by indoors, they sound a bit like an electric razor buzzing.

Getting Rid of Stink Bugs

Stink bugs can be vacuumed up, although there is another method rather than getting the vacuum cleaner out every time you see them. My preferred method is to grab and crush them in my hand using a paper towel. Fortunately, stink bugs are not very evasive.

See Also: Stink bug

Can Caterpillars Predict the Weather?
There was an interesting post and discussion at the CapitalWeatherGang site today about folklore and predicting winter weather. The Farmer’s Almanac site says:

Narrow orange band in the middle of the Woollybear caterpillar warns of heavy snow; fat and fuzzy caterpillars presage bitter cold.

I would say the woolly bear caterpillar I photographed today has a medium width stripe. According to the lore, this is indicative of an average winter. However, this Ohio University article claims the stripe width does not matter:

The truth behind the woolly bear’s band length actually has more to do with age than with predicting the weather. As the caterpillar prepares to overwinter, the caterpillar molts, becoming less black and more reddish-brown as it ages…

“The length of the bands have nothing to do with the severity of winter,” said Bloestcher. “Woolly bears hole themselves up somewhere for winter. What do they care what color they are?”

I actually saw several fuzzy caterpillars today. Does that mean bitter cold is on the way? Well, the Capital Weather Gang forecast mentions a polar cold front coming this weekend with a “small” chance of snow on Monday night.

Woolly Bear Caterpillar
The woolly bear caterpillar turns into the Isabella Tiger Moth.

Woolly Bear Caterpillar

Hickory Tussock Caterpillar
Caution: The hickory tussock caterpillar has stinging hairs that cause irritation, especially if they get in your eyes.

Hickory Tussock Caterpillar

This mostly gray butterfly with orange spots was spotted on a cardinal flower in our backyard.

Gray Hairstreak Butterfly on Cardinal Flower

A large wasp nest was constructed fairly quickly above our garage door.

After spraying, I removed the wasp nest.