The June Bug ~ Discovering lots of Fun and “Yikes!” about Bugs with your kids…

During June, I will be offering some pretty interesting bugs to you and your kids — Bugs that will excite and entertain kids while teaching them, too. Each and every little word or fun piece of information is a building block to love of learning and literacy, and Summer is a perfect time to get outside and have some fun with learning.

Come along for the Yikes! It’s gonna be a buggah!

Let’s begin with the June Bug:

 

It’s fun to study the June Bug in June!

The June Bug is also called the June Beetle, but its scientific name is Phyllophaga, a Greek word meaning leaf-eating.  The adult June Bug feeds on flowers and leaves of shrubbery and is known to strip plants clean.  Now that’s a “Yikes!”

There are many species of the June Bug, so-called because adult June Bugs are most common in June, although some species are more common in May. It’s no surprise, then, that these beetles are also called May Bugs.  Other species, among at least 100 in all, include the Southern Masked Chafer, the Green June Beetle, the Japanese Beetle and the Figeater Beetle.

The June Bug is brown, reddish brown or sometimes green-hued, and has a stout body. Adults can reach up to 1 inch in length.

But the June Bug has a larval, or grub stage, where damage to grass and shrubbery roots is significant. The grub burrows deeply into soil and feeds on grass, grass roots and farm and garden crops.

The grub is white, C-shaped and has a brown head and 6 legs, not known as the cutest creature in the world.

Yikes!

Share the June Bug and its Grub with your kids.  You may wish to explore the life cycle of the Grub and the June Bug.  You may also wish to investigate your own lawn, finding potential dead patches of turf that may have been harmed by that cute (NOT) little Grub. If you dare, turn over a little patch of soil for further investigation.

And there’s always this June Bug reflection on youth by American author Mark Twain: It is better to be a young June Bug than an old bird of paradise.  You decide!

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Join me here each day in June for a little fun, a little learning and a lotta “Yikes!”