Bugs

Here's how to gauge your own level of arachnophobia: if you said "Wow, what a colorful and interesting specimen," you've got a pretty small case of spider-phobia, if at all.

Summer weather has officially evacuated Illinois and with the wind, rain and chilly temps, we also get bugs, specifically Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs.

Okay, maybe the bugs aren't quite as large as the photo might suggest, but my "How To Add Hyperbolic Photos To Your Internet Posts" handbook said that these would work.

Apparently, you don't need legs or feet to be able to jump.

If you don't like bugs, I am sorry in advance for what you're about to see.

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) has made name changes to but in the past but for not this reason.

Swarms of mayflies are taking over the Midwest, and if you hate bugs, these photos may be the stuff your nightmares are made of.

If the pandemic didn't already seem like enough going on, how about a massive swarm of cicadas we haven't seen in 17 years? You know those GIANT bugs you learn about in school that live underground and only come out every 17 years? Well, it's been 17 years...

It's not that our two states don't agree that there are insects that should be hated, it's just that we disagree on which creep-crawly should draw the most disdain.

Whenever you get a huge group of 17-year olds together, you just know it's going to be loud. Really loud. It doesn't matter whether they happen to be humans or cicadas.