Time sure flies for this busy Entomologist! It was a great season and felt so good to be more busy with work again. On my 7th season with Mississippi Park Connection I was able to talk insects with a plethora of fantastic National Park visitors at Owamni Yamni/Saint Anthony Falls. I love being a part of that area and had a great time with the dogs and the people in the neighborhood. The wildlife in the Mississippi corridor in downtown Minneapolis has been refreshing. It aids in my insect themed chats and helps with my connection to the earth and reminds visually how connected in our space we are.

I have been working hard on a great contract I got this year with the Prairie Island Indian Community. I am doing an insect survey working with photos and with a collection of sweepnet samples. The bugs are all pinned and I have just begun with the identification. I am living my best life. I just identified a Male velvet ant!

Metro Blooms continues to be a great partner with insect outreach and education. I am on contract with them working on topics connecting to Monarch butterflies and the Rusty Patch Bumble Bee. It is so great to see this company grow and expand ties to my longtime favorite and home, South-side Minneapolis.

I just saw a Flicker woodpecker sipping water from a fallen maple leaf. I hope this extra inspires you to leave the leaves.

I updated my linkedIn profile and thought I would post it here too. Happy new Year.

With my Masters Degree in Entomology (2014) I have explored so many areas of insects. I enjoy aquatic insects and staying connected to water, pollinators and the circle of water health involved with plant roots and vegetative communities, and predators and prey with the broad ecosystems we are caretakers of.
My heart continues to flow with the Mississippi River. I enjoy working on the movement of stormwater and increasing available ways to infiltrate soils. Dragons Wynd is doing well as a business where my independent passions make it fun to share insect science with a variety of insect enthusiasts and incorporate our vital brethren, Minnesota’s waters. I love to see how in Minnesota teamwork continues to be so very important and seeing organizations like The Freshwater Society, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, the University of Minnesota, Hennepin County, Community members and leaders, and the Park services, work together. The Twin Cities are great and I believe that we truly set a fantastic example for others to see and repeat.
My wish is to continue to expand my knowledge of water issues and better understand those communities. I hope, like most of you, that COVID-19 quits infringing on plans for travel and connecting. I am ready to be invited anywhere in the world and share my passion and knowledge of insects and the environments we mange as humans sharing the world.
My skills in working with diversity makes it fun in a safe space we can communicate in. Hearing insect stories continues to inspire me to bring out passion in others even if not all passion is happy and fun.
When you have your next gathering, birthday party, neighborhood bbq, garden club meeting, garden tour, insect survey, I hope you think of inviting and hiring me.

I am very excited and making plans for the 2019 insect season.  The ground is still pretty frozen but the plants are pushing up and getting green.

Bumble Bee queens will soon emerge and look for a good nesting spot.  She is the only bumble bee to survive the winter and must do all the work to set up a new colony. The work that must be done includes building the cells for food and babies, collecting nectar and pollen, feeding the larvae, and cleaning the nest.  Early blooming flowers and trees are very important to these queens.  The better the nectar flow the larger her first workers (all female) can be.

I jumped right into the insects but wanted to mention that this is the report I will send this to my Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Monument chapter as our Chair of the Conservation committee.

I am delighted to report a butterfly sighting on Wednesday April 3, it was a mourning cloak.  This butterfly overwinters as an adults in Minnesota within leaf litter. The females will lay eggs in a cluster around a twig and the young caterpillars will eat together until it is time to pupate.  Many of our butterflies will return as adults from other states.  Some of the migrations back to Minnesota have begun, such as the adult Monarch butterfly.

I am taking an advanced Bumble bee Identification course and should have more to report at the next meeting.

As you clean up gardens and yards remember to leave what leaves and dead plants as you can, this is valuable habitat for many animals and the food they eat.

Bee well

Jessica Miller

It is great to be busy in Winter.  I got a short time gig at the University of Minnesota.  I am identifying insects to family from a project working in south Western Minnesota.  I think this will work great with Dragons Wynd events and activities this year.  So far this month I have given one lecture to Master Naturalists, and led 1 of 3 classes hosted at the Red Stag Supper Club.  Tomorrow is class number 2 and will focus on predators in your area that eat mosquitoes, and how to attract them to your yard.  Class #1 and the talk at Shoreview Library were a lot about Butterflies.  Winter/Minnesota insects have many ways that they survive winter. Some migrate to water climates, though many can over winter as eggs, larvae, prepupae, pupae, and adults. Entomologists agree butterflies are metal \m/.

What a big first Year for Dragons Wynd!  8 new States for insect Outreach!  We have plans to revisit some of our 2017 Favorites in 2018 and to plan for new adventures.

I will be sharing pictures of our adventures very soon.

Jessica