Ed. Note:
August 1, 2009
Each month, on the first of the month, we have problems with our images posting live.  Please be patient and our newest images should be visible in a few hours.  Also, for the past 24 hours, BugGuide has not been accessible.  Since so many our own postings are linked to BugGuide, our readers will not be able to follow those links.  That situation is a mystery and out of our control, but we hope the folks at BugGuide remedy the problem soon.

Both situations are thankfully resolved

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In January, we first posted the announcement that we are writing a book.  We have completed negotiations with our agent and editor at Penguin and finalized the deal, and we have purchased a new computer.  Now we need to actually write our book.  This will not be an identification guide and it will not be a scientific text.  To quote from our proposal “Rather than using the Q&A format, the book will be a compendium of accumulated information, and instead of concentrating of species identification in the way a field guide does, the What’s That Bug? book will be more of a general overview of groups of bugs.”  Hopefully, our book of curious facts, myths and insect lore will be completed by October, but that won’t happen if we spend hours each day responding to questions.  Though we have threatened in the past to limit the number of postings, the truth of the matter is that we love receiving letters and posting responses, and we have recently spent hours each day on the website.  Please be patient as we try to shift some of our attention to meeting our commitment to our agent and editor and making good on our promise.  Chances are quite good that if you have a question, using our in site search engine should lead you to an answer.  If your direct question does not receive an answer, please do not take it personally.  It is because of our own time constraints.

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Sunday, July 12, 2009
We were without a computer for two days while Apple transferred data from the slow old laptop to the new IMac.  Our new computer is so fast, we anticipate being able to answer more, though still not all, of your queries, comments, and submissions.

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USDA – New Pest Advisory Group
Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 5:19 AM
Greetings,
I am a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s New Pest Advisory Group which assess exotic plant pests that are new or imminent threats to U.S. agriculture or the environment. (For more information, please visit our website:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/cphst/npag/index.shtml .
A coworker and I recently found your website and we have been very intrigued. We noticed the posting about the Ctenuchid fly and that it may be a new species record in the United States.
We would like to ask for your help. When you receive a potential new pest in the United States, could you send us an email to npag@aphis.usda.gov and let us know? I know it’s a lot to ask and that you are very busy, but we would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Stephanie Dubon
The New Pest Advisory Group
Raleigh, NC
npag@aphis.usda.gov

Hi Stephanie,
We will happily contact you the next time there is a potential new introduction that our readership informs us about.

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We will be going to Mendocino to a wedding for the weekend and we will not be posting any new letters nor answering any emails between Friday morning and Monday morning. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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What’s That Bug? will not be answering any questions between June 4 and June 12 while we are out of the office, visiting relatives in Ohio.

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A few moths back, we started a dialog with an editor and an agent, and though we are a nervous wreck, we are embarking upon a book project. Since we have a limited amount of time to spend on this new pursuit, we will have to reduce the time we spend posting your wonderful questions, letters and photographs. We are setting a strict time limit of only 30 minutes per day allotted to answering your numerous requests. A few will be posted, and we can email short answers to a few more. Getting our attention is the luck of the draw. Chances are quite good that the insect you want identified might already be in our archives. Please try our search engine or click the links on the left side of the homepage. Don’t forget to scroll down to see our most recent postings and you can see the alphabetized archive of links on the lower left. Please contact us with any comments, problems, suggestions or praise.

Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Hi guys, great news about your book deal but is that  a Freudian slip on the
front page that a “few MOTHS back” you were talking to them
Trevor

hi Trevor,
You are not the only one who caught our typographical error, but seeing as the conversation was a few moths back as well as a few months back, we have decided to let the error stand.

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January 1. 2009
We are having intermittent internet connectivity problems with our provider Time Warner cable, and a technician cannot come to our office until Monday. Please excuse any delays we have in posting and responding to your queries. Right now we are unable to post any new images and we need to resolve this problem.

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