I started working on a serious post this morning – one I’ve started several times and haven’t yet figured out how to write. I spent nearly an hour fighting with it and then gave up and decided to just do another quiz. Quizzes are definitely a lot more fun for me to write, and probably more interesting to you too.
Question #1. What color are the eyes of this ladybird beetle?
A. White
B. Black
C. Cerulean
D. Chartreaux
E. It’s not a beetle, it’s a bug. LADY BUG. It’s right there in the name
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Question #2. What species of ladybird beetle is shown in the above photo?
A. Five-spotted lady bug
B. Seven-spotted lady bug
C. Thirteen-spotted lady bug
D. I’m pretty sure Chartreaux is a kind of cat, not a color
E. Ok, but seriously, is it a bug or a beetle?
F. It’s a beetle.
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Question #3. When they named the seven-spotted lady bug (shown above) why did they only count the black spots and not the white ones?
A. Because ‘thirteen-spotted lady bug’ is a dumb name
B. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels might disagree
C. At least they didn’t count the black eyes as spots
D. Good point
E. Was it? Or was it just a clumsy way to provide an answer to #1?
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Question #4. What kind of creature is this?
A. Murder mosquito
B. Robber fly
C. Shoplifter wasp
D. Notorious B.U.G.
E. I don’t know, but its legs look an awful lot like centipedes
F. Wow, they really do!
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Question #5. What is the technical term for a robber fly’s ‘moustache’ that helps protect it against dangerous prey?
A. Van Dyke
B. Scapula
C. Mystax
D. Trilby
E. Pro bono
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Question #6. Who said, “Mistakes are part of being human, mystax are part of being robber flies”?
A. Nobody. Nobody has ever said that.
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Question #7. What kind of legal assistance did the lead singer of U2 hope to get?
A. Pro Bono
B. Why are you like this?
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Question #8. Why did Chris include this photo?
A. Because it’s a gorgeous little native bee (NOT a honey bee)
B. Because honey bees get way too much attention and Chris is sick of it
C. Because there are more than 4,000 species of native bees in the U.S. but all you hear about on the news when people talk about threats to bees is honey bees and even if they don’t specifically say honey bees they talk about the importance of honey which is only made by honey bees and not any other bees so they might as well be talking about honey bees which are basically just introduced livestock species that aren’t even all that helpful in prairies and other ecosystems where they actually compete with native bees and other pollinators who don’t really need more challenges in the lives thank you very much.
D. Because Chris needs to lighten up just a little bit
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Question #9. What are the white structures in the above photo?
A. Fruiting bodies of a fungus
B. Flowers of a grass
C. Eggs of a katydid
D. Larva of a wasp
E. Honey bees have humans to manage their populations so they’re not even in real danger of extinction!
F. Yes, we get it. Let it go.
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Question #10. What kind of grass is shown flowering above?
A. Prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata)
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Question #11. What is the best description of the above photo?
A. It’s an unfortunately cropped photo that doesn’t show the tree trunk this hawk collided with and is now embedded in like a dart on a dart board.
B. Chris’ reflexes are not what they once were and he didn’t quite press the shutter button fast enough.
C. He’s not such a talon-ted photographer after all, is he?
D. OMG stop.
The Prairie Ecologist 
I’ve been doing my bit to spread the word about native bees. These quizzes really do help me learn… I mean, the stuff you say in them sticks. Like mystax. But #9? Eggs?
There are definitely eggs that look kind of like that, but that photo shows the flowers of prairie cordgrass. And thank you for helping get the word out!
Some great humor to end my day. Thank you Chris.
This is a total delight to read, Chris. Thanks for the laughs, the puns and the excellent photos. And, the good info on bees!
Mystax sounds like the archive for MySpace. Seriously (?), these are great.
First, I love the honeybee rant — I feel like screaming that at people sometimes!
Second, inspired by your post last week, I wrote one about World Bee Day too. Thanks for the prompt. :)
Third, I love these quizzes too. You’re quite the wise guy.
Thank you for the quiz Chris!
It made me laugh and got me out of the “serious” doldrums.
You’re hilarious Chris. I enjoy your blog very much.
😂😂😂
With all the talk of Lady Beetles and Lady Bugs, we shouldn’t forget one special Lady Bird. She was often found among the flowers, and did quite a bit to promote bees, too.
Agreed
I see and agree with your points about honeybees, but as I understand it they are wild in Europe, and I’m fairly certain that they are in fact under serious threat there; as living free in the wild. Just like almost everything else is in nature.
I can also understand how you must be feeling frustrated banging your head against the wall. The unfortunate reality is that the general public don’t have a clue about most things.
Anyways, a bit of escape from reality is therefore also needed :-)
U2 is my favorite group, so I appreciated question #7, but Question #8 is far and away the best yet. the photo of the anthers is impressive.
A wonderful bit of humor to start my Tuesday. And I learned a new word: mystax. Thanks for your blog posts!
Jeez, I love your quizzes. You had me actually laughing out loud. Thanks!! I needed that!!
On Mon, May 24, 2021 at 6:45 PM The Prairie Ecologist wrote:
> Chris Helzer posted: ” I started working on a serious post this morning – > one I’ve started several times and haven’t yet figured out how to write. I > spent nearly an hour fighting with it and then gave up and decided to just > do another quiz. Quizzes are definitely a lot more ” >
This is one of the few places that I can learn thing about the prairie and laugh out loud at the same time, thank you!
Chris:
You brightened my day with the humor and when I figured out the grass blossom without any help. Thank you!
Lou Harmon
Better one handful with tranquility
Ecclesiastes 4:6
Oh my gosh, I love these quizzes. I get a real kick out of them when I read them as I eat breakfast. Almost had some cheerios escape into the nasal canal this morning.
Hi Chris, Did you forget to attach photos, or is my cellphone acting up? Chris Hull
On Mon, May 24, 2021, 6:46 PM The Prairie Ecologist wrote:
> Chris Helzer posted: ” I started working on a serious post this morning – > one I’ve started several times and haven’t yet figured out how to write. I > spent nearly an hour fighting with it and then gave up and decided to just > do another quiz. Quizzes are definitely a lot more ” >
Might be on your end. I think everyone else has been able to see the photos ok and they show up when I go to the site. Not sure – good luck!
Disregard.
& where are the answers….?
Thanks for the jokes!
I recently attended bumble bee atlas training and I loved what an instructor said- Bee keeping is NOT Bee conservation. Recently I was walking a friend of mine around my gardens and I was pointing out the good flowering natives for queen bumble bees. She said , ‘I’m really surprised you don’t keep bees’. I said Bee keeping (honey bees) is not bee conservation. And I explained that I do steward the native bees! I think the message was well received.
Lol. Where are the answers?
I am SO glad you made another quiz!
Question 8, answer C – laughing all the way!! Thank you for this, it was much needed!
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