Splat! What's That On Your Windshield?

Splat! What's That On Your Windshield? MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Pest Animals 26-4-20 Ever wonder what kind of bug caused that big smear on your pickup's windshield? Mark Hostetler, University of Florida extension wildlife specialist, can probably tell you. Hostetler spent two summers studying bug splats on the fronts of buses that travel America's highways, taking photos as he went. In addition, he fitted his car with a special collection net across the roof just above the windshield so he could catch the remains of the insects that hit the windshield. "One summer I traveled the U.S. perimeter, stopping at Greyhound bus stations along the way. I put 11,000 miles on my car. I saw thousands of splats," he says. "I found you really can identify the insect from the size, color, texture, and shape of the splat." With two years worth of data, Hostetler put his findings, including 28 full-color photos, into a book entitled "That Gunk On Your Car: A Unique Guide to Insects of North America." There was a serious reason for writing the book. If you watch the splats on windshields when driving around fields, you can tell what insects are probably in your crops. "My goal with this book also was to reach that portion of the public that would never pick-up a book about insects," he says. "Insects serve many functions in our environment, including pollinating vegetable crops and serving as food for our backyard birds. It's important for people to understand them. And families can pass time identifying bug splats when driving long distances." Descriptions in the book are organized by scientific family. Some species encountered on the roads are crop or turf pests, but most are common insects you'd find outdoors. He says research for the book took him to places he'd never been and might never go again. While Hostetler didn't spend much time in corn and soybean country, he figures his guidebook could be informative and even helpful to farmers who find splats on their windshields while driving around surveying their crops. For example, lots of gooey, creamy-white splats may indicate an outbreak of moths in an area. The 125-page book sells for $9.95. It's available from Ten Speed Press (ph 800 841-BOOK), or it can be ordered on the Internet through amazon.com. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Hostetler, Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, IFAS, University of Florida, 215 Newins-Ziegler Hall, P.O. Box 110430, Gainesville, Fla. 32611-0430 (ph 352-846-0568; fax 352-392-6984; E-mail: hostetlerm@wec.ufl.edu).

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