Not all bugs created equal

 As featured May 26, 2012, on www.cnjonline.com

The programing starts in childhood, after all, what's not to like about the school year ending? But that's not the only reason summer is a favorite time of year.
Warmth, long days of glorious sunshine, swimming and other outdoor activities, brightly-colored plants and beautiful skies — the reasons are endless.
But perhaps best of all, it's bug time.
Yes, that's right; the preceding was posed as a positive statement and, yes, bugs are cool.
And when you like bugs, it's an exciting time of year.
About twice a day I trek around the yard to check the progress of the oothicas because the mantis babies are due any time now.
After rain showers, I find myself looking to the sky for the dragonflies that will be joining us soon and smile at the ladybugs climbing on the rose bushes.
Looking like they walked out of Hasbro game "Cootie," the cute and non-venomous, yet bite-capable Jerusalem crickets get observed from a safe distance and I let the centipedes scurry and hide.
Even the big furry wolf spiders tucked in the crevices of the roof are a welcome sight as the days get longer and the temperatures rise.
The fact that they're like little living robots, with their quirky alien eyes, insanely accurate hunting prowess and gravity-defying stunts aren't the only reasons for the anticipation and excitement as the days tick by while they hatch and grow.
No, there are certainly other reasons — namely the bugs that aren't so cool.
Flies, gnats, mosquitoes, bees, wasps, aphids, plant-destroying caterpillars and, did I mention flies?
Yep, they're hatching and growing too, and their arrival is not so eagerly anticipated.
However, not all bugs are created equal and not only is there a "do not smush" list at my house, but also a sense of reverence for the hunters — and this time of year, they appear like reinforcements on the front lines, with a warm welcome and permission to eat all the nuisance critters they can manage.
Heck, I'll even make sure they have plenty of leafy safe havens to hunt from, let them build their webs wherever they see fit and see to it there's water during the dry spells.
When those little translucent mantids emerge from the cases where they have spent the winter, spilling out onto walls, branches and fence posts, they, and their voracious appetites, are celebrated.
And even though they get a wide berth, the creepy centipedes under the water troughs get left alone because they are taking out the fly larvae before they have a chance to take to the air.
Thankfully, the list of native beneficial insects in the area is quite long, because so is the list of pests, and everybody knows, especially with fly season around the corner, we need all the help we can get.
Some of the lesser known soldiers in the war on pests are the big eyed, damsel, assassin, pirate and some of the stink bugs, some lacewings, beetles and even a few members of the wasp and fly families.
In other words, just because it buzzes, creeps or crawls doesn't necessarily mean it should be splatted under a shoe or send picnickers screaming. In fact, in most cases, it makes a little more sense to just step out of the way and let them do what they do best.
After all, karma notwithstanding, we are actually all on the same page — we humans want the blood suckers, stingers and annoying germ carriers kept to a minimum, if not eradicated all together, and they want to have them for lunch, and breakfast, and dinner and a couple of snacks in between.
So fly, buzz, jump, crawl, burrow, and for goodness sake, chow on...