Insects own July; sometimes competing for a place to land or crawl on our arms and legs.

Others, or imitations of them, may help catch a trout, bass or bluegill. Many insects eat what we eat or what gardens are planted to grow. Still other six-legged animals assist plants in getting a squash, cucumber, raspberry or apple fruit to grow from a flower.

Many bugs are just plain interesting to watch, photograph or attract closer to plants that we like. Some bugs help in decomposing organic matter or pester the deer we are watching, maybe making for a more interesting photograph as they struggle, as we do, to keep the critters out of our hair.

Not all insects react to all people the same, which often leads to disagreement as to the best bug-don’t-bother-me concoctions.

 “Wisconsin has about 60 kinds of mosquitoes,” said PJ Liesch, at the UW Insect Diagnostic Laboratory on campus. “Some people just seem to be more attractive to certain insects, but usually it’s more complicated than that, all the way down to which microbes are living on us, maybe at that moment.”

Repellents don’t usually work well against all insects, either. Some, such as IcyHot and Buggins, may work on buffalo gnats but not mosquitoes, for example.

Bret Schultz, who tries to be on the water almost every day from January through mid-October, uses vanilla extract until the gnats become too problematic and he has to turn to Buggins or eventually an Off product.

Insects also bug some outsiders because the insect is unusual, beautiful, seemingly creative or misunderstood.

Liesch is stuck on many local, and faraway insects, including one he’s never seen in a live state. “Ice crawlers live in high elevations, mountain tops and surfaces of glaciers and cannot stand high temperatures, and die if we would place one in our hand,” he said.

Butterflies go well with flowering prairie plants about now. Usually they are most active as the day warms and vegetation dries. Purple-blue bee balm is almost everywhere now and butterflies and bees don’t have to fly far.

The goldenrod gall fly has already laid eggs on plants’ stems and the larvae have burrowed into the tissue. It’ll be there all winter, unless a woodpecker finds it before an ice fisherman takes it for bait.

No need to harvest them now; just locate good patches of infested goldenrods and wait for winter.

Some pollinating bumblebees coax the plants’ anthers to release pollen by buzz pollination. Very rapid muscle vibration causes pollen release in tomatoes and potatoes and their relatives, as well as prairie shooting stars.

This buzz process causes a sound, helping us to find the pollen-collecting insects by listening for the buzzing as a bee enters a flower. The bumble doesn’t buzz until it’s on the flower. Loads of pollen can usually be seen on the bumblebee’s body as it hoards up to head home. As a result, accidents happen and some pollen gets spilled from flower to flower.

Insects have already done their job of pollination in black raspberries and blackberries. Wild blackcaps are continuing to ripen, initiated by pollination and plant fertilization weeks ago.

Pickers are rarely alone in berry patches, with some animals being heard and not seen but when a doe and fawn bound away their food patch is revealed. Turkey poults are old enough to fly, some as large as grouse, so listen to the hen giving an assembly call to gather the troops after the disturbance calms. The turkeys may never be seen, only heard.

For flyfishers, July is one of the toughest warm weather months, but can make fishing simple, too.

 “For underwater fishing, if I could carry only one fly it would be a scud,” Schultz said. “I’m trying to imitate a nymph insect form.”

If Schultz gets some cloudy or rainy weather, he might go to an olive black woolly bugger if he still wanted to stay underneath.

“Everything else is terrestrial-based, surface insects. Fish see ants all day long near the bank where they fall into the water. I also plop beetles, baby hoppers and small crickets,” Schultz said.

If the fish are feeding, Schultz puts an ant along the stream edge but if no feeding is occurring, he’ll slap a fly of the other three imitations along the bank to get the trout’s attention.

Keep watching for any new fall regulations in waterfowl, upland game and deer hunting.

Raspberry picking should continue for a couple weeks, and end about the time blackberries are black.

Garden insects might be brutal on potatoes with the heat. Japanese beetles and Colorado potato beetles control begins with immediate hand picking and soapy water disposal with a touch of bleach added.

As darkness falls, watch for fireflies and then check the areas the next morning to find a firefly with its light out. It’s possible when knowing what clues to look for.

Don’t forget the morning coolness and daytime shade to make some activities more enjoyable.

— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.