I guess BSTs must have various kinds of parasites/parasitoids. The very first year that I raised them (before I got into a routine of bringing them inside as aoon as I saw any BSTs on the plants) I had 4 that had been parasitized. They overwintered and came out the next spring as wasps. They weren't small like the ones in your picture but big like regular wasps and parts of them were reddish brown (I think their legs and maybe something else). I have pictures of them somewhere if only I could find them. I haven't had any problems the past few years with wasps parasitizing BSTs, but I'm vigilant about bringing them in as soon as possible to protect them. Btw, those are very nice pictures even if the subject is one that I don't like. ;-) Cathy

When I am in a position like that I think of the fastest way to go so they may never know what hit them. This may sound cruel but ultimatly it is so fast and instant. I take them outside in a concrete area and find the heaviest brick and drop it on them. I can tell you two different occasions where this worked great and instantly. I accidently gashed a VERY large tree frog's legs with my weed eater when he jumped up from the weeds. It truly devastated me because he was so beautiful and then I had a Monarch that had just emerged I brought him in to show my daughter and then took him back outside to finish drying, not even thrity minutes later my daughter's friend came over and she went out to show her the Monarch and a wasp had eaten most of the head off the poor thing before it was able to fully flap its wings. I had to put both of them out of their misery. The freezer seems to long to me. A brick is instant! I also completely agree with TDOGMOM, the longer you keep it the more attached your going to become, and the more butterflies you may infect. Kelli

Wayne, here's the headline...Crystal power Palmtop Nuclear Fusion Device Invented By Michael Schirber LiveScience Staff Writer posted: 27 April 2005 01:00 pm ET The nuclear reaction that powers the Sun has been reproduced in a pocket-sized device, scientists announced today. Researchers have for years tried to harness nuclear fusion to power the world. But its cousin, nuclear fission -- the breaking apart of atoms -- is the only method so far commercially viable. The latest invention is not in the same league as efforts to build complex commercial reactors. The new device creates a relatively small number of reactions, and requires more energy to operate than it produces. The Real Deal (AP) - Previous claims of tabletop fusion have been met with skepticism and even derision by physicists. In one of the most notable cases, Dr. B. Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of Southampton University in England shocked the world in 1989 when they announced that they had achieved so-called cold fusion at room temperature. Their work was discredited after repeated attempts to reproduce it failed. Fusion experts noted that the new UCLA experiment is credible because, unlike the 1989 work, it did not violate basic principles of physics. "This doesn't have any controversy in it because they're using a tried and true method,'' said David Ruzic, professor of nuclear and plasma engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "There's no mystery in terms of the physics.'' -- Associated Press But the configuration is so small and simple that its creators think it may inspire unforeseen applications. "I certainly find it interesting that you can heat a cubic centimeter crystal in your hand, then plunge it in cold water and it will cause nuclear fusion," Seth Putterman from the University of California Los Angeles told LiveScience. Putterman's lay description greatly oversimplifies how the compact apparatus works. Specifically, Putterman and collaborators heat a pyroelectric crystal, lithium tantalite, from minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit to plus 45 in a matter of minutes. This generates an electrical charge -- 100,000 volts -- across the tiny crystal, which is housed in a chamber filled with deuterium gas, a heavy form of hydrogen. The high voltage is focused onto a needle-thin tip, which strips electrons from nearby deuterium nuclei and then accelerates them at a solid target containing deuterium. When two deuterium nuclei collide together at high speed, they fuse to form helium. The Sun also fuses atoms in thermonuclear reactions that create light and heat. The byproduct of the newly discovered lab reaction is a particle called the neutron. The scientists detect about 1,000 neutrons per second. Because neutrons are so penetrating, Putterman said that a hand-held neutron source might one-day be used to do geologic surveys or to look into cargo containers for nuclear devices. "Current neutron generators are extremely cumbersome," Putterman said. "They are about as big as a dentists X-ray machine, so you canÂt carry them into the field." Pyroelectric crystals could also provide a beam of ions for use as a microthruster in a miniature spacecraft. The research is described in the April 28 issue of the journal Nature.

gle- My lawn came out ok enough....it's green, fungus gone, no weeds, over-seeded in early Sept.... My last thing to do this year is apply fertilizer late October/early November. Then starting next year, I'm going to try to follow this: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4826669/a-yearly-guide-for-cool-season-grasses-from-rutgers to the letter and see how I make out. We're supposed to get a harsh winter in the northeast so let's see how that goes.