Creepin crawlin

Happy Monday, Cincy! 🐛 Work week crept up on us again.

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, high of 78. This forecast has wings.

🪲 Sounds like: "Bug-A-Boo" by Destiny's Child.

This newsletter crawls in at 998 words — about a 3.5-minute read. It'll fly by.

Cincinnati's spotted lanternfly invasion has spawned an unlikely local theory: Are our famous Lazarus lizards fighting back?

Why it matters: Some locals swear they're seeing more of our little wall lizards just as invasive spotted lanternflies are exploding in number.

• It's a delightful theory, but the science is pretty shaky.

Reality check: "I've never seen one eat a lanternfly," Gene Kritsky, professor emeritus of biology at Mount St. Joseph University, tells Axios.

The intrigue: Smaller lanternfly nymphs could conceivably become lizard lunch, Kritsky says.

• But adult lanternflies are bigger than the lizards' heads — and they're fast.

• Lanternflies jump so quickly that Kritsky doubts a Lazarus lizard could simply "saunter up and grab one."

Between the lines: What looks like a predator-prey boom may be two unrelated Cincinnati invasions colliding.

• Lazarus lizards have expanded their territory for decades, spreading from around Downtown to neighborhoods east and west — and even as far north as Dayton, Kritsky says.

• Meanwhile, spotted lanternflies have become dramatically more noticeable here in just the past few years.

Translation: If you're outside hunting lanternflies, you're probably paying more attention to all the other tiny creatures scurrying around, too.

Zoom in: The lanternflies are worth watching. They suck sap from plants and excrete a sticky substance called honeydew that can leave decks looking perpetually wet — and even attract honeybees.

What to watch: Adults will die once cold weather arrives, but their egg masses survive to hatch next spring. Kritsky says they can look like someone smeared putty on a tree.

You may have seen this sticky situation around your yard. Photo: Courtesy of Kenneth R. Law, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org

The bottom line: Cincinnati's Lazarus lizards probably aren't our tiny reptilian lanternfly defense force.

• However, we're choosing to believe they're doing their part.

For one weekend each fall, Snapdragon Books & Gifts' whimsical West Side home gets absolutely devoured.

Why it matters: Owner Bill MacFarland calls the Cincy Bookstore Crawl the "Super Bowl weekend for bookstores."

• The annual crawl, Oct. 2-4, will send readers crisscrossing Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to 27 independent bookstores — including some shops and neighborhoods they might otherwise never visit.

• For Snapdragon, that's especially meaningful: The shop fills what its owners call a bookstore void in the neighborhood.

An Axios reporter definitely did not get stuck crawling through this tiny door for children. GIF: Kristen Swilley/Axios

Zoom in: Snapdragon itself feels a little like stepping inside a storybook.

• Bill and his wife, Andrea MacFarland, transformed a 1932 home on Bridgetown Road — most recently used as a computer repair business — into a room-by-room literary adventure.

• There's a colorful children's room, a horror/sci-fi/fantasy room and a basement "dungeon" complete with a dragon cave that Bill and his daughters helped build.

Imagine hosting a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in an actual dungeon with a dragon. GIF: Kristen Swilley/Axios

Adding to the lore: Bill says tunnels running through the basement, now home to the dragon, date to the house's bootlegging days.

Flashback: The couple had no bookstore or business experience when Bill floated the idea in early 2024. He was an elementary school teacher, while Andrea studied photography.

• They toured 14 locations before finding the property and opened Snapdragon in July 2025.

The plot twist: The not-yet-open bookstore managed to snag a spot in last year's crawl anyway — and the weekend changed his perspective on the business.

• Readers poured in from across the region, leaving shelves looking, as MacFarland puts it, "like a herd of locusts came through."

• More importantly, the crawl brought people to the West Side who might not otherwise have ventured there.

• "It's not a dead zone," he says. "We've got stuff going on here."

More on the bookstore crawl … Snapdragon's location, hours.

🎢 A nearly $800 million tourism attraction is planned for Northern Kentucky, with a museum, hotel and other amenities. Liberty Forge Adventures is targeting a spring 2030 completion. (WVXU)

U.S. Sen. Jon Husted fired his political director, Stephen Woytek, after the Washington Post reported on past social media activity that included Nazi imagery and a playlist celebrating Rhodesia. Woytek denied racist or antisemitic intent. (The Hill)

🦫 Buc-ee's won an $850,000 trademark settlement against a South Carolina apparel company over merchandise using its beaver mascot. (Greenville News)

• The chain sued Beaver's Mini Mart in Beavercreek over its name and beaver logo.

👋 Casey here. Flight Club had me enamored on social media long before I made it through its downtown door. High-tech darts, cocktails and a wild Victorian vibe? I was intrigued.

Now that I've tried it, I'm glad I did.

The vibe: Think English pub meets Victorian fairground, GM Alex Uehlein tells Axios.

• Dark wood, green walls, floral wallpaper, vintage curiosities and, naturally, a carousel horse.

Each of Flight Club's 14 U.S. locations has its own unique horse.

State of play: Rent one of 10 semi-private dart booths, called oches (pronounced "ockeys"), and pick from seven games.

• Oches run $15-$17 per person for 90 minutes, depending on the time of day.

• The tech keeps score and sends you photos and videos afterward.

It's like duckpin bowling or Topgolf. Sporty, but not cutthroat.

• Pro tip: OK, so there's no actual Cricket or 301/501 games, but games like Shanghai and Demolition are similar.

I'm not great at darts, but my game improves after my second beer. A mystery for the ages.

More than darts: The menu is upscale bar fare with flatbreads, wings, tacos, truffle fries and even a weekend brunch.

• I had the meatballs ($16) and calamari ($13).

The snacks weren't anything to write home about, but I didn't leave with leftovers, so...

The cocktails have more swagger, with options like the $13 Jungle Bird, made with Appleton Estate rum, Goslings Black Seal rum, pineapple and Aperol.

• The $17 Espresso Old Fashioned is the signature drink, which might tell you everything you need to know about the place.

The bottom line: Flight Club is less neighborhood dart bar, more night-out activity.

If you go: 125 W. 5th St. Open daily; hours vary. Menu.

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😍 Swilley wishes spotted lanternflies weren't invasive. They're so pretty!

😭 Casey feels blessed to have a cricket serenading him from somewhere in his house.

Thanks to Tyler Buchanan for squashing our editorial bugs.