Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[RedKing]

Ah. Queensland or NT? I've been up around Mataranka before and remember it being distinctly jungle-y. With large crocodiles (although our hosts were like "Meh...we're too far inland to worry much about seeing a salty, so no worries...the little freshwater crocs only get to be about 3 meters.") 

Meanwhile, the ubiquitous hordes of sand flies had given way to ubiquitous hordes of mosquitoes. Don't remember leeches but then again I stayed the holy fuck away from the water because momma didn't raise no gator bait.

[miauw62]

relevant

[SalmonGod]

relevant

I am Mobile Task Force Alpha 21.  I am here to ridicule and protect.  In that order.

[Ghazkull]

And that makes me glad living safely in Germany were the biggest thing you encounter are those nice guys:

[img= http://www.kyborg-institut.de/13_Natur/Hirschkaefer_m.jpg]http://Stag Beetles.[/img]

But seriously that cicade picture made me want to burn it with fire. Insects aren't supposed to get so ungodly large.

Except maybe for Ants. Ants are goddamn awesome. Down here we have an Ant Species that cannot live without enslaving other ants. The Vikings of the Insect World

[ChairmanPoo]

I've never seen a cicada irl, but they do look disgusting.

I hate most hairy insects. And I dislike many flying insects

I kind of like spiders, although I avoid touching them.

I kind of like ants as well

I adore beetles in general, and are among my favorite invertebrates. Of special note: ladybugs and stag beetles. It cheers me up to see stag beetles

[Cheesoburgor]

My scale is with ants

1. Its only one ant, its proberbly lost - safe
2. Its only one ant and carrying another dead ant - safe
3. 2 ants, one red and one black - however the threat is between them and does not involve me - ok
4. ants have discovered my coca cola - hazard
5. its hot, and lots of ants are buzzing around the nest entrance in the kitchen - danger
6. crap they decided to grow wings - fuck
7. now they are everywhere in the house, in the cupboards, on the walls and windows - piss flaps im finished

[Reudh]

Australia wins again.

Nothomyrmecia macrops, the Dinosaur Ant.

[Hanslanda]

Hate cocroaches! I think that sentiment is universal, though. They are ugly, live in filthy environments, big, and live in huge swarms.

My attitude toward them is meh.

Normal cockroaches? No thanks. Madagascar hissing cockroaches are pretty cool though, I mean they are clean enough that even the whole "doctor hand sterilization" procedure leaves your hands at only slightly dirtier then they are. I think I can blame that sentiment on my fifth grade science teacher though, what with his whole raising them for fun thing.

If I recall correctly, cockroaches developed alongside humans, and lived in prehistoric human dwellings, killing more troublesome pests such as fleas, that could kill humans with disease. Cockroaches are also supposed to be incredibly clean, as they groom themselves obsessively, as you noted. They eat dead skin, small disease carrying insects, and are super clean. Yes, they breed hella fast and will eat your food if you leave it out like a slob. But, like house centipedes, cockroaches are better than the alternatives: Fleas, swarms of ants, dangerous spiders, and termites. Cockroaches can't/won't bite you, AFAIK.
But seriously fuck fleas. I fucking hate fleas. Goddamn little bloodsucking parasites. You can't crush them, like any other self respecting insect, and they bite and make you itch. Bastards. Plus they love your bedding.

[Yoink]

Ah. Queensland or NT?

Queensland. I've only seen crocodiles in a zoo, sadly.
I was going to go off on a tangent here, but the topic is bugs, so...

Another insectoid hazard of working in the bush is the jumping ant. I've only been bitten by one, just once, and it hurt but wasn't that bad... When someone accidentally puts their hand in a swarm of them or something, though, I'm told it can be pretty incapacitating.

[Frumple]

You can totes crush fleas, just not really en masse. Have to do this kind of pinch and roll thing where you get one of the bastard between your fingers and squeeze hard, then twist 'em around a bit while keeping the pressure on. Buggers don't get back up from that. Problem being y'mostly have to go at it one at a time. Not much of a help when there's about two t'six hundred of the fuckers covering your legs up to the knee.

Note: Copious vulgarity and spastic jumping around and smacking your legs is a perfectly goddamn sane reaction and probably what you should be doing at that point. Also, get out of the building/area and come back with bug poison and/or fire.

E: This may have just been a thing that has happened to me. More than once.

[SalmonGod]

I've dealt with flea infestations like that.  Not fun.  I had a hamster once, until those fuckers sucked him dry.

[RedKing]

So last night, I went to get a drink of sweet tea, and there was this freaky bug inside the cup, just chilling on the inner wall about a half inch above the liquid. No wings, which meant it crawled up the side of the cup, over the lip, and lowered itself down to its precarious position. Hell, maybe it was thirsty, I dunno...

I've been unable to identify it. At first glance I thought it was some kind of spider, because it was all legs--almost no thorax. But it was only six-legged, and the rear pair of legs were held up above the body in sort of a defensive/threatening posture. Also, no mandibles..instead had a proboscis or rostrum of some kind. Legs were wire-thin, the whole insect was about the size of a US dime, maybe a bit bigger. Black with what looked like a single white "knee" on each leg. Small antennae, not a particularly elongated body.

I picked up the cup and went to dump it in the sink, and in a brief moment when my glance was averted, it vanished. Again, no wings. Which makes me think this thing can jump like a motherfucker.

Best guess so far is some species of assassin bug.


Oh, and a few weeks back, I came out of the house on a blazing hot day to find THIS slowly roasting on the roof of my car:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: With hand for size comparison. (click to show/hide)

It was still barely alive. Best guess is that it was a caterpillar of a Luna moth or Polyphemus moth. That, or Kog'Maw's little brother.

BTW, I cam across quite possibly the cutest caterpillar I've ever seen:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

For some reason, it makes me think of the DRD's in Farscape. Only furry! 

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I would not advise touching the second caterpillar.

[RedKing]

I would not advise touching the second caterpillar.

But...but...it's so snuggly! I bet it makes a cute "meep" sound when you poke it!
(before it envenoms you and devours your paralyzed husk)

[Yoink]

I have a family member who is violently allergic to hairy caterpillars. One only has to fall out of a tree nearby and she'll start sneezing. Still, that thing is pretty cute, as is the first one.
To contribute something: I remember when I was a kid and lived out in the bush, there were all sorts of horrifying bugs. One time I found a giant moth in my dog's water bucket- it was still alive, and the thing was about as big as a small bird/finch!
When it flapped its wings it was actually splashing water out of the bucket.
Another time some friends and I trapped a huge blowfly/marshfly (one or the other) in a glass jar.
It was about as big as my thumb, although then again I was pretty small so that mightn't mean much.