These were too scary to get to know properly though...

African army ants. About 5cm long - they march in columns up to a hundred metres long and a metre wide (depending on the size of the colony) and devour every creature in their path. I spent a large part of my childhood trying to save unsuspecting beasties from them... but had to be quick because these guys are FAST!. Stripping naked and legging it for the nearest waterhole was about the only way to save yourself from some serious damage once you were engulfed... because if you made the mistake of squishing one - the others got REALLY annoyed for some reason! :) What with waterholes few and far between at times, my mother got in the habit of keeping a barrel of water about fifty metres away from the house in case any of my rescue missions failed. :)

Oh... they're also social creatures... like us :)

Like the ants in ...Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

SHUDDER !!! The only bugs I like are the VW ones :-)

Er you don't I hope "Kill" bugs??

I can't even kill a mosquito myself...

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

SHUDDER !!! The only bugs I like are the VW ones :-)

Er you don't I hope "Kill" bugs??

I can't even kill a mosquito myself...

No I do not knowingly kill any bugs. Any that get inside and wish to leave I help by opening windows or doors.

The only bug I have respect for is the common wasp, got badly stung as a child, so I give them a wide berth, but will definitely "assist" them in leaving.

There is just something sinister about them

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SHUDDER !!! The only bugs I like are the VW ones :-)

Er you don't I hope "Kill" bugs??

I can't even kill a mosquito myself...

No I do not knowingly kill any bugs. Any that get inside and wish to leave I help by opening windows or doors.

The only bug I have respect for is the common wasp, got badly stung as a child, so I give them a wide berth, but will definitely "assist" them in leaving.

There is just something sinister about them

I know what you mean. I believe they are at their worst and most aggressive in the autumn - something to do with suffering hangovers from feasting on rotting/fermented fruit. I suppose I can empathise with that... but not so much some of the species' nasty habits of laying their eggs inside other creatures... I will say no more on that... because I am too busy frowning. Still not their fault I suppose - and compared to some of our habits... :) But I most defintely am like Julie and yourself Bernie - it's always about setting them free.

Ooops... Oh dear... I've accidentally bumped the picture to the top of the thread again... :) Chris... Chris... are you alright? :)

SHUDDER !!! The only bugs I like are the VW ones :-)

Er you don't I hope "Kill" bugs??

I can't even kill a mosquito myself...

Though this Mosquito might be a tad hard to kill... ;)

Y-e-s... I would definitely direct that one to the door... :)

Sorry, folks, but mosquitoes get swatted. They carry West Nile, among other things.

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David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I confess that I am a bit of a hypocrite. I don't like to kill anything, but
I will kill fleas, mosquitoes, roaches, gnats/midges, flies, ants, termites,
and other bugs that invade my home. If a bee or hornet gets in, I will put
it outside. I have a method where I wait until it's at a window, then I put a
clear glass over it and slide a card between the glass/hornet and the window,
then I use that to carry it outside. I will free flies that are in the window as
long as they are willing to fly out when I open the window for their benefit.

Non-human creatures were on the Earth long before I was - long before my
ancestors were. I'd rather live peacefully along side them than kill them.

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~Sue~

Even bugs have a sex life, some a little more bizarre than others. :-O

International team discovers bizarre and bewildering secrets of insect reproduction

Cheers.

Even bugs have a sex life, some a little more bizarre than others. :-O

International team discovers bizarre and bewildering secrets of insect reproduction

Cheers.

Very educational :)
Thank you :)
Bit um... rough on each other though aren't they :)

Some have rather sweet courtship rituals like: serenading, gifts, touch, aphrodisiacs and dancing...

though not all dancing is done to impress :)

Another moth in my backyard. The first pic is sharp because I
used a flash. The second pic, although blurry, more accurately
reflects the bright orange color of the moth. The moth was less
than an inch long.


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~Sue~

Very pretty Sue :) I wonder what the caterpillars look like?

Last weekend I had a very strange visitor for the second time already. It was a rather big insect, looked a bit like a cocroach or beetle with big, bulgy eyes and it flied. I got goosebumps all over when I looked at it. Can't find any resembling picture on the internet:(

[edit] Looked a bit like a big ground beetle with wings

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Just found out this is a Southern Emerald Moth.

This moth is on my dining room wall today. It's 3/4" from wingtip to
wingtip. It's not only pretty (imho), but it also matches my decor!

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~Sue~

Hi Sue - bit tired so only did quick search - but think this might be the caterpillar (camouflaged apparently :))



and this the pupa

Sprayed out, relaxing now... Ortho Home Defense Max is now sprayed around the outside perimeter of My House and on 3 window screens, that ought to keep the bugs at bay, for about a year... Sorry Suzie, I don't like killing bugs, but in here they just die anyway, so I've just put up the keep out sign, this stuff won't help with bugs that fly, of course with bats around here, I think the smaller ones crawl even though they have wings.

No need to apologize about killing bugs (in most cases). I've killed
my share.

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~Sue~

Most of my bug killing is unintentional... like accidentally vacuuming up spiders... but how's this for the...

Oh my...that fly flew its last flight...

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

I had the experience of having a large cockroach crawling on me in
bed the other night. I was wearing a long-sleeve top and felt the nasty
bastard when he crawled onto my hand. I tried to put him out of the bed
but he came back to the same hand a short time later, at which time I
threw him onto the floor, turned on the light, and smashed the hell out
of him with a shoe.

Unfortunately this is something you come to expect when you live in
central Texas. It makes you wonder how many cockroaches have
crawled into or onto the bed at nightwithout being detected.

The large cockroaches are everywhere down here, and mostly like to
stay outside. They'll come in, of course, when water is short, or when
it gets real cold.

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~Sue~

I was just telling my boyfriend about you the other night Suzie, you must have a lot of really strange creatures there:) Although a cocroach isn't something I'd wanna see in my bed:(

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Eeeeewwwwuuuuu!
The only bugs that get big up here are mosquitos........

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