I witnessed this in the big tree in my backyard. I used my iPhone 7 to take the photos - one with flash and one without flash. I'm always amazed by how good my bug pix are when I use my phone. This is a common spider snacking on a cicada. FYI I am in central Texas and took these pictures today (Sep. 11).

With flash:


With no flash:

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~Sue~

Did a gene-modified mosquito apocalypse plan backfire in Brazil? Study says ‘Yes,’ company says ‘No’

"Powell and his co-authors warned that some genetically-modified mosquitoes even showed signs of 'hybrid vigor' in which the artificially-introduced genetic diversity actually made the mosquitoes stronger and more resilient. Oxitec, however, claims the data 'does not support this hypothesis.'"

Super mosquitoes!

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~Sue~

I've found a new way to feed the bees.



Put some clean stones/pebbles in a shallow dish. Place the dish where the bees can find it and where people won't be surrounded by bees. Then pour in enough "nectar" so that the tops of the stones stay dry (for the bees to land on). Don't try to walk with a shallow dish of nectar! Make sure the stones/pebbles are clean. If you pick them up outside they could have lawn chemicals and/or insecticides on them. I bought a cheap little bag of aquarium stones. There are also, usually, decorative stones/pebbles in the hobby department of your local big box store.

I use the same recipe for the nectar as I do for hummingbirds: 1 part cane sugar to 4 parts water. The water only needs to be warm enough to dissolve the sugar. The bees will eat whatever you put out very quickly, once they find it.

What you see in the photo is a shallow dish sitting inside a plastic Frisbee! I was going to use the Frisbee but then decided to go with the smaller dish. I can't explain why I left the Frisbee under the dish. Just seemed right. :-)

Also, I'd just filled the dish a few minutes before I took the picture. There will be a LOT more bees there later.

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~Sue~

I've had a lot of wheelbugs in my yard but never two at once, like this!



Here's a video I uploaded to YouTube: https://youtu.be/T1HtM-zcSTQ

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~Sue~

Just a stick walking on my house.

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~Sue~

Fastest ants in world found in northern Sahara, researchers say

120 miles per hour!!

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~Sue~

Sweet discovery sees more than 10kg of honey, 60,000 bees removed from couple's home.

A Carseldine couple has been left stunned after a two-metre-long beehive was cut out of their ceiling, months after a similar hive was removed from a property in Bracken Ridge.

The hive, which was nestled between joists 30 centimetres deep, housed between 60,000 and 70,000 bees.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Sweet discovery sees more than 10kg of honey, 60,000 bees removed from couple's home.

A Carseldine couple has been left stunned after a two-metre-long beehive was cut out of their ceiling, months after a similar hive was removed from a property in Bracken Ridge.

The hive, which was nestled between joists 30 centimetres deep, housed between 60,000 and 70,000 bees.

At about the time that I moved out of Sydney to here (about18yrs ago) a house at Mt. Druitt had to have the front walls totally rebuilt after being found totally full and overflowing into the ceiling (the cornice popping off was their first clue to a problem). At that time the amount honey collected from there was said to have more than paid for the repairs.

Cheers.

Two Maryland counties under quarantine amid spotted lanternfly invasion

The Spotted Lanternfly is beautiful, but it's highly invasive and very destructive. If you see one, kill it. So far they've only appeared in the eastern USA (Pennsylvania and Maryland, iirc).

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~Sue~

Feathered dinosaurs were eaten by lice-like insects, study says

So now we know what happened to the dinosaurs. LOL!

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~Sue~

The insect apocalypse is coming.

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~Sue~

The insect apocalypse is coming.

Those pesky parasitic humans :/

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I've had a lot of wheelbugs in my yard but never two at once, like this!



Here's a video I uploaded to YouTube: https://youtu.be/T1HtM-zcSTQ

Those are also called assassin bugs.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

I witnessed this in the big tree in my backyard. I used my iPhone 7 to take the photos - one with flash and one without flash. I'm always amazed by how good my bug pix are when I use my phone. This is a common spider snacking on a cicada. FYI I am in central Texas and took these pictures today (Sep. 11).

With flash:


With no flash:

I'm betting on a female orb spider that is about to start laying eggs by the looks of her distended abdomen.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Those are also called assassin bugs.

But Wheelbug seems so much friendlier. ;-)

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~Sue~

If you're on Facebook and are interested in bugs, there are several bug-related groups. Here's one I visit from time to time. I also post when I have something relevant.
All Bugs Go To Kevin

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~Sue~

I changed the name of the group to include spiders, which I guess are technically "bugs," but not necessarily.

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~Sue~

Extraordinary moment enormous HAWK WASP carries off dying huntsman for a feast

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~Sue~

These tiny, plastic-munching caterpillars can clean up our world – but there's a catch

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~Sue~

These Ants Have a Revolutionary Escape Strategy

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~Sue~