…if this creeps anyone out.
I found two of these disgustingly fascinating grubs while pulling up old tomato plants today. I found out that they’re European Chafer beetle larvae. The beetle itself isn’t horrible looking, but these larvae are something else. Their bodies are kind of translucent, which makes some of their interior parts visible. :-O
My cat Bones found a very cool looking bug today. It’s a fig beetle (or junebug), which I don’t recall ever seeing around here before. The focus in this photo is a little funky – I’m generally not squeamish about insects, but I wasn’t charmed by this one’s repeated attempts to jump on my face. Its wing appeared to be damaged, so it kept spastically hopping around trying to fly, which resulted in a lot of not-quite-in-focus shots. I was greatly amused by its “fork antennae” though. 🙂
I was fascinated by this big ol’ beetle in the garden today. It was wrestling with the carcass of a roly poly bug, moving it around, chewing on it, and maybe trying to bury it. It kept digging around in the dirt anyway. Honestly, I don’t know what it was doing…but check out those mandibles!
What’s this?! The last time we saw Red she was being served up as the main course of a jumping spider’s lunch. How can it be that she’s alive today without so much as a scratc… what? Ahhhh this isn’t Red, it’s her twin sister Roux! She seems a bit agitated. I think she might know something…
We’ll bring you more information as this story develops.
..and sometimes he eats you.
Most Garden City residents know that the corner of Salvia St and Sage Ave belongs to the Jumping Spiders and will avoid this area. The flashy redhead was new in town, however, and looking for a bite to eat. Unfortunately she chose the wrong branch this day and crossed paths with the notorious Spider crew. Spidey had an appetite as well, and Beetle du Jour was the only dish that could satisfy it. As red’s life ebbed away, she thought of the eggs she had carefully placed throughout the garden the night before and hoped her final, raspy words would somehow reach them… “avenge me… avenge me…!”
There are eight million stories in the garden city; this has been one of them…
I found two very flashy bugs in the garden today tapping a rapini plant. I figured they were probably pests rather than beneficial insects since they were brazenly helping themselves to plant juice, but I thought I should try to find out some more information about them before sending out an eviction notice.
I don’t remember ever seeing this insect here before, but after finding out it is partial to mustard plants, I know why it’s here now – rapini is in the mustard family.
I also found out that the harlequin beetle is a stink bug. Eew.
