Don’t go in the tall grass....

[Hendre]

My brother keeps ants and all sorts of critters, between us the count is:

1. 25-30 Ant species in Founding or established
2. 3 Thick tail scorpions
3. A water scorpion
4. Madagascan, Dubia and Cape redhead cockroaches
5. Some sort of big red millipedes
6. We kept giant predatory beetles at one point
7. My cherry shrimp
8. A corn snake each (Also siblings haha)

 

[Ulu]

Not many ants here as I use Terro to poison them. I see a few every year and a few drops is all it takes.

But we spray for spiders all the time, plus seasonal roaches and beetles.

I live in the desert, but on something called The Blossom Trail. They've been planting orchards here over 100 years, and I live at the edge of town where it all is rather green. But where you have trees you have spiders, and where you garden you will have some bugs.

I have been here over 45 years, since I left USU and renounced mechanical engineering for computer science. I see fewer and fewer June bugs, but we get some big ones. In fact I see fewer and fewer bugs of all sorts, as the 'Burbs grow out this way.

 

[Ulu]

I'll tell you what's one of the worst things in the grass around here: these red fire ants or whatever they're called. Super aggressive, even go near their nest and they'll come for you. . . .

We used to find these in the Arizona desert all the time. We'd feed the dang things whatever we had, including bits of food and other insects.

It is amazing how fast they can take apart a wounded spider or beetle. The acid must dissolve chitin.

 

[fishhead0103666]

I found one of the black and yellow garden spiders in my back yard. I’ll get a picture.

 

[Ulu]

My brother keeps ants and all sorts of critters, between us the count is:

1. 25-30 Ant species in Founding or established
2. 3 Thick tail scorpions
3. A water scorpion
4. Madagascan, Dubia and Cape redhead cockroaches
5. Some sort of big red millipedes
6. We kept giant predatory beetles at one point
7. My cherry shrimp
8. A corn snake each (Also siblings haha)

YIKES!

I keep redworms and that's it. As a kid I had a mouse and lizards, a turtle, toads & frogs and crawdads and such; but scorpions and tarantulas were smashed on sight. As children were were properly scared of them and showed no mercy. Any snake was assumed dangerous and shot on sight. What we had were rattlers and another snake that looks like a rattler but bigger: I think a Gopher Snake. But they were no match for a Sheridan Blue Streak.

 

[RD.]

We have ants in our neighborhood by the millions, totally pointless to even attempt to eradicate them. I leave them alone, they leave me alone. Just glad that they aren't red fire ants - ouch!

 

[fishhead0103666]

My brother keeps ants and all sorts of critters, between us the count is:

1. 25-30 Ant species in Founding or established
2. 3 Thick tail scorpions
3. A water scorpion
4. Madagascan, Dubia and Cape redhead cockroaches
5. Some sort of big red millipedes
6. We kept giant predatory beetles at one point
7. My cherry shrimp
8. A corn snake each (Also siblings haha)

That sounds like a dream Hendre, you’re lucky your parents let you have bugs. Mine never did lol.

 

[Matteus]

That sounds like a dream Hendre, you’re lucky your parents let you have bugs. Mine never did lol.

A dream, or a nightmare. Lol

Almost everything on that list is freaky deaky. Except the snakes they’re cool. Imo.

When I was in Costa Rica, they had some serious ants.

Leaf cutters are super cool to watch as they carve a path through the foliage and carry whatever they are bringing home above their heads.

There was one they called a bullet ant, they said this was something you didn’t want to encounter when I asked what the deadly snakes would be. Didn’t see one until my last day and it was gigantic. Roughly 1.5-2” long and stood roughly 1” tall. The size of a grown mans thumb with legs. Freaky. This guy will take your little brother away.

Then they also had these little teeny tiny red ones that I assumed were fire ants. If one bites you the venom stings very abruptly and lasts about 20 mins or so.they seem to all coordinate and take position in a group setting before biting simultaneously biting. A friend of mine put his toilet paper bag down in a pile of them, then brought it back into his mosquito net before realizing they were still crawling all over it. MAn did he ever cuss and make a loud fuss. Don’t know if I will ever forget that one.

 

[Ulu]

We have a zoo about 20 miles from here where they have leaf cutters and giant roaches, and huge black scorpions. They get paid too little to keep them IMO.

 

[Chicxulub]

What specie of Owl is she?

Barred owl, Strix varia

Ha ha, thx for the hint, had me fooled, I thought he was talking about the "mantid" on the tree lol:

View attachment 1385130

Took me a while but I finally found the owl though -- it's been a long day

I am so, SO happy that's not actually a mantid lmao. That tree has a diameter of about 3', which would make that mantid like 18". If that was a mantid, then I'd have to conclude that



...Not that it'd matter, because giant mantids would kill us all in short order anyway lol

I'll tell you what's one of the worst things in the grass around here: these red fire ants or whatever they're called. Super aggressive, even go near their nest and they'll come for you. They give a nasty little bite too, which they're quick to do. And if you mess with one you mess with 'em all -- if you crush one of them the others start reacting to the pheromones and go crazy.

And normally like most ants they're very cooperative, but curiously I did observe them playing tug-o-war for about 10 min. over this dead insect. It was as if they all wanted the honor of bringing it back to the nest they're building near the end of this leaf.

View attachment 1385545

We've got red fire ants here too, but I don't think they're the same thing as yours. Like yours though, they're absolutely evil and painful. Fortunately, in my giant swamp, there's actually an equilibrium established and they're not the giant, wild, uncontrolled problem that happens in residential neighborhoods.

I found one of the black and yellow garden spiders in my back yard. I’ll get a picture.

I don't see pics yet!