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The thread for things with more/less than two legs (NSF ento/arachno/ophidiophobes)

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  • valhalla130valhalla130 13 Dark Shield Perceives the GodsRegistered User regular
    @BugBoy

    Is there any species of ladybug which could bite a person? My mom and I were picking my daughter up from school, when she started reacting, and said something was stinging her. When we found it, it was a largish, yellowish-orange ladybug looking critter. I've never heard of a ladybug biting before.

    asxcjbppb2eo.jpg
  • BugBoyBugBoy boy.EXE has stopped functioning. only bugs remainRegistered User regular
    I've never heard of ladybugs biting before either, but I did some quick research and apparently they do sometimes.

    I'd like to think of ladybugs as gentle creatures, but they're actually quite the little predators. Still, I remain sentimentally fond of them.

  • valhalla130valhalla130 13 Dark Shield Perceives the GodsRegistered User regular
    After I posted that, I did a little google-ing of my own and apparently, Asian multicolored ladybugs do bite, and more often, since they tend to move indoors during winter times, like they would into caves where they originated.

    asxcjbppb2eo.jpg
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
  • KwoaruKwoaru Registered User regular
    that bug has so many jelly beans

    2x39jD4.jpg
  • Metzger MeisterMetzger Meister It Gets Worse before it gets any better.Registered User regular
    Jealousy guarding the jelly beans.

  • BugBoyBugBoy boy.EXE has stopped functioning. only bugs remainRegistered User regular
    aaaaaaaaaa

    too cute

    Too cute

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    tynic wrote: »
    pretty
    tumblr_mpklg6rnc31s4ld4eo1_500.png

    I will not share my boba with you.
    Not even if you ask nicely.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User, Moderator mod
    I assume those are its eggs?

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    Is that what they make tapioca pudding out of?

  • ShivahnShivahn Unaware of her barrel shifter privilege Western coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderator mod
    I assume those are its eggs?

    I hope so

    A centipede protecting its eggs, even if just while laying them, is adorable

  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    I was just walking around the garden and saw a beetle moving strangely on the floor. Picked it up and saw it was almost entirely wrapped in spider silk, with just a couple of legs free that it was trying to drag itself around with. I guess a spider caught it and wrapped it up but never bothered killing it, and then it fell out of the web.

    I carefully unwrapped it, which took a while because the silk was too tough to tear easily and I didn't want to damage any legs or antennae, and the thing kept squirming in my fingers. But eventually I got it all off and after sitting on my palm for a second it opened its wing cases and buzzed away.

    My good deed for the day.

  • valhalla130valhalla130 13 Dark Shield Perceives the GodsRegistered User regular
    There is never anything cute about centipedes.

    asxcjbppb2eo.jpg
  • ShivahnShivahn Unaware of her barrel shifter privilege Western coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderator mod
    Counterpoint:
    tumblr_mpklg6rnc31s4ld4eo1_500.png

  • chromdomchromdom Who? Where?Registered User regular
    I thought it was sushi the first time I saw that

  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    Want to keep bees but felt like it wasn't possible because you live in a city apartment? You need a BEEcosystem!

  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Cybertronian Paranormal Eliminator Registered User regular
    Needed to get this off my chest and I figure this would be the best thread.

    So, I have a fear of spiders and have it since I was a wee lad. I've been trying to be better about this in recent years; I've let a few spiders live since, you know, they eat pesky insects. For awhile now there's been a decent sized house spider living in the heat register two feet in front of my toilet, so he's basically right in front of me whenever I poop. Now, I hadn't seen him in weeks and I figured he moved on to better pastures, but I recently noticed he was still there, and had gotten huge (Read: slightly bigger than tiny) and I just now caught him out in the middle of the bathroom and not moving.

    Now my live and live let policy is kinda shaky, especially in regards to such a vulnerable position like sitting on the toilet, so I ran to my kitchen, got an empty plastic container with a lid and managed to drop it around the spider just fine. Only I made the mistake of getting an opaque container, so I really couldn't tell where the little guy was. I was hoping he'd climb up the side of the container so I could easily flip it over and put the lid on it without him climbing out and up my arm and down my sleeve and arglebarghleba;fdasd. I grabbed a clear container with a lid and was prepare to do a quick swap, only when I lifted the first container, he didn't pop out, so I put it onto it's lid and closed it. Only I totally couldn't see him in the container, even close up.

    Steeling my courage, I opened the container to discover the poor guy got smashed in-between the lid and a piece of the paper thingy that didn't get ripped off completely when the jug was first opened. I feel bad that he still wound up smashed even though I spent so much time trying to keep him alive so I could let him out outside. :(

  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    Shit happens, dude. Good on you for even trying to do the more humane thing despite being so arachnophobic. A lot of other people wouldn't have thought twice about smooshing it!

  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    I have been at my new work/home for 3 months now and have secured my position as The Person What Likes Bugs a Lot. As such whenever volunteers find a cool/weird/interesting/scary bug they either come to tell me or bring it to me. So today I get a knock on my door because a guy caught a big spider that was above his bed.

    Managed to ID it as a Nursery Web Spider (Euprosthenops sp.), so called because the females encase their eggs in a silk tent which traps the nymphs when they hatch, and they remain in there until they've moulted into spiderlings and can escape. This was a mature male and had a legspan of 4 inches which is the biggest I've seen yet. He posed quite nicely for us and then the volunteer went and released him in the long grass, where hopefully he will find some females.

    I love how beautiful the cryptic colouring of ground spiders can be when you get up close. It reminds me of marble.

    LIhnhGQ.jpg

    l5S5KcO.jpg

  • ShivahnShivahn Unaware of her barrel shifter privilege Western coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderator mod
    There is a really cool looking type of spider in Maryland called a Parson spider:
    eastern_parson_spider_800.jpg

    I found one in my room and, after my arachnaphobe friends told me to name it after Joan of Arc and burn it, I named it Joan and it hangs out here. I found one in a pot I was filling with water, once, but I rescued it and brought it in here (it could've been the same one, honestly).

    They're rad because they hunt other arthropods, but don't form webs, so they are like the ultimate tidy roommate. Who eats bugs.

  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    My wife found a praying mantis crawling on her! It scared her because at first she thought it was one of our cats pawing at her arm but then realized what it really was. She put it on the desk and pointed her desk lamp at it and we watched it for awhile before she put him outside. I saw it sort of fold up and I guess clean it's rear end? I don't know exactly what it was doing, but it was neat!

    12038637_984305544925996_6547637576132960038_o.jpg
    11999552_984305548259329_540996963580277731_o.jpg
    12032655_984305551592662_2623740774211682246_o.jpg

    JtgVX0H.png
  • Metzger MeisterMetzger Meister It Gets Worse before it gets any better.Registered User regular
    Mantids are so rad. We had one chilling on the window screen where the ivy grows on our house, so perfect for us to look at. Saw it (her, probably) snatch a moth right out the air and then very unceremoniously snip the wings off and devour it.

  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    Ind. woman leaps from car after spotting spider, leading to crash

    She was backing her car up and noticed a spider, so she immediately leaped out of the car while it was still in gear.

    The 9-year-old tried to get in the driver's seat to stop the car, but hit the gas instead of the brake, sending him careening into a school bus.

    Proof that spiders are less dangerous than the fear of spiders.

  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Cybertronian Paranormal Eliminator Registered User regular
    edited September 2015
    Nice job abandoning a 9-year-old in a spider-infested car.

    Undead Scottsman on
  • MarshmallowMarshmallow Registered User regular
    The 9-year-old tried to get in the driver's seat to stop the car[...]

    That kid is a boss keepin' his head cool like that.

  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    Ind. woman leaps from car after spotting spider, leading to crash

    She was backing her car up and noticed a spider, so she immediately leaped out of the car while it was still in gear.

    The 9-year-old tried to get in the driver's seat to stop the car, but hit the gas instead of the brake, sending him careening into a school bus.

    Proof that spiders are less dangerous than the fear of spiders.

    Funny how that if adults weren't so openly afraid of spiders and shit, kids wouldn't be, and the cycle would just fucking stop.

    It is, however, astounding to me that that woman's arachnid response overpowered her instinct to protect her child. People have no problem standing in front of large predatory animals to save their children, but a fucking spider? Abandon ship (and all hope)!

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Pinfeldorf wrote: »
    Ind. woman leaps from car after spotting spider, leading to crash

    She was backing her car up and noticed a spider, so she immediately leaped out of the car while it was still in gear.

    The 9-year-old tried to get in the driver's seat to stop the car, but hit the gas instead of the brake, sending him careening into a school bus.

    Proof that spiders are less dangerous than the fear of spiders.

    Funny how that if adults weren't so openly afraid of spiders and shit, kids wouldn't be, and the cycle would just fucking stop.

    It is, however, astounding to me that that woman's arachnid response overpowered her instinct to protect her child. People have no problem standing in front of large predatory animals to save their children, but a fucking spider? Abandon ship (and all hope)!

    The spider was already on her shoulder. I think it's pretty clear what happened.
    The spider told her to get out of the car so it could devour her child as a blood sacrifice to the spider god.
    The child realized what dark bargain was being struck and hit the gas pedal to bring low the spider lord.

  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    Fuckin' Lolth, always up to no good. Started makin' trouble in my neighboorhood.

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    edited September 2015
    Pinfeldorf wrote: »
    Fuckin' Lolth, always up to no good. Started makin' trouble in my neighboorhood.

    I host one dark ritual and my mom got scared, said "You're moving with your Uncle Anansi in Bel Air."

    see317 on
  • ShivahnShivahn Unaware of her barrel shifter privilege Western coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderator mod
    The praying mantis post reminded me of when I was interviewing for my current school. One of the professors I'd been set up to interview with wasn't taking students, but he had done research on mantises in the past, so he had kept some around. Because he wasn't going to take me either way, my "interview" was basically him asking me if I had questions about the school, then taking me up to his lab where I got to play with them. He took one out of its place and let it fly around and hang out on me, then showed me how if they're flying and you jangle keys, they'll go into a dive (they have an ear to hear ultrasound, and jangling keys generates ultrasound, which in nature usually signifies a bat targeting you with echolocation, so they perform the dive as an escape response).

  • bwaniebwanie Posting into the void Registered User regular
    edited September 2015
    Needed to get this off my chest and I figure this would be the best thread.

    So, I have a fear of spiders and have it since I was a wee lad. I've been trying to be better about this in recent years; I've let a few spiders live since, you know, they eat pesky insects. For awhile now there's been a decent sized house spider living in the heat register two feet in front of my toilet, so he's basically right in front of me whenever I poop. Now, I hadn't seen him in weeks and I figured he moved on to better pastures, but I recently noticed he was still there, and had gotten huge (Read: slightly bigger than tiny) and I just now caught him out in the middle of the bathroom and not moving.

    Now my live and live let policy is kinda shaky, especially in regards to such a vulnerable position like sitting on the toilet, so I ran to my kitchen, got an empty plastic container with a lid and managed to drop it around the spider just fine. Only I made the mistake of getting an opaque container, so I really couldn't tell where the little guy was. I was hoping he'd climb up the side of the container so I could easily flip it over and put the lid on it without him climbing out and up my arm and down my sleeve and arglebarghleba;fdasd. I grabbed a clear container with a lid and was prepare to do a quick swap, only when I lifted the first container, he didn't pop out, so I put it onto it's lid and closed it. Only I totally couldn't see him in the container, even close up.

    Steeling my courage, I opened the container to discover the poor guy got smashed in-between the lid and a piece of the paper thingy that didn't get ripped off completely when the jug was first opened. I feel bad that he still wound up smashed even though I spent so much time trying to keep him alive so I could let him out outside. :(

    Good for you for trying!


    If i can give you a tip:

    Next time, just get a piece of somewhat sturdy paper (an empty envelope is perfect)

    Just slide this gently between the floor/wall and the cup/glass/whatever (glass is preferred because few spiders can get full traction on a vertical glass wall).

    You can then lift the container and paper at the same time and flip them over. Spider drops to the bottom and will not be able to rush up.

    Take container outside, put it on it's side and then take off the envelope.



    bwanie on
  • DarmakDarmak RAGE vympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
    Ind. woman leaps from car after spotting spider, leading to crash

    She was backing her car up and noticed a spider, so she immediately leaped out of the car while it was still in gear.

    The 9-year-old tried to get in the driver's seat to stop the car, but hit the gas instead of the brake, sending him careening into a school bus.

    Proof that spiders are less dangerous than the fear of spiders.

    I had a buddy bail out of a truck like this once, but in his case it was because a wasp had gotten into his shorts and was stinging everywhere in the crotch region. I managed to stop the truck and then my other buddy and I laughed so hard at our friend dancing in the road swatting at his junk and tearing his shorts off. Good times.

    JtgVX0H.png
  • Brovid HasselsmofBrovid Hasselsmof [Growling historic on the fury road] Registered User regular
    Nephilengys cruentata, Hermit spider

    S7zhkxg.jpg

    Y8eb7sE.jpg

    Leaf beetle, Chrysomelidae family, haven't been able to ID any more specifically

    UOKRJFp.jpg

  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    Hello bug thread, I have to confess to killing a spider today.

    It was a black widow, and it was in the laundry room, where I walk with bare feet and at night. I am not sure if I should feel bad or not, but I wasn't about to risk getting bit to try to relocate it.

  • SkeithSkeith Registered User regular
    I think you get a pass for something that venomous.

    aTBDrQE.jpg
  • Houk the NamebringerHouk the Namebringer Nipples The EchidnaRegistered User regular
    I'm living in Japan, and had my window open the other night. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement, and looked over just in time to see a ~6 inch huntsman come dashing in and shoot behind my bed.

    I'm normally okay with spiders but that shit freaked me the fuuuuck out. Spent the next hour tactically rearranging my room as it darted around. I left for a second to get something to catch it with, and when I came back it was nowhere to be found. I was mostly sure it had gone back outside but I was super on edge the whole rest of the night.

    Huntsman spiders are great and all but holy shit

  • King RiptorKing Riptor Registered User regular
    So my yard has all these weird little web canopies scattered around my yard in the morning. The bigger ones have a tunnel leading down into I assume a lair of nightmares. I've seen spiders creep around the entrance but I never have my phone with me to get a picture. Can any one venture a guess as to what these are?

    I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
  • BugBoyBugBoy boy.EXE has stopped functioning. only bugs remainRegistered User regular
    Sounds like tent caterpillars to me

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