Today I Learned...

[Argent Stonecutter]

In my part of California, we get june bugs and cockroaches with attitudes.

You don't get redbacks.

 

[Clara D.]

You don't get redbacks.

I live in black widow central, though. If a car sits more than a week, it'll get infested.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

I live in black widow central, though. If a car sits more than a week, it'll get infested.

I bought a car that had been sitting for a few years in NE Arkansas. When I put it up on jack stands, I ended up with a brown recluse bite.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I live in black widow central, though. If a car sits more than a week, it'll get infested.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I bought a car that had been sitting for a few years in NE Arkansas. When I put it up on jack stands, I ended up with a brown recluse bite.

Yeah, you need to check those things for spiders and rattlesnakes before sticking a hand in anywhere.

 

[Soen Eber]

This is why I seldom complain about our harsh Minnesota winters.

 

[Isabeau]

This is why I seldom complain about our harsh Minnesota winters.

Also, zombies die in frigid temperatures so we’re safe during the apocalypse... we just have to hold on till winter.

 

[Roxanne Blue]

In my part of California, we get june bugs and cockroaches with attitudes.

This is a palmetto bug. We call them that because "giant flying cockroach" tends to put the tourists off visiting. He'll take your cockroach's "attitude" and crap bug and attitude in a gulp.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Oh yes there's more venomous spiders like the funnelweb, but they're not aggressive like the redback. Redbacks get a couple of thousand people annually, but no actual deaths since they developed the antivenom.

This one's rarely dangerous to humans, but still:

 

[Rose Karuna]

We do have spiders here, mostly these: spinybacked orbweaver spider - Gasteracantha cancriformis (Linnaeus)

They don't make you sick, like a black widow or brown recluse but they do sting like hell when they bite. They make webs all over the place that I am constantly running into when I mow or take out the trash. The neighbors must think I'm insane when I go outside and wave my broom in front of me as I'm walking. Mostly, though, I leave them alone if I can, because they aren't what I deem a "slacker spider". They do work hard, mostly stay outside and eat lots of bugs.

We also have black and brown widows (red backs), brown recluse and some other sneaky little bastards that lower down on you on a tiny strand of web in the house. Those are sneaky slacker spiders and I kill them on sight. They may eat bugs but I did not invite them in to hang around.

We have huntsman spiders too. Fortunately, I've only ever seen one of those and that was when I was camping on the edge of the everglades. I nearly wet myself. Yes, I am afraid of spiders. There is something about them that I hate. They are sneaky and they inject their prey with acid that melts their insides and then suck it out. Makes you wonder about mother nature doesn't it? Maybe she's been reading too many Stephen King books?

 

[Free]

VV members: Spiders scare me!
Also VV members: Constantly posting scary shit about spiders.



And no excuses, because this thread WASN'T EVEN ABOUT SPIDERS.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Spiders are always on topic.

 

[Free]

Spiders are always on topic.

You better hope so.

 

[Tirellia]

Free telling people they've strayed off-topic. It must be 2020

 

[Free]

Free telling people they've strayed off-topic. It must be 2020

 

[Roxanne Blue]

VV members: Spiders scare me!
Also VV members: Constantly posting scary shit about spiders.



And no excuses, because this thread WASN'T EVEN ABOUT SPIDERS.

And I posted zero spiders. I won't discuss my spider encounters.

I just posted the six-inch giant cockroach. Only six legs.

 

[Isabeau]

 

[Isabeau]

Today I finally looked up the differences between Crickets, Cicadas And Katydids. It doesn't help that I get mixed up in languages, that they are often confused in general, and that they have nicknames. Anyhow, here's a link of all the different cicada sounds, and on the lefthand side of the page, you can also find all the other critters and their sounds if anyone else is like me.

Cicadas - Songs of Insects

Cicadas Many find cicadas to be grotesque and frightening in appearance; however, cicadas do not bite and are actually harmless to handle. They are members of the order Homoptera, close relatives of the aphids and leafhoppers. Most cicadas, including all of our eastern species, are excellent...

songsofinsects.com

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I was 100% sure those were photoshopped but there's an actual video...

Long Neck Avocados Are in Season, and Who Knew? | Man of Many

Miami Fruits posted a video of their long neck avocados on Instagram that has left the rest of the world wondering why we’ve never heard of them before.

manofmany.com

 

[Isabeau]

Me too, or just some weird occasional one...