Friday, April 15, 2011

bugs, dewlaps, misspelled sign and a bone dOOdle!


(florida anise in front yard)

florida.
land of sunshine.
beaches.  swamps.  alligators.  sharks.  hurricanes.  orange juice.  tourists.
and bugs. lots of bugs. flying. crawling. burrowing. biting. sucking. stinging.

luckily, the caterpillar invasion has died down.
i'm not constantly plucking them off the porch or the front door anymore!
BUT,  i am sweeping their tiny cocoons off the side of the house...
from under the porch handrail...off the porch roof...off the windowsills.
otherwise, we will be setting ourselves up for
a second wave of the tussock caterpillar invasion.

an invasion i can live without.
the 'Anoles' aren't any help either. they don't dine on these hairy caterpillars.
in fact, i've seen the lizards do a detour around the caterpillars
when their paths cross.

BUT i know what DOES think these pesky caterpillars are yummy! 
at first i thought it was a stink bug...

then i saw one chewing on a tussock caterpillar!

ok, i thought.    THIS IS NO STINK BUG!
i started to do a little research...and realized it's some sort of Assassin Bug!
they lie in wait...
then STAB their unsuspecting prey with their proboscis (beak) 
and inject a toxin that dissolves tissue.
the assassin bug then dines on the other bug's liquefied tissue.
UGH!

 the young assassins are called Nymphs.
i spotted one on the Mock Orange bush.
OR this could be a wheel-bug nymph. it's a little confusing. 
so many types. so similar.
they're very small...
it's hard for me to get a good close-up picture with my camera.  
( want to see MORE bugs & pictures? check out this very cool site! )

i know...you're wondering how i could confuse the cute little stink bug
with the terrorizing Assassin bug??!!
well...here...take a look...not necessarily the color...
but the body shape...the legs!  keep in mind, there are many shapes & colors...
here's another stink bug...
i finally realized, the stink bug doesn't have that LONG nose...neck...mouth...whatever!

oOo
another couple of weird bugs seen close to home...
this is an Army Worm (on the front of the house)

here's a Sawfly Larvae...

and a Ladybug...

this butterfly is a Gulf Fritillary...

and this little one is a Horace's Duskywing...

here's a beauty-ful dragonfly!
((thanks sam! he took this picture!!))

"The rich mind lies in the sun and sleeps, and is Nature."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

oOo
on to the lizards. (one of my) favorite critters! the Anoles!
in my last post i showed pictures of two males fighting.  testosterone flying!
this time...i wanted to show the more lovable side of these little critters.
here they're each displaying their dewlaps...that skin hanging from under their necks...
which they stick out when they're trying to attract a female!
(on the roof)

(on the front porch)

(on the side of the house)

(on a tree)

(another on the side of the house)

and this guy. i have to give him credit. he's creative. not afraid to be different.
while ALL the males are using their dewlaps to attract a female...
this one thought he'd try a little pole dancing!
well, it's a lizard thing i guess.

and finally...what ALL the males are trying their hardest to accomplish...
(caught in the act! up on the roof!)


oOo
and lastly...another misspelled sign!
obviously, this is an Air Conditioning company.
cute name...catchy, eh?  it's COLD in the ARCTIC...not the ARTIC!
maybe the owner's name is Mr. ARTIC?  
i hope so.

"It's a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word!" 
~Andrew Jackson 

(when i have time...i'm going to make a page up there...just under the header...
where i'll post the misspelled signs as i run across them!)

oOo
OH YEAH...i almost forgot!!  i did another BoNE dOOdle!!
made with deer teeth  & vertebrae, raccoon & armadillo bones, and a small pig skull.

(begonia)

'til next time, stay cool.

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.
:]laura

(and a final message...from Milo...)



21 comments:

  1. Lizard porn, assassin bugs, you've got it all right in your own backyard!

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  2. Catnip "YES"...LOL! Mr Art..ic! Stink bugs, got 'em here like crazy! Sawfly ate a ton of my plants last year...boo to them! LOVE that Assassin Bug...big, bad, dude! Bone doodle=great. Question for you: Do you ever rest???...:)JP

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  3. on first glance i thought the assassin bug was a beatiful creature with such a multe-coloured shell, but what it does and eats ... ewwww

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  4. You make the mundane so beautiful and interesting.

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  6. so dewlaps are what those hanging on the neck of those critters are called! I love it everytime i drop by here I always learn new stuff about nature and animals in the wild :]

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  7. Ah yes, we all know what those lizards are up to... And lots of other critters have the same thing on their minds this time of year...Wow - the caterpillars you have there! We get quite a few, also, but they're more subtle, I guess. Up here in the Pacific NW spring is on the calendar, but it's still cool & rainy - some folks around here got snow yesterday!I have to agree you capture the beautiful & interesting, but I'd hardly call it mundane. The thing is, the world is full of fascinating life-forms if only we open our eyes and take the time to notice. That's why your site is so wonderful, Laura - you DO take the time to see. THANK YOU for being here and helping us all to notice some wonders of nature.

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  8. The asssasin bug sounds amazing! Love your photos of the lizards. What pretty little creatures they are.

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  9. I bet those lizards are showing you some love for not having a bug man come around like a lot of folks do. (I dont either)

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  10. Cool shots. My favorite is the assassin bug with the tussock caterpillar. At least something around there eats them. I thought tussocks stung or were poisonous or something. Perhaps that's why the anoles won't eat them.

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  11. Hi Laura, just want to let you know that this post showed up on my blog reading list right under your cyberspace post! My "badboy" grandson and I have wandered thru (he's a pro wanderer!) and Shawn especially liked your assassin and stink bugs, along with the anole lizard. These are great photos! I, of course, loved yur arrcctic sign! Will have to come back when I have more sneak time, but am glad to report "you were there!"

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  12. Post worked for me too, maybe it's just you? ;)

    Love the bugs! as long as they aren't flyin' around my face!

    Sweet bone doodle!

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  13. thanks thanks thanks! glad to see you...all! (see? i didn't say Y'ALL...i may live in florida...and i may have been here for TOO long...since '87...but i'm still no southerner. NYer at heart. yeah, a yankee)!!

    ok...quick comebacks:
    stacey/TT: hey! yeah, lizard porn! stop by for a free viewing!

    JP/HITH: nope. i don't know how to rest! never have! (i take that back...yes, i do! but it's rare)

    kel: i totally agree...assassin bug- cool to look at, that's about it!

    douglas: if i didn't at least TRY to make the mundane interesting...then this would surely be one boring...humdrum...spot to be...

    ann on the street: where'd you go?!

    midnight writer: glad to hear that you leave here with a little more knowledge than you came with...even if it's some useless info that you'll never use again! ha!

    ladybug: nice thing about this whole cyberspace/internet thing...whether it's day or night...snow or summer heat...you can jump anywhere! BE any place...else!

    kateri: pretty creatures, yes! but if i think too long about what they actually DO......

    joanne/WWTI:you got that right! no bugs= no lizards, no birds, no NOTHING that survives on BUGS!

    vickie/VMSP: same thought here...at least SOMETHING besides ME is trying to keep the tussock under control!

    susan:you're the FIRST one to mention the ARTIC sign...no, i take that back...JP did too...i wonder if noone else made it that far down the post! ha! THIS post shows up as long as i leave the GLITCH post! if i try to delete the glitch post, this one automatically goes too!??? GLAD to hear your grandkid loved the bugs & lizards! bet he wanted to TOUCH them all!

    erika jean: yeah...it's bad when you find yourself ducking out of the way of a bug!!

    SO, thanks ALL for passing through...glad you enjoyed your stop over with the bugs, anoles, flowers, misspelled sign and bone doodle! seeya! :]laura

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  14. Hi Laura!

    I'm here to play catch-up. I missed a couple of posts with all the upset around Romeo (heart was not into blogging at all!) and I've left yours for last...so I can savour them!

    You have an incredibly observant eye, always spotting interesting minutae. I have thoroughly enjoyed this post :) We have lots of those stink bugs in our garden. I really dislike them, as they cause all the new growth to wilt and blacken! I tell myself it's nature's way of tip pruning though.

    I am continually astounded at the incredible variety and assortment of living creatures that visit your garden! What did you do...put up a sign when you moved in to advertise high end real estate?

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  15. Okay, before I forget again now whenever I see a sign, I think of you. For me it is the misuse of ier or iest versus "more." For example I cannot believe the so-called professionals, on a so-called professional channel, the Weather Channel, say more rainy. Are you kidding me? It's rainier. Come ON! You're supposed to be a professional meteorologist! How can you not know that? And they do it with everything! Sunny, Rainy, etc. It's just one of the many reasons I quit watching that worthless channel.
    LOL!
    More tomorrow when I have more time! (Or maybe I should say timier) LOL! Again!

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  16. I ran out of time yesterday to make the comment that I do love the sign posts (get it-signposts snort, snort) but I really loved the Jackson quote underneath it.

    I'll pitch in my 2cents worth that I would love to see you add a page that just had the misspelled signs you see!

    All the photos were amazing but my fav, this time, has to be the Gulf Fritillary!

    Hope you are having a good day!
    meggs.

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  17. desiree...thanks! nope, i didn't put up a sign for all the bugs and such...i'm just a critter magnet!!
    (so sorry :( again...about Romeo :( )

    calling ravens! ha! hey, it's not a bad thing to be thought of when u see a misspelled sign...i could be thought of in worse ways i guess...
    OH!! and i DID add a page with the signs!! my signpost page! :) look at the tabs under the header....last one!! cool, eh?!

    seeya...i have some catching up to do myself...tomorrow morn! before dawn! my favorite time of day...well, it's not yet day then...you know what i mean... seeya! laura

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  18. Love those lusty lizards! The pole dancer won my heart ;-)

    The BoNE dOOdle rocks!

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  19. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyy lauraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! It feels So SO s0o0o0 great to visit your space after so long... bugs, butterflies n flirty lizards.. ahh i couldn't have asked for more :P thanks for stopping by my place n asking :)))) this was a really relaxing read, just what i needed! the army caterpillar was really cool, n hear hear to milo's message from pakistan!!!No.to.war. :( all the best!

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  20. thanks Susan and Amused Medic!!

    Susan...yeah...the lizards...i love 'em!! they've got my heart whether they do the pole dance or not! ha!

    Medic who is Amused! AND amusing! :) glad all is good with you...and happy that you were ablwe to sneak away from studies & all to wander here.

    always glad to hear from you guys!
    :] laura

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thanks for stopping by! it's always nice to hear from fellow wanderers!