Cotulla, Texas:
"Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly crawly."
~The Who, Boris the Spider lyrics
Tonight, this is not about spiders. It's about beetles. South Texas has a record number of beetles, not to mention other bugs. Working on the night shift, I see many bugs under the tower lights.
I am not paranoid. When I feel something crawling on me, it REALLY is a bug. Tonight each time I have come in I have felt AND FOUND bugs crawling on me.
One time in, I felt something on my ankle. In the dim light of night time, I saw a relatively large bug crawling on my left ankle. The bug took flight and landed on our dining room table light. The cats went nuts. The bug looked like a dragonfly while in flight, but wasn't because its long wings folded down at its sides.The bug got stuck in our lamp fixture, so I unscrewed the glass fixture and got the bug out...took it outside. It was harmless.
Next time I came in, I felt something crawling on the front of my neck. I swiped at it and a longish, thick, segmented black beetle fell onto the table. That one got smooshed by me. It was a black blister beetle.
A little bit later I felt a bug on my forearm. A small, reddish beetle was walking down my arm. Haven't identified that one yet.
Just now, while typing, I felt something on my left ankle. I looked down and it was long, white and had a hard shell on the end...my shoelace. Ha ha. Maybe I am a little paranoid.
Here are pics of some nighttime bugs:
 |
| Field cricket--multitudes of these all over. Roadrunners love them! |
 | |
| Field crickets congregating at the watering hole (AKA where our air conditioner condensation drips) |
 |
| Katydid?? Not sure what this is. |
This web site from Texas A&M University is a wealth of information for identifying Texas bugs: Field Guide to Common Texas Insects. There's a lot to learn. Most insects are harmless to people. Although one bug we've seen a lot--a blister beetle--has a toxin in its body that can cause blisters on the skin. One of the cats tried to eat a blister beetle one night, but didn't. They backed off from it. Smart kitty kitties.
Also see my blog from May 26: Schuhplattler Polka for more on Texas bugs.
I can't believe I spent a whole blog on BUGS. Ewwww.
Speaking of which, Travel BUG out.
I sure can relate to the bugs. I'm getting them too. Lately, inside they are the teeny tiny one that "bug" me the most. You didn't mention the "dung" beetles. When Angel goes out I don't have to pick up after her ( I used to until Jaime said to leave it) in an hour or so her droppings are almost gone.
ReplyDeleteIck. Another reason I'm glad I'm not still in Texas in Summer! We do have bugs here - tiny gnats that make one almost "barking mad" and later in August or so we'll have stink bugs for a few weeks. I say again, "Ick." :)
ReplyDelete