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The thread of Creepy Crawlies
- Thread starter patrick
- Start date
Apologies for the un-great photos. A breeze was swaying the bushes, and the caterpillars themselves were twitching, so the photos were destined for mediocrity. These are the best of the lot.
Nuttall's Sheep Moth Caterpillars
No matter how I configured the search for caterpillars, Google kept showing me large yellow track loaders. While I find those fascinating, i still have no idea what these are.
...and a common gopher snake that tried, for a couple of seconds, to look tough.
Nuttall's Sheep Moth Caterpillars
No matter how I configured the search for caterpillars, Google kept showing me large yellow track loaders. While I find those fascinating, i still have no idea what these are.
...and a common gopher snake that tried, for a couple of seconds, to look tough.
ShortcutToHell said:
What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?
Those photos are great! The black caterpillars on that ghostly green foliage make them seeem really creepy and evil IMO.
ShortcutToHell said:
They look like one of the 'tent caterpillars' to me.
Probably the forest tent caterpillar.
Thanks, ND. Agree, the black ones were a total, evil looking, creep-out. Somehow, those are the ones that are most compelling to get shots of, right?!nuclearDays said:
The "ghostly" green foliage belongs to a species of Artemisia tridentata, which is native to the Intermountain West of North America. The scent of it is like a drug for me - a deep, earthy sage scent that hits like a tranquilizer. Walking through it and brushing up against it after a rain is heavenly.
Nice work, ND! Good to know their identity, and btw, you're better than Google. I tried fifty different ways to search for caterpillars in this area, and Google kept handing me these:
I like them, but not what I was after.
ShortcutToHell said:I tried fifty different ways to search for caterpillars in this area, and Google kept handing me these:
I like them, but not what I was after.
Haha
It rather looks like one, now that you mention it. Surprisingly, It's a caterpillar: Nuttall's Sheep Moth Caterpillarcruzzfish said:
Can see why it's easy to think that.
..just wasnt't sure, so I erred on the side of caution. . Good one though. Yeah, I could have spent half a day out there looking for more and taking pics. First time I'd seen them.cruzzfish said:
Redback Spider.
Another angle.
One of the best looking spiders IMO.
SR.
Another angle.
One of the best looking spiders IMO.
SR.
She's a beauty, SR. Widows are in a tie with jumpers as my favorite spiders. Had an L. mactans hanging out on the patio a few days ago and tried to get a clear shot of her.Shorerider said:Redback Spider.
One of the best looking spiders IMO.
SR.
No success but I may go ahead and post her up. She'll be no competition to this beauty though!
STH
Thanks STH, Those pics were quite easy to get as she was relatively inactive.
Latrodectus mactans look very similar, I look forward to seeing yours.
SR.
Latrodectus mactans look very similar, I look forward to seeing yours.
SR.
They have killed people, but not since the 50's when the antivenom was released. A very painful bite none the less.
SR.
SR.
Pulled up the L. mactans pic, and it's even worse than I remembered. Won't subject you all to it. I did find a bee pic that isn't nearly so bad so I'll post it when photobucket quits acting up.Shorerider said:
My friend, Jeff, was bitten by a widow and wound up with great difficulty breathing. He said that the body-wide pain was excruciating and was the worst pain he's experienced. He was hospitalized and monitored closely, but they held off giving him the antivenom. Supposedly it shouldn't be given but once in a lifetime. Since he wasn't going to die, they opted to save the shot for next time he's bitten.Shorerider said:
Found this interesting anomaly today. I'm not for sure but it looks like aphids on its back. Every once in a while it seemed to turn around and feed them.
Nvm looked it up. Not aphids. Parasitic wasp larva.
Nvm looked it up. Not aphids. Parasitic wasp larva.
Shorerider said:
Nicely captured, m8!
Yellowfin2na said:
Good shots, Yellowfin2na, that caterpillar won't be doing much more damage in the garden!
A couple more 'jumpers with prey' from me.
No idea what it is eating but there isn't much left:
Common house fly for dinner
Small jumper eating an even smaller jumping spider
Those guys really do have personalities
These goofy looking things were inside one of my hydriponic reservoirs. I searched the internet and couldn't figure out what they were. They are actually quite large, about a quarter inch. Way bigger than the mosquito larva next to them.
So as I'm searching trying to figure out what they are I come back to find one shedding. I guess moving all around for pics got the process going. It's some sort of fly. Kinda looks like a masque to but it's not. Its about twice the size of a lady bug. Still don't know what they are though.
These goofy looking things were inside one of my hydriponic reservoirs. I searched the internet and couldn't figure out what they were. They are actually quite large, about a quarter inch. Way bigger than the mosquito larva next to them.
So as I'm searching trying to figure out what they are I come back to find one shedding. I guess moving all around for pics got the process going. It's some sort of fly. Kinda looks like a masque to but it's not. Its about twice the size of a lady bug. Still don't know what they are though.
