The thread of Creepy Crawlies

[Geonerd]

 
Spider Wasp.

 
This thing was scary and sounded like a Black Hawk helicopter.
 
 

 
Those big wasps are one of the few Creepy Crawlies that 'bug' me.  The fearsome reputation of their sting, their size and airborne attack mode, coupled with their gruesome parasitic reproductive habits are enough to make me uneasy.  I occasionally encounter them while photographing the summer thunderstorms here in Az.  Forget rattlesnakes or the threat of instant electrocution, the sound of one of these things flying nearby makes me physically cringe.
 
We get them in jet black with striking red/orange wings.
 

 

[D3monic]

I love lil hippy hoppies.
 

 
dwarf white isopods. I used to culture them for dart frog vivariums.
 

 

 
Cave cricket, picture doesn't do it justice on how big and ugly this thing was. 
 

 
 

 

[Shorerider]

 
Those big wasps are one of the few Creepy Crawlies that 'bug' me.  The fearsome reputation of their sting, their size and airborne attack options, coupled with their gruesome parasitic reproductive habits are enough to make me uneasy.  I occasionally encounter them while photographing the summer thunderstorms here in Az.  Forget rattlesnakes or the threat of instant electrocution, the sound of one of these things flying nearby makes me physically cringe. 

 
I couldn't agree more,  by far the scariest thing I've photographed so far. The one in my pic was almost impossible to get a good photo of because it just wouldn't stay still. Even once it landed it would just run all over the place. 
 
 
 
SR.

 

[nuclearDays]

A few shots of mosquitos (yeah I know, not the greatest subject matter )
 

 

 
Mozzie biting me: *touch wood* there is no malaria or dengue fever around here:

 
Mozzie with a belly full of my blood:

 
Dead mozzie with a belly full of my blood

 

[mikeg]

 
Dead mozzie with a belly full of my blood :

Thanks. We already have enough of those "tax-collectors" hereabouts. Then again, i love any story that has a happy ending!

 

[Shorerider]

Orchard Dupe Wasp.
 

 
 
SR.

 

[nuclearDays]

Orchard Dupe Wasp.

 
Great shot, SR!
Not a big fan of the wasps tbh, they kill off all my jumping spiders!

 

[JoynersHotPeppers]

 
Great shot, SR!
Not a big fan of the wasps tbh, they kill off all my jumping spiders!

ICU
 

 

[nuclearDays]

ICU
 

 
Intensive Care Unit ??   yeah, that's pretty much where a close-up of a wasp would put me
 
But seriously, that's a mighty fine shot, lighting is excellent, makes the SOB look evil !

 

[cruzzfish]

 
Great shot, SR!
Not a big fan of the wasps tbh, they kill off all my jumping spiders!

Scary wasps or small spiders?

 

[nuclearDays]

Scary wasps or small spiders?

 
The wasps are pretty much the 'apex predator' around here, they massacre all other insects and spiders.
I love the jumping spiders, they have soo much personality, they are so cool!
 
Shh, don't tell anyone but I actually talk to the jumping spiders as I'm photographing them, tell them to 'sit' and 'good boy' when they pose for a photo.
In fact, one day as I'm doing this my neighbour sticks his head over a fence and says "Have you bought a puppy, I can hear you training him"? Err "Nup, just talking to a spider"
 
Watch as said neighbour backs away slowly and runs inside LOL.

 

[Shorerider]

This one is just for you ND. Feel free to add your usual commentary. 
 
http://s51.photobucket.com/user/Shorerider4/media/Chilli/20141026_103441_1.mp4.html
 
 
SR.

 

[cruzzfish]

 
The wasps are pretty much the 'apex predator' around here, they massacre all other insects and spiders.
I love the jumping spiders, they have soo much personality, they are so cool!

Around here the wasps don't usually bother the spiders, because the larger spiders can actually handle a medium sized wasp. 
Jumpers have got to be my favorite spider. Out of all the other crawling* things praying mantis have similar levels of personality.
 
*mantis will sometimes attempt "flight" in the loosest sense of the word

 

[nuclearDays]

 
This one is just for you ND. Feel free to add your usual commentary. 
SR.
 

 
Fantastic capture, mate
 
Can't really I.D. them from that but it appears to be 2 spiders of the same sex (I'm guessing male) so not a mating ritual.
Did the spider that is onscreen at the end walk away or was it 'off to spidey heaven'? I'm thinking it was fine?
To me, it appears to be 2 male spiders having a bit of a 'turf war'.
With female spiders I would expect it to be more brutal with definitely one dead spider.

 

[ShortcutToHell]

I'm with you, cruzzfish. Positively adore jumpers, and, like ND, I talk to them as if they're puppies. This one was searching around our sink the other night, so I put down a blob of water for him. He crawled right in and had a nice drink. I wanted to put him in the garage, so we got a container and gave him a little finger-nudge. Amazing. He leapt in like a champ! Anyway, when he got dumped out in the garage, he jumped a good two feet and almost landed on my husband's bare foot. It's a super bad shot, but I wanted to share anyway. The little cutie made my day!
 

 

[Shorerider]

Thanks, if I recall correctly, the spider at the end did walk away afterwards. 

 

[Shorerider]

Possibly another enemy of the jumping spider, but this one is way more adorable. I have been seeing these guys around my garden over the past month or so but they are too quick to get a good photo of, especially with a natural background. So I took things into my own hand(s).
 

 
 
SR.

 

[nuclearDays]

A few ant macros.
 
Having a drink of water:

 
Cleaning its antennae:

 
Swallowing some really small critter:

 

[Shorerider]

Wolf spider. As big as I have ever seen and the second one I've seen about this size recently. The first was indoors. 

 

 
Australian Sawfly. 

 

 
 
SR.

 

[ShortcutToHell]

Nice shots, SR. Very beautiful wolf spider and much larger than we have around here.