(Caution- The following entry contains spiders. If you do not like pictures of spiders and other bugs, then I completely understand. Do not read this blog post. On the other hand, if you can overcome your fears of all things creepy-crawly, read on, brave reader. If you have no fear of bugs, then start reading already. What are you waiting for?)
Halloween is nearly upon us. The first frost came about a week ago in this part of the world, and thus the insect life is diminishing. Leaves and ladybugs are in the air, and everywhere else. With Halloween coming, there will be a short series of posts on creepy-crawlies, entitled, Mom, Don't Read This!
I was inspired to do these posts after encountering a praying mantis, orb weaver, and the following unusual fellow today whilst bird banding:
Meet Arilus cristatus, the wheel bug. He's wheely cool. (Sorry, I couldn't help it.) This is a species of assassin bug. It's hard to show exactly how big this insect is, but it's about as long as my little finger, or roughly two inches long. That's measured front of the head to end of the abdomen.
(I'm never sure how most scientists measure bugs. I assume saying that the maximum length of a bug is x, for instance, means that the abdomen of the bug measures x. All I know is that the cicada killer wasps I run into are nearly twice the length of any in the books.)
Returning to my subject, wheel bugs are dominant predators in the bug world. They are fairly common. I have seen a wheel bug nymph (juvenile) every time I visit Henson Robinson Zoo, and caught them in my grandparents' garden. That being said, they are very shy, and prone to bite if handled. The bite is rumored to take months to heal. Don't pick this bug up, in other words. Wheel bugs have what looks more like a Spartan helmet than a wheel on their back. This structure is kind of hard to see in the picture I took above.
This is a wheel bug nymph. They have bright warning colors, telling you to stay away from them. And with the bite they have, this is a very good idea. You might now want to eradicate these creepy-looking insects from your yard. However, don't. It's actually a good sign to have wheel bugs in your yard. It means you have a very healthy yard. Think of wheel bugs as the insect versions of wolves or lions. Both these animals require a large territory relative to their body size, and lots of possible food sources to exploit. Wheel bugs, as their food source, eat lots of stink bugs, Japanese beetles, and caterpillars, among other bugs. They are extremely beneficial insects to have, and do not bite unless handled.
Moving on to our next creature, we have a hatching cicada coming out of its shell. This poor fellow died the night after this picture was taken, unfortunately, and was found the next morning half-eaten by ants.
He almost looks cute. We can't have that. Moving on to the third and final arthropod for tonight, we have the reason this post is called Mom, Don't Read This. Also, I did a video. Please don't watch it if you have motion sickness. It's a few years old.
Yellow Garden Spiders, or Argiope aurantica, are large spiders found in most of the United States in gardens, and especially in wet areas in the northern part of their range. Southwind Park in Springfield has a healthy population I have encountered within the last month, This is the largest spider I have ever seen in the land of lincoln itself, aka Central Illinois. That's a honeybee being wrapped in the photo below, to give you some idea of the size of this spider:
This both intrigues and horrifies me equally. I have arachnophobia, but at the same time spiders, especially jumping spiders, are fascinating to watch and to see all the color forms. In other words, this is perfect for this time of year, especially since this species has a skull-like pattern on its back. Alright, it's getting late. Time for me to go to bed. I dare you to take one good last look at that video. Sweet dreams...
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