Saturday, April 2, 2011

Bodacious Bugs

So I rescued a bug yesterday. Every year in spring, our building gets these... I think maybe it's some sort of beetle, but slender... black and orange... and they (hatch?) arrive before Michigan's weather is comfortable, so the lot of them try to move into the building I work in. I like the buggers. And I know not everybody does, so when I find them too far from the door, I catch them and take them outside. It disgruntles them... they resist... but surely if they understood the other option was death by squashing or death by starvation, they would appreciate my efforts... Anyway, they inspired today's post.


Beautiful Bugs

I really love butterflies...





And moths...

One of the things I love about moths... in fact it makes me sort of love them more than butterflies, is that furry antennae thing...




 Luna Moth--isn't she gorgeous?













Blechy Bugs


Leech

just... ick... nuff said.  I have waded through streams that left me with a leech or two and... ick.


I am a bit funny about slugs. The black ones don't gross me out until they pass about 3 inches in length, but the off colored ones are really disturbing.

Tomato hornworm...
 *shivers*

first time I saw one of these, it was sucking the juice out of the stem of a formerly healthy tomato plant...  This picture doesn't show the horns, but it is a good shot of the (disgusting) thick legs.  The sucker I found was about 5 inches long... no joke...



Badass Bugs


I confess to thinking this is almost a teddy bear... he is precious... (yeah, I know a good number of you are just freaking out) it didn't say the type... just a moth...

Is this not the most kickass, wicked (as in cool, not as in mean) moth you ever saw?












 Isn't this freaky?  It's just a moth, but it totally looks like an animal face... I LOVE this!




So I hadn't been in Michigan long the first time I saw one of these... walking up my pant leg... but the cool factor outweighed any freaking out...



And I once saw a picture of one of these that caught a humming bird... that scared me... but at the same time... aren't they COOL?  I guess I can forgive scary for a little coolness factor...








Barely Bugs... okay, NOT bugs, but they are BURROWERS and I LOVE them... erm... us... so I'd love it if you'd visit us sometime (this is my writing group, btw), and Burrowers blog at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash...



These are some of my favorite people on the planet (would BE my favorite, it there weren't a few missing). We are a batch of bodacious babes and a bloke...

And I wish you all a fabulous weekend!!!


(HA!  and this was 600 posts... so that's something... not sure WHAT, but something...)

60 comments:

alberta ross said...

bugs eh - couldn't have done this post in UK and called those beautiful butterflies bugs!! lovely pictures - funny I like snails but can't stand slugs - just a shell apart - that face what a clever insect! - good blog

Anonymous said...

No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison:
We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage:
When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down,
And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too,
Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out;
And take upon's the mystery of things,
As if we were God's spies: and we'll wear out,
In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones,
That ebb and flow by the moon.

King Lear.Act 5, Scene 3

Trisha said...

Congrats on 600 posts!! That's quite an achievement! :D

I loved this entry. I am fine with most bugs, though cockroaches kind of gross me out. I love moths' faces - they are so furry and cute! And I adore bumble bees - we don't have any here so I guess I'm jealous of places that do. hehe

Eliza said...

wow those are wonderful pictures, I love Butterflies too, but the moths and caterpillars are spectacular too.

Anonymous said...

Moths! Fuzzy feelers for the WIN! Which is apparently what that last green bug is saying...

Unknown said...

We have those little skinny orange beetles in my garden, they eat my lillies and I HATE THEM! I also HATE slugs, they destroy my garden as well! BUGS, I have no love of them. Bugs are vicious, even those pretty moths which happen to eat clothes. I love your post, but sorry bugs just make me all pissy! lololololol

Amber T. Smith said...

That moth with the face is awesome! Definitely agree on the yellow slug though...

Congrats on the 600 posts! And I though *I* was doing well hitting 200 in a couple of days...

K.C. Woolf said...

Astonishing animals, then bugs. I'm curious to see what else you have in store for us this month! =)

(My guess ... caterpillars!)

Leovi said...

Pure delight, I got stuck in its soft tones, very beautiful butterflies.

Old Kitty said...

YAY FOR NAKED BUGS!!!

I love bugs!! I rescue them and put them on plants and plant plants that like bugs!! I love em!!

Yay for bugs!!!!!!!!!

Take care
x

Jessica Bell said...

ONG! I'm gonna have nightmares!!!! PS: how do you actually GET LEECHES OFF???

The Words Crafter said...

Grats on the 600, wow!

Those pics are AWESOME! I, too, have to catch bugs and cart them outside. Difficult with 12 pairs of 3 year old feet trying to stomp them. Those moths are beautiful and I love the teddy bear one!

The slugs, just eeewww!

Love this post!

Oh yeah....if a leach ever got on me, you'd hear the highest pitched, girliest screaming all the way to your house from NC! *shivering*

Sue said...

They are unbelievably beautiful, except for the leech and squishy slug thing.

For Jessica, salt or suncream get leeches off quickly or a hot match if you have a steady hand.

Could the Burrower man be a Bloke?

600 - WOW - congratulations.

Sue@JumpingAground

Misha Gerrick said...

Congrats on the 600 posts!

Some of those bugs would have been gorgeous if not for the fact that they were... well... bugs.

:-)

Amy Wood said...

Wow! The moth that looks like an animal face, OMG, I totally thought that too. Great pics!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photographs! I love butterflies too but I have never been able to take such amazing pictures!

Sheila Siler said...

Fabulous post!

Manzanita said...

oowww I like the butterflies but not when they're in the creepy crawly stage. Good for you for saving a bug.
Manzanita
Wanna buy a duck

Joyce Johnson said...

I find slugs disturbing as well. they seem to wear their guts on the outside. Icky!

Go, go, go... A to Z challenge!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Wild photos, Hart. And I admit - I'm catch and release if a bug gets in our house.

Tracy said...

Ahhh, that was fun! although the 'creepy bugs' made me go 'ooohhh' and not in a good way! I love the butterflies and the moths :)

:)
Happy A to Z!

Hart Johnson said...

Ha! Look at all you people stopping in while I was sleeping! I need to get with the program!

Jessica, sorry for the nightmares... not a bug fan, eh? and Sue gave a good answer on getting them off--salt or something oily that smothers them so they let go to breathe is what I've heard. I can't seem to leave them long enough to get anything and just pull, leaving a bloody hole in my leg (and I've heard, potentially, their teeth--ick)

and Sue--Bloke for the win, thank you!

Jan Morrison said...

600 - whew! I got some blogging to do to catch up! I love those moths - we had a luna moth on our deck once (many years ago, different deck) and it was so gorgeoso.
having fun?
Jan Morrison

Alison DeLuca said...

My daughter raised Monarch butterflies one year. After crawling out of the cocoon, one sat on her finger for an hour (really!) In fact, it sat so long that it peed on her hand. Yes, Monarchs pee too. Who knew!

Laura Josephsen said...

Oh my gosh, that fuzzy moth-like thing with leg-looking appendages? O_O WOW.

Theres just life said...

I am a bug saver too. We usually get at least 3 or 4 Luna moths on our porch every year. They are beautiful and big the wing span is about 4 to 5 inches. Not sure exactly, they didn't like it when I tried to measure them.
Praying Matisse are a hoot to watch. This one looks like it is saying "Hallelujah Spring is here."
I love the kickass moth.

Pamela Jo
http://theresjustlifeyaliveit.blogspot.com

TS Hendrik said...

I love moths and butterflies. That fuzzy one though is truly bizarre in the best of ways.

erica and christy said...

I'll tolerate butterflies (but not moths, oddly, I don't think we have any pretty ones here). Walking sticks are pretty cool, too - we saw one in our woods last fall, but don't see them too often.

Death to all others.
erica

Shaharizan Perez said...

Let me tell you, I barely got through this post. I am a true city girl, bugs freak me out, even the cute ones. I can tolerate lady bugs and butterflies, maybe even a firefly but all others are up for squishing.

*hates bugs*

Ella said...

Creepy n' cool bug picks. The freaky green one that caught a hummingbird is a praying Mantis. I kicked that bad ass off my hummingbird feeder last year. He kept coming back~
Nice pic you n' your best friends!

Rebecca Bradley said...

They really were some amazing photographs!

Why Not? Because I Said So! said...

Those bugs were great! When I teach my unit on Insects in a few weeks I am going to be showing my 2nd graders those pictures! Thanks for posting.


Sheila Staley : Reviewer & Writer
Book reviews and Author Interviews at my blog at http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot.com/

Margaret Hall said...

GREAT, great posting~!! Loved all the beautiful butterflies, but the "blechs" can stay outta' the garden and trees~! Your group looks as though they are a happy bunch of bugs..lol..You have a fun blog..See you soon~!
http://timeforabucketlist.blogspot.com/
http://imagesinthought.blogspot.com/
http://the-old-story-tree.blogspot.com/
http://bagladythoughts.blogspot.com/

RosieC said...

Okay, I have a real problem with bugs that fly, and so that hairy thing is really freaking me out right now. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am that I don't lie near those little buggers. *cringe* Blech!

Okay, now on to recovery...

Rosie
East for Green Eyes

Sarah Allen said...

Whoa, those pictures are awesome! Thanks for sharing :)

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog: B is for Bowie)

Laura said...

Hi Hart - erm, I have a moth phobia - they are beautiful, but the fluttering, I can't deal with.... but the teddy bear moth almost cured me...
Lx

Regina said...

Such amazing pictures. Beautiful.

Southpaw said...

You picked some awesome bugs. And 600 posts! Wow, that is something.

Myne said...

I confess, most of those grossed me out, especially as they were on the skin. But the butterflies were cool, and the burrowers too, :)

Anonymous said...

Fascinating. Bugs in real life freak me out (except for spiders and butterflies), but in picture form I can appreciate them. You picked some great ones to feature.

Maple Seawright said...

Such a cute post!!
I love the butterflies but if I saw some of those other bugs in person I probably would had fainted. lol.

Matt Conlon said...

I am about 6' tall, 240lbs, and I'm a total wuss when it comes to bugs. I REALLY don't like bugs. I always feel like they're aiming to fly up my nostrils or ears... /shudder.

...and yet, I'm your latest follower now.

I never said I was logical.


Matt Conlon dot com
Matt's Brew Log

Unknown said...

love luna moths....good idea for a post

Marjorie said...

Moths scare me a little, but I still like them. I like butterflies a lot, and they don't scare me at all. All the rest scare me. Why bugs Tamster? Ew.

Anonymous said...

Those tomato hornworms are friggin' huge, aren't they? They kinda freak you out with their sheer size.

Also, I approve of the booze in that last pic. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, great pics. The variety there is of bugs, butterflies, and moths is amazing. Your a-z posts are getting quite educational.

KM Nalle said...

Butterflies are probably the only "bug" I can tolerate. Lovely pics of them though.

Anonymous said...

You gotta love moth-fur :o) I had a pet mantis. Good fun feeding it flies.

Ca88andra said...

I have to admit, I'm a bug murderer! I just hate them...

Melissa Ann Goodwin said...

had to check your blog out because I love the title. Bugs- good one!

Unknown said...

I just saw my first slug / snail / leech whatever it was the other day... I was walking through the woods and almost stepped on it. It was pretty gross, but I was curious enough to take pictures of it. Then I left it to be on it's merry slow way.

stefani said...

Bugs are okay as long as they are the pretty looking ones like you have here.

As for the first moth, it is a silkworm moth. I used to love growing them as a kid.

Missed Periods said...

Those badass bugs are totally badass.

jkraus8464 said...

Amazingly beautiful pictures. I am awed by the one that caught a hummingbird although that ticks me off cause I also like humming birds. Beauty in nature. Nice Job. Can't wait to see what else you do.

Not Hannah said...

Exxxxcellent. I adore the picture of the praying mantis. When I first discovered the Pern books, I pictured the dragons as praying mantises. Manti? Whatever. That...

Mark P Sadler said...

Check out pictures I kust added to Facebook at some of the creatues I have seen in my yard in Tucson

RaShelle Workman said...

Gorgeous, bodacious bugs! I used that word for B, too.

The pic of you and your friends is soooo fun!

Patricia Stoltey said...

I was liking this post until you showed me the leech and the slug. Ick. But the badass bugs are cool!

Alison Miller said...

Haha - you're a good person for rescuing bugs - not me. :)

Love your bugs though - neat!

February Grace said...

the only good thing to me about winter here is that there are less bugs!

those butterfly pictures are incredible though. I wish I could describe to you how the colors look to me post-op. Beyond vivid. Gorgeous. Thank you for the wonderful view.

~bru