Check out this gorgeous photo of an assassin bug!

Assassin bug looking badass next to small purple flower

Assassin bugs are awesome predators. Similar to the giant water bug, all of the nearly 3,000 species of assassin bug have a powerful tubelike rostrum (aka “tube of death”, as I fancy it should be called) that is used to pierce prey.

An Assassin bug attacks it’s prey quickly and efficiently, gripping the unsuspecting bug with it’s sticky forearms and deftly sliding it’s rostrum into the victim. Using the strawlike rostrum now inserted deep into it’s victim the assassin pumps the bug full of venomous digestive fluid that instantly begins to dissolve tissue and organs. Within seconds the hapless prey is dead and the assassin can slurp back the contents of the bug as if it were a yummy bug-flavored milkshake.

Right before our bike ride this past weekend Shannon made an interesting discovery: there was a small cluster of at least 8 baby praying mantis (manti?) crawling on her bike handle. Click to enlarge:

How cool is that?! Mantis usually lay eggs in the fall, and once the weather warms up the eggs take 6-8 weeks to hatch. Keep your eyes open out there - lots of very cool bugs to see as summer gets into full swing!

We finally released the ladybugs from their “ladybug lantern” cells. It was neat for Libby (and us) to watch them crawl all over our hands before flying away:

For Libby’s first birthday party, which had a ladybug theme, Shannon had the foresight to order live ladybugs for the event. Unfortunately the company would not ship them for the party because temperatures were below freezing (and they would have died in transit).

Now that the weather has warmed up the company has shipped them, and since their arrival two days ago Libby has been fascinated with the little bugs:

Found this Yellow Garden Spider on one of the bushes we recently transplanted to the back of the house:

As best I can tell this spider is in the genus of Argiope, species of Aurantia. Regardless of it’s menacing appearance it’s venom is not deadly: “the responses to the necrotic envenomations from these species are generally mild, although victims may exhibit localized distress.” *

Like other orb-weavers (family Araneidae), this species has three claws per foot (one more than most spiders). Orb-weavers use this third claw to help handle the threads while spinning. When disturbed, the spider might first vibrate the web to try to make its body look bigger, but if that fails to deter a predator she will drop to the ground and hide. *

During the summer we buy almost all of our produce at the weekly farmers market. We do this for many reasons, but mostly because everything tastes so much better. Corn in particular is stellar (though given that we live in Indiana that probably goes without saying).

When I was shucking the corn from this week’s trip to the market I found another little critter that seemed to enjoy eating the corn as much as we do (click for bigger pic):

It’s called a Corn Earworm (aka Helicoverpa zea). This is just the larva - eventually this little guy will grow into a large moth.

I don’t know why, but I really enjoy looking at pictures of insects. The above picture is from some plants on the side of our house, but you can find much better invertebrate photography out there (i.e. Dope on the Slope).

On our trip to a family friend’s house I noticed a rather interesting looking spider on their stainless steel grill. I started taking pictures and noticed that the spider seemed to be doing a little twist whenever I moved the camera closer.

Curious, I zoomed in and noticed that this little guy was really turning to LOOK RIGHT AT ME! Gagh… the only thing scarier than a spider is a smart spider!

Freakin' huge jumping spider

Approximately 10 seconds after snapping the above picture this gigantic, hairy, soon-to-be-airborne spider launches itself at me with all eight legs sprawled like the face suckers from Aliens.

Needless to say I did the only thing a real man would: I squealed like a little girl, dropped the camera, and stumbled into the picnic table behind me. Good times, good times.

I found this little critter on a red maple in our backyard tonight. He and a few thousand of his buddies are making mincemeat out of anything with purple or red leaves.

Shannon’s purple flowers are completely gone and our reddish trees and bushes are beginning to look like swiss cheese. I’ll be picking up some Sevin (carbaryl) on my way home from work tomorrow. The pesticide does not last for very long: I’ll need to re-spray every 7-10 days (or anytime it rains). I’ll also need to watch the aphid and mite populations because over-application of Sevin can lead to overpopulations of those pests.

Homeownership: Educational and Fun!

There is something very whimsical about butterflies during the summertime, flitting about from flower to flower. But do you ever wonder where they go when the weather turns sour? Scientific American answers that question (and more) with an excellent article titled “What do butterflies do when it rains?“. Some tidbits:

An average monarch weighs roughly 500 milligrams; large raindrops have a mass of 70 milligrams or more. A raindrop this size striking a monarch would be equivalent to you or I being pelted by water balloons with twice the mass of bowling balls.
…
Not only does rain pose a direct threat of injury or death, but the cool air associated with storms may also reduce temperatures below the thermal threshold for butterfly flight. In preparation for flight, these aerial acrobats expose their wings to direct sunlight, which rapidly warms their flight muscles.

Wow - this explains what butterflies are doing when they sit in the sun flexing their wings, and why we tend to only see butterflies in flight on sunny days. Fascinating!

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