This past weekend we went to pumpkin fest - it was a gorgeous, perfect day to spend sliding down a hay slide and playing in some corn pits. Near the end of the afternoon we came upon a large bug which the kids loved to (carefully) play with and investigate:

We did not know at the time, but that bug was a Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus):

The [wheel] bug plunges its beak into its victim, pinning its prey with its front legs. It then injects enzymes into the victim, paralyzing it and dissolving its insides, and proceeds to drain all of the victim's bodily fluids. The bite of a wheel bug is painful and may take months to heal (sometimes leaving a small scar), so caution is highly advised when handling them.

Yikes! Guess we won't be handling these bugs in the future (at least not with kids ).

This was one of the larger specimens I have seen scurrying around our yard; almost an inch in total length. What's that white ball it is carrying, you ask? Why, it's EGG SAC of course!!! So cool!

The coconut crab is a derived species of hermit crab, though only juveniles carry around an abdominal cover (usually a seashell or coconut husk). Adults have a typical leg span of 3 feet and weigh 9 pounds. Larger specimens have been found spanning 6 feet and weighing 30 pounds.

The coconut crab is omnivorous, though it primarily dines on fleshy fruit, nuts, and seeds. The claws are as powerful as they are large - they can lift objects such as vegetation or rocks weighing up to 60 pounds (28kg) and use their massive claws to pry open all sorts of food (hence the origin of their name). Coconut crabs live alone in underground burrows, covering the entrance to keep the high humidity necessary for their lungs to function. While usually nocturnal they do occasionally venture out during the day if it's rainy or foggy.

(sources: arkive, wikipedia)

I counted five mantis in our yard on Tuesday. Here are two of the better pictures I was able to capture. Click for closer view.

A brown speckled mantis perched on a creeping vine in our front yard:

A gorgeous white mantis patiently watching the bees buzz around his head:

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.

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!

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:

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. *

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.