Sunday, August 12, 2012

Wandering into a bug honeymoon?

Yesterday I was walking past a tarp that I covered my lawn tractor and lawn mower with and I spotted a stick bug.  I had to take a closer look because it looked a little different.  Well, it was different.  There were two of them and it looked like I had disturbed their honeymoon, although it didn't appear that I had disturbed them any.  I went into the house to retrieve my camera and figured when I got back out there that they would have been gone.  Luck was with me this time, they were still there and this is the first picture that I took:

I put a quarter down behind them to give you an idea of the sizes.  The female looked like a giant compared to the male:

So now you see just how small that male was, but he sure must have had some charm (or something).  I think that their shadows look neat in the above pictures.  Here is another picture that I took, trying to get one more from the side:

I went back into the house to put back the camera and when I came out again, they were gone.  I guess that they were tired of posing for these X-rated pictures (grin).  There are two different styles of stick bugs in my area.  The other ones look a lot more like a stick.  The ones shown above are fatter.  Must be a different species but have the same name.  In the bug world, the male is usually the smaller.  I guess they are made for only one reason and that they don't have to stick around and protect their mate from dangers.  I think that nature in all its aspects is beautiful.

Did any of you get to see the meteor shower last night?  It was way too hazy here last night and when I woke up around 06:00 this morning it was getting too light.  If any saw it, give me a report.  It was suppose to be a good one.  Now, you all have a beautiful day today, you hear?

15 comments:

  1. Stick bug porn. Did you read Google guidelines before you posted these photos?

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  2. lol DD, agree with BB. And nooo,,even tho i was up, i missed the meteor shower, and will tonite. Every time i've tried to watch those, i guess i don't stay there long enough, and don't see any.

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  3. BB, no I didn't so don't tell anyone.

    Trouble, with the very high humidity around this area, the sky is very seldom clear, especially in the summer time.

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  4. Nothing like seeing nature in action! Actually got some nice photos, Dizzy!

    Missed the shower because of the clouds!

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  5. Dizzy's bug porn!

    The rain showers trumped the meteor showers last night.

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  6. HJ, thanks. Even after the clouds cleared some it was still too hazy up his away.

    Sixbears, I have always been dissapointed in meteor showers except the one I saw from the plane one year when I was flying back from New England. Now that was spectacular.

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  7. We got to see a few, watched the sky from midnight to 1 am, saw about 15. Some were very bright, even showed up through the partly cloudy night. It got down to 66 degrees and we like to froze to death. Guess the summer heat has thinned our blood.

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  8. Phyllis (N/W Jersey)August 12, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    Here we call them "walking sticks" - about the length of a praying mantis. I have never seen a fat one though. Good idea to put the quarter next to them to show their size.
    For the past few years it has been either raining or cloudy so I usually miss this great meteor show.
    Hopefully, the sky will be clear for the Geminid Showers in December.

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  9. Jimdabob, glad you got to see them. Did you make a wish upon a falling star? 66 degrees!!! Dang it is 98 out side right now.

    Phyllis, We have both kinds around here. Clear skies is hard to come by in this humid weather. Someday I would like to load up my big old 16 inch telescope and head out to the desert. But I will probably end up taking one of my smaller ones.

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  10. Someone pointed out a stick bug (just one) on my deck in North Carolina. I wouldn't have had any idea it was even there, much less that it was a bug.

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  11. Gypsy, the better the camouflage the better the survival rate.

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  12. I was camping this past weekend at a state park in Pennsylvania and I also watched two crickets on honeymoon. They didn't seem phased with me taking pictures at all. I will have to look at my picture again to see if the male is smaller.

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  13. Jill, Let me know if they were different sizes. It seems to me all the crickets I have ever seen have all been about the same size. Which State Park in PA are you in. I wanted to get up that way this fall but don't know if I will make it this year. Do the State parks up there have any restrictions on RV length or pets?

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    1. I looked at my picture and it still looks to me as if one cricket is smaller than the other. Maybe they're not crickets like I thought they were. I was camping in Raymond B. Winter State Park, near Mifflinburg, PA. I don't think there are restrictions on camper size, you just have to make sure when reserving that the site you choose is big enough for your rig. We camp in a 27 foot trailer, but the guy in the next site over had what appeared to be a 45 foot Class A motorhome. Of course not all sites will accommodate that. One entire loop of this campground is designated for pets. We like it there and camp there often.

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    2. Thanks for the information Jill. Those were probably crickets you saw. In the insect world, the male is usually small and insignificant, something like a regular marriage (grin).

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