Category Archives: insects of mexico

What Bug is This?

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My neighbor came to borrow my drill and on the way back out to let him out of my gate, I chanced upon this insect. It was a very fast mover, but I was able to get one decent shot. Does anyone know what insect it is? It is about 6/16ths of an inch long.

It reminds me of a cow-killer ant but it is much smaller and redder as opposed to the black and orange of the cow-killer ants (which are actually a variety of female wingless wasps) I’ve seen here on my property. It is probably a red velvet ant but has different markings, is brilliant red and much smaller than ones I’ve seen before. Click HERE to see a huge Cow-killer ant I saw a few years ago and to learn more about them..

The Rest of the Story. . . . A Scorpion Adventure

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Since I’d just had the house fumigated less than two weeks ago, I was distressed to walk into the bathroom and discover a scorpion on the floor! Please click on the photos below to see and read about the rest of the story.

I quickly stomped on it with my shoe, but realized it was a soft rubber sole so stepped on it again, then ground it into the tile.
I then went to get a Kleenex to pick it up and flush it down the stool, only to discover. . . .
That although this is what I thought I had seen,
this is what I had actually stomped on.

Six on Saturday: Subtropical Garden Shots

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I moved from Boulder Creek, California to San Juan Cosala, Mexico fourteen years ago, trading one beautiful spot on Earth for another one.

For Six on Saturday

Moving House

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Moving House.

Did you notice that ring on the top of the storage space to the right of my poinsettia photos?  If so, you might have been curious about what it was.  Not just a ring of dirt from where I moved the pot.  This is what was going on! It reminds me of humans evacuating a hospital before a hurricane or after a disaster.  And yes, I did feel a bit guilty. But it looks like their backup plan worked just fine. (Click on the first photo to enlarge photos and read captions.)

Whe I returned from two months at the beach, I was amazed to find poinsettias blooming even more profusely than they had bloomed in december. Notice the ring on the top of the bodega to the right of the flowers?
It was partially soil from the bottom of the pot, but it was also hundreds of tiny ants
hurrying to move their eggs to safer ground.
Obviously, the bottom of the pot had been their nursery.
Now they moved in orderly twos
and ones,
every upwards.
following the line of the window edge
A few did not avoid the trap of a spider web.
But eventually, all had relocated in the light sconce above. When I went out six hours later, all was still. Not a sign of a tiny ant or egg, until I turned over the pot from the location I had moved it to. About 50 of the ants had re-relocated back to their former home. When I turned the pot sideways, they scurried around like mad, grabbing their assigned eggs and making off again. Hurriedly, I set the pot back down again. No time for a photo this time.

Little Creepers: Friday Foto Fun

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and sneezes.

 

My wifi went out last night and I couldn’t get all the photos posted.  Go HERE to see the rest of the photos if you aren’t bugged out already.

https://aroused.blog/2018/11/24/friday-foto-fun-little-things/

African Mask Bug: Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge

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IMG_1260
I found this fellow just outside my gate. He was about an inch and a half long. I’ve seen them here before but I can’t remember the name.  Rotated one turn to the right, it looks like an African mask.

Best for Last

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DSCN1325jdbphoto

 

Best for Last

Just as I’m ready to ingest
the morsel I consider best
and so picked out from all the rest
to be my last bite, savored with zest—
last memory of this gourmet fest—
from north and south and east and west,
descends each winged little pest,
radared in on diabolical quest
as though invited at my behest.
They put my appetite to the test,
settling as though to the nest,
their hairy feet intimately pressed
upon that morsel that I loved best.
I wave my hand over them, lest
they eat too much, then I confess
I guiltily consume the rest.

 

The prompt today is pest.