So givemeone and I have noticed a flying bug taking up residence in an old carpenter bees nest's on our pergola.
We installed a small pond (3,000 gallons) last summer and this summer I've seen a great variation of bugs that I never have seen in my entire life and can not identify for the life of me.
This one....is the one in the pergola who and it's mate loves the butterfly weed in the garden.
Should they stay or should they go?
And what they heck are they?
(http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/6166/img0449k.jpg) (http://img685.imageshack.us/i/img0449k.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
Hope all is well with everyone.
Best,
Sarita and Doug
Mud dauber...enjoy!
Scott
Looks like a cikada killer to me I like them. I have never seen one attack any bees but I could be wrong. I have heard they cant sting.
A Great Golden Digger Wasp, will drink pollen and kills crickets to feed young. Make burrows in the ground.
Great photograph!
Thanks!
Hope everyone stays cool this weekend.
Sarita
yep, great golden digger.
Quote from: Highlandsfreedom on July 10, 2010, 12:29:49 AM
Looks like a cikada killer to me I like them. I have never seen one attack any bees but I could be wrong. I have heard they cant sting.
Cicada Killers absolutely do sting, got one in my Fedex van once, it was on the seat back when I got back in, didn't know it was there until I leaned back, HOLY &#%@+!*& did that hurt, I still have a circle about the size of a quarter that is darker than the surrounding area, and every once in a while it itches unmercifully for 15 minutes or so, and this happened in '94.
"Cicada Killers absolutely do sting, got one in my Fedex van once, it was on the seat back when I got back in, didn't know it was there until I leaned back, HOLY &#%@+!*& did that hurt, I still have a circle about the size of a quarter that is darker than the surrounding area, and every once in a while it itches unmercifully for 15 minutes or so, and this happened in '94."
I read this to givemeone and he keeps saying..."'94?"... "did you say'94?"
He's a law enforcement officer, former service man...he's been gassed, maced, thrown in a ring for boxing all in the spirit of training and thankfully they gave him the choice on "what it feels like to be tazed."
If you are still feeling the itch from '94 that's some pretty bad stuff.
I've seen the mud daubers in the yard since...they pretty much leave us alone.
After reading this...my actions will be in kind. ;-)
Hope all is well with everyone.
Best,
Sarita
Great photo!
Quote from: saritacoleman on July 25, 2010, 12:18:21 AM
"Cicada Killers absolutely do sting, got one in my Fedex van once, it was on the seat back when I got back in, didn't know it was there until I leaned back, HOLY &#%@+!*& did that hurt, I still have a circle about the size of a quarter that is darker than the surrounding area, and every once in a while it itches unmercifully for 15 minutes or so, and this happened in '94."
I read this to givemeone and he keeps saying..."'94?"... "did you say'94?"
He's a law enforcement officer, former service man...he's been gassed, maced, thrown in a ring for boxing all in the spirit of training and thankfully they gave him the choice on "what it feels like to be tazed."
If you are still feeling the itch from '94 that's some pretty bad stuff.
I've seen the mud daubers in the yard since...they pretty much leave us alone.
After reading this...my actions will be in kind. ;-)
Hope all is well with everyone.
Best,
Sarita
Yes, it was 1994, and it still itches sometimes, not every day, and there seems to be no common denominator to when it will itch, but I keep back scratchers in most of the places I frequent in the house, if it happens while I am not home, you can see me backed up to a tree or the corner of a wall, it is unbelievably aggravating. I asked a question many days ago about bee venom being different from one specie to another, because I got nailed between the toes walking in the yard a couple weeks ago, and aside from the initial pain and burn, it was forgotten in about 2 minutes, no swelling, no itching, but that was a honeybee. Yellow jacket stings swell very minimally, but that Cicada Killer did a number on me. Strangely, that was the last one I have seen. I used to find them all the time while doing field work in entomology. Usually hibernating specimens that were found in decaying wood while searching for beetles. They are huge and look pretty intimidating, even when they are sleeping. Come to think of it, I can't even be sure they were hibernating, maybe they were just finishing their metamorphosis. Still, they look mean and scary.
After looking at the page that AllenF put up on another thread about European hornets and cicada killers, I am now baffled. What I have been calling a cicada killer after all these years appears to not be, but what stung me wasn't a European hornet either. It had the same markings as a cicada killer, but the size does not match. What I had found in rotted logs, and what stung me in '94 was all of 2 1/2" long and it's abdomen was as big around as your pinky. Now I don't know what the hell it was. All these years cussing cicada killers, and apparently they weren't to blame.... :?
Livefreeordie, thanks for sharing that insight. At the risk of over-reaching, I think there is a life lesson in there for all of us....
http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera_Great_Golden_Digger_Wasp.htm (http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera_Great_Golden_Digger_Wasp.htm)
That wasn't it either. This is the problem with common names, whether it be plants, insects, or even mushrooms. I swear some where way back in time, like the 70s, I saw a picture of the bee and it said it was a Cicada Killer, but that could have just been a misused common name, I wish I could remember the scientific name, at least the family. Now I am on a mission to figure out what it was, so the next time I get that maddening itch I can cuss the proper insect.