They're coming!!!!

[Selena_Kitt]

They are dangerous around here to pets at times.

Usually dogs. They eat them to excess, actually. They can choke, they get sick . . .

OMG... I'm going to be sick...

BLECH

 

[Fallenfromgrace]

OMG I am soooooooooooooooooo sorry I opened this thread!!!!!!

*SHUDDER*

can we run and hide somewhere?...PLEASE?!

*gags*

 

[S-Des]

OMG... I'm going to be sick...

BLECH

You're cute when you're being all girly.

 

[kiten69]

OMG... I'm going to be sick...

BLECH

You are a true masochist Selena. You were sorry you opened this thread...yet you keep coming back for more.

 

[kiten69]

can we run and hide somewhere?...PLEASE?!

*gags*

You can hide right over here, sweets.

 

[S-Des]

You are a true masochist Selena. You were sorry you opened this thread...yet you keep coming back for more.

I think we'll be OK if we can stay away from the worm talk.

 

[wehstar]

I was talking to Kiten, who's coming up next weekend. I asked if they had the cicadas down there, and was surprised when she indicated she had no idea what I was talking about. I was amused to inform her that we have this giant insect that comes out of the ground by the billions once every 17 years...and it's coming this week. If you've never heard of them, here's the info. It's possibly the strangest reproduction cycle in the entire animal (insect) kingdom.

The northern Illinois brood, which will emerge in late May 2007, has a reputation for the largest emergence of cicadas known anywhere. This is due to the size of the emergence and the research and subsequent reporting over the years by entomologists Monte Lloyd and Henry Dybas at the Field Museum in Chicago. During the 1956 emergence, they counted an average of 311 nymphal emergence holes per square yard of ground in a forested floodplain near Chicago. This translates to 1½ million cicadas per acre. In upland sites, they recorded 27 emergence holes per square yard, translating to about 133,000 per acre. This number is more typical of emergence numbers but is still a tremendous number of insects. For comparison, a city block contains about 3½ acres. When the cicadas start dying and dropping from the trees later in the spring, there are large numbers on the ground, and the odor from their rotting bodies is noticeable. In 1990, there were reports from people in Chicago having to use snow shovels to clear their sidewalks of the dead cicadas.

Cicadas are sometimes mistakenly called locusts. In actuality, they are not at all related to locusts, which are a kind of grasshopper. The male cicadas “sing” during the day to attract females.

Their "singing" is basically non-stop noise. They're harmless, but make virtually everything outside a nightmare. The last big migration was when I was 7. I still remember the trees being completely covered and not being able to take a step in the backyard without a loud "squish". Welcome to Illinois, Kiten.

http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/photolib/lib17/inset/dogday_cicada_seen_head_on.jpg

I saw a documentary on this about a year ago. Funnily enough I was telling someone in work all about it a few days ago. They didn't find it as fascinating as I did though.

 

[kiten69]

I think we'll be OK if we can stay away from the worm talk.

EWWW...*finds a happy place*

 

[S-Des]

I saw a documentary on this about a year ago. Funnily enough I was telling someone in work all about it a few days ago. They didn't find it as fascinating as I did though.

As Rob pointed out, I think it's an incredible phenomenon. How they could have evolved like this is just amazing. People get wigged because they're insects, but they truly are fascinating. I'm just glad they don't bite. If it was swarms of praying mantises, I'd be hiding with Kiten. Who am I kidding...I'll be hiding with her no matter what. It's a fun place.

 

[kinkikittyn]

Italy has cicadas too. They seem to mostly be in the big pine trees. The pine trees are very cool...they are shaped like huge umbrellas.
I never ran into any problems with big swarms of them so maybe they aren't the perodical type. I found the singing/buzzing to be annoying at first but after a while it was actually soothing. Funny though, I never saw one close up.

 

[rgraham666]

If it was swarms of praying mantises, I'd be hiding with Kiten.

I used to keep praying mantises as pets. I'd sit them on the palm of my hand and feed them moths and such with my other hand. Never got bitten, snagged stabbed or anything. I think they're the most beautiful of insects.

If you want to see something really interesting, put a ladybug on a rose bush infested with aphids. I did that once. The damn thing ate aphids for two hours hours straight and never even stopped to belch.

 

[kiten69]

If you want to see something really interesting, put a ladybug on a rose bush infested with aphids. I did that once. The damn thing ate aphids for two hours hours straight and never even stopped to belch.

Now ladybugs I can handle, they are indeed interesting to watch.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

You are a true masochist Selena. You were sorry you opened this thread...yet you keep coming back for more.

*nods* I know... *covering eyes and peeking through fingers*

 

[S-Des]

I used to keep praying mantises as pets. I'd sit them on the palm of my hand and feed them moths and such with my other hand. Never got bitten, snagged stabbed or anything. I think they're the most beautiful of insects.

If you want to see something really interesting, put a ladybug on a rose bush infested with aphids. I did that once. The damn thing ate aphids for two hours hours straight and never even stopped to belch.

HAHAHA, nice! Unfortunately, I know two people who've been bitten by Mantises. I've always loved them, but have a healthy respect for their ability to inflict pain. It's not the kind of nip you get from little bugs...they'll take a chunk out of you. I know they're not aggressive (at least towards us), but knowing what they can do, I have to admit I'd be freaked by a swarm of them.

 

[kiten69]

*nods* I know... *covering eyes and peeking through fingers*

Come sit by me Mrs. Kitty...I'll make you forget all about those big, bad bugs!

 

[kinkikittyn]

Now ladybugs I can handle, they are indeed interesting to watch.

Ladybugs are great for organic gardens! I was always glad to see them.

my science teacher in HS said they were "anti-geotrophic" which meant the would crawl up rather than down...was he pulling my leg? I do know they climb up your finger and then take off...

 

[S-Des]

Now ladybugs I can handle, they are indeed interesting to watch.

[Threadjack] OK, is it true that the orange ones are bad? I can't remember if they carry diseases, or if they bite. I know my daughter loves them, but I had heard one kind wasn't really lady bugs, just looked similar...but you were supposed to stay away from them. [/threadjack]

 

[Selena_Kitt]

[Threadjack] OK, is it true that the orange ones are bad? I can't remember if they carry diseases, or if they bite. I know my daughter loves them, but I had heard one kind wasn't really lady bugs, just looked similar...but you were supposed to stay away from them. [/threadjack]

they're japanese beetles...

(you have to know your enemy!)

<---doesn't even like ladybugs...

 

[impressive]

they're japanese beetles...

(you have to know your enemy!)

<---doesn't even like ladybugs...

I don't like them, either. They STINK! Blech! Ptui!

 

[rgraham666]

they're japanese beetles...

(you have to know your enemy!)

<---doesn't even like ladybugs...

Yeah. And as I recall they're not good for your garden either.

 

[slyc_willie]

Cicadas I can handle, even in the summer here, where they are everywhere. Ladybugs, spiders, cateprillars, no problem.

But put a roach in my lap and I act like I just lost the last thirty years . . . .

*shudder*

 

[kinkikittyn]

Cicadas I can handle, even in the summer here, where they are everywhere. Ladybugs, spiders, cateprillars, no problem.

But put a roach in my lap and I act like I just lost the last thirty years . . . .

*shudder*

Ditto...
Gawd...what about the huge FLYING cockroaches!!! My cat used to catch and EAT them at night and leave the pieces lying around... urrp!
needless to say I don't live in THAT part of the country anymore...

 

[kiten69]

Ditto...
Gawd...what about the huge FLYING cockroaches!!! My cat used to catch and EAT them at night and leave the pieces lying around... urrp!
needless to say I don't live in THAT part of the country anymore...

Don't ever go to Madagascar, they hiss!

 

[S-Des]

Don't ever go to Madagascar, they hiss!

They had a giveaway last year at 6 Flags that involved eating a certain number of Madigascar Hissing Cockroaches in a minute. Somehow, I could think of a better way to earn $40.

 

[kinkikittyn]

Don't ever go to Madagascar, they hiss!

yeah, and I'd run. I've heard that they have been kept as pets!

"Honey, I going out to walk the cockroach!"