...it was a perfect Tuesday night, late September, 68 degrees warm, with a tinge of fall in the breeze. Perfect for baseball...thats where I was, watching the Brewers beating the Reds. I love going during the week...small crowds...and where I sit, I'm almost always off to myself, the closest people about (5) sections away..."PEACEFUL"...That night I went alone, as I do most of the time...you see I'm pretty much a loner, sometimes I bring along "Lor", but not tonight. I'm enjoying myself...letting myself relax after work, and getting out of the house...and away from those invading mauraders in my basement. It was about the 6th Inning...slouched down in my seat...feet propped up against the bottom of the railing...when out of the corner of my eye something scurries from under my feet and off to the left...about the size of a mouse and the same color too!!!
Scared the crap out of me!!!
Could it be...are they stalking me...have they been watching me ever since I wounded their "Mighty" Mouse leader... I've only noticed them in the basement... Are they watching me where ever I go? Are they there at work, waiting for the best time to exact their revenge. They couldn't have followed me to the ball park, could they? ... but...
No!!! This was "UGLIER"...This thing must of come from Outer Space...with it's long spindly legs...all (6) of them...the front (2) looking like a giant pincer, ready to strike. It was "Huge", the biggest bug I've seen "UP" here, must be about 4 or 5 inches long... the fear subsided quickly... you see, "I like bugs"... I actually take pictures of "Bugs".
...so, what was I to do, let this magnificent specimen get away... not on your life!!!
I dumped my soda and ice...helped the little monster into his temporary clear plastic prison and we decided to become buddies...we had to be buddies...you only go to the ball game with your buddies...Right? Well, we watched the rest of the game together...he asked me for a lift...so, I said sure...is my yard, OK? When we got home, I released him to my backdoor screen... took a ton of pictures... and left him in peace... he must of liked it there, he stayed for over an hour, and it was time for me to recharge, so I bid him farewell and went to bed, he was gone in the morning... I was informed that he was probably a "Cicada", so maybe we'll see him again in (17) years.
...UPDATE...OCTOBER 14, 2005...UPDATE...
Stratu, my learned colleague from "down-under" informed me that my "bug buddie" was probably not a
"Cicada"...so I did a little research...well, I found a guy who did the research...his name is :
David R Maddison...Professor and Curator...Department of Entomology...University of Arizona
and he wrote:
Jim,
What you have is not a Cicada, but a Giant Water Bug, of the genus: Lethocerus
of the family: Belastomatidae. They have piercing mouthparts, that can give one, quite
a nasty poke, and which hurts alot.
So, Thank You...Stratu and David for participating in "Bug Class" today
2 comments:
Yikes!!!!!
How cool that you like bugs though.
I can relate, I have a few loner tendencies myself!
We have cicadas here in Sydney but they don't grow anywhere near that big. And they don't have big pincers like that either. My guess is that it ain't a cicada, unless Northern Hemisphere cicadas are freakishly larger than those of the Southern.
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