Cutting Room Submissions!

[aggienaut]

   This week's theme in ljshootout is "wildlife." It just so happens that I'm quite fond of wildlife. In particular, insects seem to just come to me.

   And so I present to you, insects landing on my hand, a continuing series

Part I (Previous to the allowable time window for this prompt)

(1)



I met a bumblebee on the beach
Oregon Coast
28th August, 2008


(2)



Giant dragonfly
Redwood National Forest, Northern California
3rd September, 2008

Part II (recent)


(3)



Yellowjacket (Vespula germanica)
8th July, 2009


(4)



Golden Umbrella Wasp (Polistes aurifer)
8th July, 2009


(4)



Keyhole Wasp (Trypoxylon sp?)
26th August, 2009


(5)

Now this one warrants a few words. Yesterday I came across the (relatively) rare and beautiful Tarantula Hawk wasp:



These things hunt tarantulas, hence the name (for those of you from far and wide, I don't know if everyone knows what a tarantula is, but its a hairy spider the size of a plate).

The sting of a tarantula hawk has been described as having "an immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one’s ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations." and the lovely Shmidt Sting Pain Index I blogged about recently rates it the second most painful insect sting in the world. So knowing this, I of course had to have it pose for the traditional photograph on my hand.

It was running along the ground at the time so I put my hand in front of her and she hopped aboard! Unfortunately she was still moving pretty fast so I only got one kind of blurry picture before she ran all the way up my arm and disappeared behind my neck before taking flight.



Tarantula Hawk
27 August, 2009

Not the best picture but it at least gives an idea of the wasp's size.


Ants! (are also wildlife)

(6)



Behemoth ant (species unknown)
27 August, 2009

Now to appreciate the size of this giant fricken ant consider that tiny thing above it is a "normal" sized ant. Also that thing they're on is a regular garden hose. Picture an ant half the width of a garden hose. It was humongous.


(7)



View LARGE! Note that its a veritable carpet of ants!!!

27th August, 2009

See also, in video!


(8)

One last bonus. This isn't technically wildlife I guess becaues it's obviously domesticated whatever the hell it is:



Unholy Beast Of Some Kind
27th August, 2009

Is it just me or is this thing totally creepy!? I think it's because it looks kind of human ... just enough to be totally in the uncanny valley. Also it looks sinister, like it's staring into your soul ... with contempt!

Comments

[jfargo.livejournal.com]

Alpaca! I LOVE those things! They're so cute, and furry, and awesome!

Or, if that's not an alpaca, it's related to them in some form or another.

[drcuriosity]

It is a harbinger of the alpaca lips.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Ahahahahah

[pouncing-tiger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's either a Llama or Alpaca from the Andes in South America. Welcome to the New World...

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

So... it's not an emmissary of cthulhu?

[pouncing-tiger.livejournal.com]

P.S. Someone gave it a Poodle cut... =P

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if its hair naturally grew like that or what

[kittenboo.livejournal.com]

their hair gets sheared like a sheep, and can be used as yarn. Either someone was just having some fun, or they had only done half of the shearing job before snapping the picture :)

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Well I snapped the picture, and there was no one in the process of shearing in sight. I guess they just did it to be silly. (:

[a-joyous-life.livejournal.com]

WOW! You're more brave than I would have been. The tarantula wasp is scary huge. This is a great and unique post series. Thanks, and best wishes on not being stung.

Tarantula Wasp!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (:

I wish I got a better picture of that thing. It was a beautiful metallic blue with orange wings. Definately made my day (:

[vakratunda.livejournal.com]

Could also be a vicuna.

Camelids do hold humanity in contempt. Many animals do. Wouldn't you?

I mean, monkeys?




.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Haha yes, yes I would.

[a-kosmos.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that bees went to the beach. Interesting. The tarantula hawk is terrifying! Glad you didn't get stung!

bees and the beach

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Sometimes even bees want to go bum around the beach. To wit:



(:

[ashmedai.livejournal.com]

Is it just me or is this thing totally creepy!?

That was my thought before I read the paragraph under the pic - what a weird face! And the eyes! For some reason I was reminded of the sheep in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass". O_o

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Seriously staring into my soul. Thing made me uncomfortable.

[wildcelticrose.livejournal.com]

Is that...

No... I can't be...

A llama with a POODLE CUT?

That is wrong on so many levels.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Lolz :D

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I really, really hate bugs!

bugs

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I was gonna say, you're pretty good with the macro shots I was surprised you didn't macro up some good bugs this week. (:

Re: bugs

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Naaaah, bugs freak me out too much...

[twirlandswirl.livejournal.com]

Hm, I've stepped on a yellow jacket, barefoot... wonder if that augments the 2.0?

Wonder where jellyfish fall on this.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I've heard hellyfish are on par with honeybees.


Yeah the location of a sting probably affects the pain.. I know face shots from honeybees are soo much worse than anywhere else.

[ajjones.livejournal.com]

There's an eerie intelligence in those devil eyes.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

indeed!!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

:D I was soooo disappointed when I got home and realized neither of my pictures of the tarantula hawk were sharp enough for use. ):

[trashcan-blues.livejournal.com]

LOL! I love the llama/alpaca photo... seriously I love those things - it does look less than happy with that hair cut though lol...

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

oh maybe that's its deal -- its just sitting there thinking "FML!!"

[trashcan-blues.livejournal.com]

lol yeah no doubt... although it does look quite comfortable how it's sitting lol - it's llama loafing :-P

...they use llamas and alpacas here in sheep paddocks though to scare away the foxes...

/random fact of the day

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

silly -- guard alpacas!!

Also I believe that would be "llama lloafing" (:

[painindesire.livejournal.com]

That alpaca is channeling Willie Mays and/or Pres. Lincoln!

Also, that tarantula wasp is very scary! :-( I do not approve.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Noo the tarantula wasp is cuute (:

[crushdmb.livejournal.com]

omg. i grew up around tarantulas (we used to catch them and pet them), and i've heard of those tarantula hawks, but have never seen one. i am not easily freaked out by bugs (i grew up in the middle of the desert, i've seen some buuuugs, and we used to catch scorpions too loool), but HOLY CRAPOLA!

Tarantulas

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

:D

Yeah tarantulas are fun. Last year I went on a walk with my mum, who is a science teacher, with the goal of "finding a tarantula to have as a class pet." I don't think any of us were really sure we'd find one because while they ARE about they're not exactly something you run into every time you go for a walk. But sure enough we came across exactly one cute little (big) tarantula trundling down the dusty trail. Scooped him into a tupperware and he started a new life as a class pet. (:


You can pet them? I've always avoided that because I thought their hairs were barbed and designed to get stuck in things as a defense mechanism.

Re: Tarantulas

[crushdmb.livejournal.com]

I don't remember ever being hurt by them. I don't know that we really "pet" them in the literal sense, but we let them climb all over us and stuff.

Re: Tarantulas

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Also I think someone dropped one once and it broke apart (!!) ): so we were always careful with them. ):

Re: Tarantulas

[crushdmb.livejournal.com]

d'aw :( That never happened, thankfully. We used to scare the shit out of our Girl Scout leader, who hated anything with legs. LOL. "LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!"

"AAAAAAH!'

Us kids: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Re: Tarantulas

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

In elementary school I used to catch honeybees in my hands to scare people .... and now here I am hahaha :D

Re: Tarantulas

[emosnail.livejournal.com]

Because it was posted as a comment to my comment and not to your comment you may not have been notified of this comment by me mum which is essentially directed at you. (:

Re: Tarantulas

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Well, it was fall, like perhaps October, and I knew that the male tarantulas would be on the prowl. So I announced that I was going out to catch a tarantula. We actually came across two. We caught the first one. When we found the second, I was disappointed because he was missing a leg. I figured it would be less irresponsible to take home the 7 legged spider than the one with all his legs. But by that time I didn't want to mess with nature any more than we already had so I left Mister Seven Legs behind.

Re: Tarantulas

[crushdmb.livejournal.com]

that's a great story :) we were always (well...usually...we were kids) careful and let them go. though i had friends who caught and kept tarantulas (and lizards and scorpions etc) as pets. did you know scorpions glow under black light?

[crushdmb.livejournal.com]

PS I LOVE DRAGONFLIES!!!!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

The dragonfly pictured was HUUGE!!

[colt-4-5.livejournal.com]

wow that would be quite the sting! I've been stung many a time growing up and will never forget the pain.. Its hard to imagine something more painful than that!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

By bees?

Yeah it's definitely hard to visualize the sting of the tarantula hawk, the descriptions of it are quite.. impressive though. I'm picturing it literally feeling like someone just stabbed you.

[colt-4-5.livejournal.com]

I've been stung by a bumble bee, yellow jackets more than once, and these things that are a little bigger than a yellow jacket but they are black with white tails.. They either had white bands or a white tail, cant remember, but I had accidently upset a nest of those things and I had several after me. I think I had around 10 to 20 stings from them. I have a scar on my right leg from one too. I think it may have bit me as well to leave a scar? Either way, it still hurt like crazy! It gives you a new resepct for them when you piss off a nest full of them!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

hmmm do they look like yelloyjackets otherwise? Bald faced hornets maybe?

[colt-4-5.livejournal.com]

I'd say bald face hornets. Nasty creatures they were! OUCH!