Insect Sightings

[NAU Wildlife Society Admin]

Seen (or got bitten by ) any interesting insects lately? If so, please share with us your sighting/pictures of your encounter.

[Stinger]

Here is my post from the herp page, just trying to get this page going...

Again this is not a herp sighting exactly but since we do not have an arachnid area this will have to do. I was driving down my cousin's street yesterday when I saw a Desert Tarantula walking across the road, actually I almost ran him over...whew! it was a close call! Then today, I driving down my sister's street there was another Desert Tarantula walking across the street, this time I was not driving so in a Steve Irwin like move I yelled to my mom to stop and I was out of the car before it stopped...this little guy was not too pleased with me trying to pick him up, in fact he reared up and tried to bite me and then fell backwards!! So I decided to let him continue to cross the road and get to looking for his mate!! Very cool!!!!

[Stinger]

[Whiskey Jack]

Nice one Stinger! Either you got really close to take that picture, or that spider is really damn big!!! Either way, man, that spider has a beautiful pattern to it. What kind is it?

[Stinger]

Thanks Crow, yeah I was able to get pretty close...there were a couple of them on the ceiling of my parents patio. I am pretty sure it is an American House Spider.

[Stinger]

Sorry all, there is supposed to be a pic of a little scorpion that I took last weekend but I forgot to put on the web first...oops!!!

Anyways, the little guy was right outside my parent's front door!

pic coming soon!

[Whiskey Jack]

A scorpion.........man, no offense Stinger, but that is the one animal I have a healthy fear of. Usually I scratch my head in wonder when folks confess fears to snakes, bats, etc., but there is just something very alien looking about the scorpion, like its from a different planet or something, it is unsettling to my primate brain.
When I lived in Madera Canyon I used to sleep on the construction sight where my old buisness partner and I were building a Bed and Breakfast. Bark Scorpions were everywhere in this canyon! Sometimes I would see about 10 a day. Anyway, one cold morning I rolled off my cot and quickly reached for pants that were on the ground to throw them on and try to stay warm. Thankfully, the floor was covered in sawdust and what not, so I shook my pants out as I stood there to get the sawdust off them, and, as you've probably inferred by now, a scorpion dropped out of one of my pant legs and scuried off. That was a close call, and to this very day I still shake my pants out every time I put them on.

I'll save this other story for another time, but there was a woman who lived in the canyon and was bit by so many scorpions that she seemed to be no longer susceptable to their poison. But it's how she got the poison out of the bite that is the real interesting part of the story................

[Kitfox]

*nods* Indeed, scorpians are scary. Almost as bad as spiders. ~_^

Heh, well here's a photo I took yesterday. It's a bit blurry cause I'm not quite sure how to focus the camera at such close distances. Anyone have any pointers?

[Whiskey Jack]

Here is something kind interesting..........

TARANTULAS MAY CURE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY, HEART DISEASE

Scientists at the University of Buffalo have shown that tarantula venom can prevent human cells against damage from stretching. Stretch-sensitive cells in the heart are attuned to blood pressure and begin to malfunction when the pressure is high, leading to cardiac arrhythmias and congestive heart failure. The scientists experimented with scorpions, centipedes and spiders before discovering the compound (GsMTx4) in the venom of the Chilean rose tarantula, a large, harmless species sold in the United States as a pet. GsMTx4 reduced the chance of atrial fibrillation in rabbits and muscular dystrophy in mice. The scientists hope GsMTx4 can lead to drug treatments for conditions as diverse as muscular dystrophy, urinary incontinence and cardiac arrhythmias.

[Whiskey Jack]

So it is winter, I am walking around by Meteor Crater, the ground is frozen, the wind cuts me deep and the snow is falling lightly.....and what do I see.....a caterpillar! It was crawling around the dead stem of some kind of brush like nothing was going on at all. I almost froze out there, so I got to give respect to the caterpillar for withstanding those types of conditions. Life never ceases to amaze me.

[Stinger]

Continued from herp page!

We also found a couple of Centipedes, one of which was a blue/green color...never seen that color morph before, we also found a whole bunch of Desert Scorpions one of which was the absolute biggest I or Josh had ever seen!!

Pic of the big scorpion to come!

[NAU Wildlife Society Admin]

Please place all new insect sightings and pictures on the Insect Sightings Board! Thanks!