I'm from Ohio. There's a bug I used to find all the time as a kid that i never knew what it was. My older brother told me how to catch them by sticking a thin stem of crabgrass down its hole and waiting for it to try pushing it out, then you pull it out along with the worm. Its body looks like a nude colored grub with about 7 or so segments and a big bump on their back just behind the head, 6 or 8 legs placed under the front 1/4 of its body. Its head looks like an oversized black tick with huge, powerful mandibles. They live in small holes just wide enough for their bodies (4-5mm) in clay. The hole entrance doesn't have a mound like those of ants. And they are about 20-25mm long and highly aggressive. As a mean kid, we used to have them fight each other and other bugs (grasshoppers, pincher bugs, . These lil guys (who we called brauma bull worms because of the bump) would literally tear anything in half. But they never ate them. Any idea what these are? Or maybe larvae of something else?
What's the deal with fruit flies? They seem to spontaneously appear out of no where. They must come from some sort of larvae. Where do fruit flies come from?
1. I've read that it was once famously proven that a bee cannot fly, that bee flight is physically impossible because of the insect's tiny wings and huge body. So how do bees overcome their body weight with those tiny wings of theirs?
2. I've always heard that if we ever have a global nuclear war, c*ckroaches will be the sole survivors. Is there any truth to this? Are they resistant to radioactivity, and if so how/why did this evolve?
3. Have you ever eaten an insect? If so, what was it like?
Thanks!!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: horakhti73,
I was in Ohio the past few days and there were MASSES of mayflys dead around light poles one morning. What could possibly be the purpose of their existance in such quanties? Are their high numbers due to human infulence on predators or their enviroment?
Thanks for these questions Indeed bumble bees were always thought to be a miracle in flight - obviously they do it by sheer force of wing beat, to get that body up in the air; maybe an aviation expert can provide the technical details??? Roaches are very versatile and adapt extremely quickly to various environmental conditions. I think the reason is they live in very dangerous habitats full of bacteria and fungi etc. They simply need to be resistant to a lot of different compounds! Whether or not they would be able to survive a nuclear blast is debatable (no-one has ever tested that to my knowledge), but I tell you what: they'd be on top of my list when it comes to devising a strategy to survive even that! Yes - eating bugs is far more common in the world than you think; to be quite honest, scientists have only just started to appreciate the value of invertebrate meat: low in cholesterol and low in fat - high in protein! If you think about it carefully you'll realise that invertebrates are very much part of the delicacy-list in most countries of the world: think crayfish, lobster, mussels, crabs, shell fish.... you name it! In New Zealand there is a wonderful big grub of a longhorn beetle (huhu beetle) that has been eaten traditionally by the Maori people; of course I have had a go at these grubs and they are not bad at all; proteinaceous like peanut butter... Have fun Ruud The Bugman
I reckon they are the larvae (grubs) of tiger beetles - indeed: very sophisticated predators of anything that walks by their hole in the ground. The bump on their back has a few hooks, so it can wrigle up and down in the burrow! Look them p on the internet - you'll be surprised! I LOVE hem! Ruud te Bugman
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Originally posted by glenclaytor: I'm from Ohio. There's a bug I used to find all the time as a kid that i never knew what it was. My older brother told me how to catch them by sticking a thin stem of crabgrass down its hole and waiting for it to try pushing it out, then you pull it out along with the worm. Its body looks like a nude colored grub with about 7 or so segments and a big bump on their back just behind the head, 6 or 8 legs placed under the front 1/4 of its body. Its head looks like an oversized black tick with huge, powerful mandibles. They live in small holes just wide enough for their bodies (4-5mm) in clay. The hole entrance doesn't have a mound like those of ants. And they are about 20-25mm long and highly aggressive. As a mean kid, we used to have them fight each other and other bugs (grasshoppers, pincher bugs, . These lil guys (who we called brauma bull worms because of the bump) would literally tear anything in half. But they never ate them. Any idea what these are? Or maybe larvae of something else?
They do EVERYTHING in numbers: If you want to maximise your chances of successful reproduction, a lot of males and females will have to find eachother n a hurry... so what do you do: you SYNCHRONISE the emergence of all the flying adults, so they can all meet and have a "party". Another thing they do in numbers is: fly to an attractive street light; but they do this because they confuse that street light with the light of the moon or a distant star (the original navigation beacons in the sky, before humans invented artificial lights!) Keep up th "Buggin'"! Ruud the Bugman
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Originally posted by jreednet: I was in Ohio the past few days and there were MASSES of mayflys dead around light poles one morning. What could possibly be the purpose of their existance in such quanties? Are their high numbers due to human infulence on predators or their enviroment?
Yep. I just looked them up after you mentioned the tiger beetles. Thanks. Noone has ever been able to tell me what they were before.
On your show you mentioned bees being deaf. Does that go for all bees? Seems they go after lawn mowers alot. I always assumed it was the noise that got to them. Is it the fumes, vibrations, or just that people seldom get close to them until they do chores that involve exploring every part of their land?
I think you are meaning VINEGAR FLIES? Those small brown-ish flies with red eyes? These creatures do a brilliant job in re-cycling dead and slightly rotten fruits and vegetables - any succulent plant material with a bit of sugar in it will do! The larvae feed on that decaying fruit and pupate next to it. When the adults emerge they sniff the air (they have great chemo-receptors on their antennae!) and fly straight to the nearest source of fermenting fruit!... Sometimes they even mistake a good glass of red wine for fermented fruit - can you work out why?
... You are absolutely right: wine is made from fermented grapes - BINGO! Hope this helps; even the tiny vinegar flies are wonderful study objects - in fact, most of our genetic knowledge comes from playing with these small flies! Cheerio Ruud te Bugman
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Originally posted by goodfield: Hi Ruud!
What's the deal with fruit flies? They seem to spontaneously appear out of no where. They must come from some sort of larvae. Where do fruit flies come from?
Yeah - I like mntids - they ar so human like the way they look a you! But to be quite honest I really do not have a favourite bug at all; Each mini-creature as a great story to tell, and that is really what I am most interested in: the stuff bugs can tech us about the way we should look after the world! Take a close look at some of the spiders we have on our planet; or these giant crickets and stick insects... I love'm all!!!! Good bug hunting! Ruud he Bugman
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Originally posted by thecrazybug: What is your favorite bug? Mine is the praying mantis. I like it's extreme speed and it's powerful forelegs.
Thank you SO MUCH for such a great show!!! My son and I have started a bug collection (after finding what we thought and were told may be a new species....it's not....Eurhin Magnificus...BEAUTIFUL!!!!) We are thrilled by your show and don't miss an episode! My question is....why is it that when we mounted a ladybug (using Elmer's glue, not pins tho') it lost it's color...it turned brownish black within a week? Also, do any bugs make good pets (even temporarily)? Finally, is there a website or book you know of that gives recommendations for finding bugs....we go out to the woods and rock lands, etc. around our house and I'm frankly STUMPED that there are times we don't find may bugs except for ants and such!!!!
Oh yeah, and how crazy are you letting the bugs bite you!!!!!?
Thanks again for a GREAT show! I promote it to all of my son's classmates and friends! Joanna (& Max)
Ah... yes... bees are indeed deaf, BUT they can detect vibrations very well; and in terms of lawn mowers: the exhaust fumes contain heaps of carbon dioxide... that terrible compound in the breath of predatory mammal that are out to steal the bee's honey!!! No wonder they chase a lawnmower around the grass field!
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Originally posted by glenclaytor: Yep. I just looked them up after you mentioned the tiger beetles. Thanks. Noone has ever been able to tell me what they were before.
On your show you mentioned bees being deaf. Does that go for all bees? Seems they go after lawn mowers alot. I always assumed it was the noise that got to them. Is it the fumes, vibrations, or just that people seldom get close to them until they do chores that involve exploring every part of their land?
Hi Ruud, I am a huge fan of the show and I must say I am an even huge...er fan of insects and entomology. My question is a pretty simple one. I was wondering if there are any insects that sort of give you the creeps?? Like I said, I'm a big bug freak, but those giant orb weavers you let crawl on your face would be a bit too far, for me.
Hi Joanna and Max - thank you for your nice comments! Last question first: I am right now filming in Fairbanks, Alaska, where (today) we were hoping to shoot those famous clouds of mosquitoes around the lakes (you know - the ones that are always mentioned in the papers and the locals complain about?) well... the whole filmcrew plus 6 volunteers were out today and guess how many we found?
ONE! Yes, just one measly mosquito...
Goes to show: you can never count on finding a certain bug, even if you know exactly where to go! Some bug discolor when they die, because certain enzymes in their body will keep on living and attack the body from the inside: example: predators have an enzyme to digest meat (their prey), but when they die that enzyme often keeps being active for a while. Solution: put them in the deepfreeze to stop the enzyme activity. Good pets? big spiders, roaches, large herbivorous crickets, scorpions, etc... but, as stated in a similar question a week ago: always best to set them free again afer a while. Websites about finding bugs? Have't got a clue in the USA or anywhere else, but... there are numerous entomological societies where bug enthusiasts get together once-in-a-while and go hunting for bugs; maybe you can search the web for your nearest entomological society and find out from the locals where to go! Yes... I am slightly crazy, agreeing to all these stunts and I am naturally far too curious for my own health, when it comes to holding bugs and interacting wih them! But hey - that's the only way to learn! So nice to get your message - keep on hunting and learning... it's great fun! Ruud te Bugman
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Originally posted by jrkats: Thank you SO MUCH for such a great show!!! My son and I have started a bug collection (after finding what we thought and were told may be a new species....it's not....Eurhin Magnificus...BEAUTIFUL!!!!) We are thrilled by your show and don't miss an episode! My question is....why is it that when we mounted a ladybug (using Elmer's glue, not pins tho') it lost it's color...it turned brownish black within a week? Also, do any bugs make good pets (even temporarily)? Finally, is there a website or book you know of that gives recommendations for finding bugs....we go out to the woods and rock lands, etc. around our house and I'm frankly STUMPED that there are times we don't find may bugs except for ants and such!!!!
Oh yeah, and how crazy are you letting the bugs bite you!!!!!?
Thanks again for a GREAT show! I promote it to all of my son's classmates and friends! Joanna (& Max)
rabies is a disease of certain species of animals (including humans!) it is transmitted by bites: say: a bat bites a human and when the skin is broken, the rabies-infected saliva will trasfer from the bat to the human; animals fight with eachother all the time, so rabies is transmitted that way within the population. Ticks like mammals (and humans) because hey have warm, red blood... and that is a very nice source of protein, so the tick female can form eggs. A Mayfly is an insect that has a long larval life cycle under water: it is a grub with gills, so it can take oxygen out of a stream. It is usually predatory, feeding on all sorts of small invertebrates. When the insect has gone through its larval life cycle it emerges as a flying adult (looking a little bit like a feeble dragonfly) to take to the air, find a mate and reproduce, by laying its eggs in the water again. Have a look on the internet for more details! Cheerio Ruud the Bugman
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Originally posted by bluegill49: Hi Ruud! How do animals get rabies?
Thank you for your kind comments Look, it's all very smple, really: If you sudy the creature well and see all its moves and what makes it scared, etc., you learn exactly how to handle it. It is not great science: some people are afraid of dogs and don't know how to deal with a jumpy or barking dog... but once you get confidence in such a matter you can quickly judge if the dog means to be nasty or whether it is all "bluff"; same thing with bugs, really; the more you handle them he easier it is; Ther is one type of creature I treat with great respect (pobably because I have not worked them out as yet!) the giant, poisonous centipedes.I have been "done-over" by one, once... and will ever forget that... EVER! Cheers Ruud the Bugman
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Originally posted by holdthepickle: Hi Ruud, I am a huge fan of the show and I must say I am an even huge...er fan of insects and entomology. My question is a pretty simple one. I was wondering if there are any insects that sort of give you the creeps?? Like I said, I'm a big bug freak, but those giant orb weavers you let crawl on your face would be a bit too far, for me.
Hey, all you Buggin' people! Thanks so much for yur quesions and comments tonight... Gotta get something to eat now (no... not bugs!) and chat again next week... See ya Ruud the Bugman
Hey Ruud I have a question. In my house i noticed that there are these insects or bugs in my house. Their body looks like it is made of mud or clay. It's head looks like a worm. Whenever I try to catch it, it's head goes back in it's body. What is this insect or bug ??? How do they get in the house ???
Please tell me more about lady bugs. I know they eat aphids. Do they eat other bugs as well or is that all they eat. Also when I was watching your program this time I missed what you said about temperature and its effects. I heard breifly that at 55 lady bugs can do something but I missed it.
I need to know the name of this herbavoric insect that lives up here in the north east of the US. It has a small body structer and a grasshopper shaped head and antenae and madibles. The insect is a dirt brown color uptill the abdomen that is a bright yellow tip. This insect doesn't only look like a grasshopper entirely; its body is rather small and all its legs are even in size and it seems to have some sort of family/social structure. I encountered these little grass eaters in a pile of grass I dumped from my bag lawn mower. It's a amazing to think that a pile of fresh cut grass could attract so much activity. These little insects moved about in the pile of grass like it was their little house, looking for food most likely. I observed them for quite some time. As the grass lost its life the insects dissapeared as quickly as they came. Who are these elusive little guys?!
I know it's kind of late, but I missed out on this week's Buggin'. I did read that it involved daddy-long legs. Two questions. Do they bite? And do they live up to the given myth that they are the most venomous spiders? Thanks.
I have a fair idea what it could be, but am not sure! You have to remember that I know the fauna of New Zealand quite well - and Europe isn't unknown to me either, but the US bugs are still very new to me ... so: take a digital picture and show me what it looks like; In te mean time look on the internet for case moths or case worms or bag
