October 9, 2013 was the first heavy rain of the season. The kids loved everything about it from the feel of the cool weather to the smell outside, hoping it would be like that for Christmas Eve "our white Christmas."
The following day in the partly sunny creek we found...
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| Bullfrog tadpoles (Lithobates (Rana) catesbianus?) minnows, dragon fly larva |
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| Mayfly larva? |
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| Damselfly larva? |
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| Unidentified beetle |
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| Soldier Fly Larva (Stratiomys) |
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| Unidentified, possibly crane fly larva |
I once had one of the giant water bugs below, which I thought had died, dried out on a paper towel on the table to paint in my journal. After about 30 minutes, it started to walk off the table! It is capable of living out of the water for some time and is known at night to fly towards electric lights, which it must think is the moon, but why fly towards the moon? It is capable of eating creatures much larger than itself, even snakes. They have an extremely painful bite, but are not aggressive towards humans. They're also popular food in Thailand according to Wikipedia!
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| Giant Water Bug "Toebiter" (Belostomatidae) with its beak in a minnow |
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| Apparently they are cannibalistic! |
