Here they come again... the love making windshield smashing annoying little creatures commonly refered as love bugs. Twice a year, they come and meet my windshield and my broom when I have to get rid of the corpse collection in the front of my house. Turns out they are not bugs, but insects. To be classified as bugs, insects need to have feeding tubes instead of chewing mouthparts, so the love bug which actually is a fly doesn't qualify. Male love bugs (to the left of the picture) are usually smaller than their female counterparts (right side of picture), so they get dragged around like unnecessary baggage. Females are probably larger due to their reproductive system which includes ovaries that contain 70% of the total protein in the love bug. These females might have to sacrifice development of other organs in favor of their reproductive system, thus the noticeably smaller heads and eyes. You can read more about these flies in this article from the University of Florida.

Just as I was testing my new camera, I find this green creature in the wall outside my home, stalking the little love bugs that are starting to appear in the high humidity tide that's happening here in Florida. Very interesting looking insect that is of course carnivorous, feeding on other insects. Either preying on insects, or in praying position, this animal for sure has some character. According to Wikipedia, the word mantis derives from the Greek word Mantes which means a prophet or fortune teller... I don't know if it is telling my fortune, but I bet it is telling the fortune of those poor bugs.

I found this cool looking blue winged (not the species) wasp on a flower very close to the Oleander Caterpillar in the previous entry. My guess is that it likes its dessert close to the dinner for its children. As far as the scientific name, it seems to be Eumenes fraternus commonly known as Potter wasp because of the hive it builds as home for its young. The "Eumenes" name might have come from a very well known legendary General or Commander who served under Alexander the Great and who kept money hidden in his tent refusing to lend enough to fund Alexander the Great's expeditions.

While scouting for trees to chop down and make into future bonsai, I noticed this bright orange (Home Depot's colors) spy at a local Lowes. This catterpillar moves really fast, and seems to do a lot of damage to plants as it (and its black spiked orange brothers and sisters) was devastating some at this Lowes. Sorry butterfly lovers, these caterpillars eventually graduate into intersting looking moths, and not into a beautiful butterfly.

This insect was on the screen of my porch. The fact that it was just there untouched by the lizard stroke me as interesting. Even though this insect looks very much like the Blister Beetle (which secretes a toxin comparable to cyanide), it is in fact very different from it. When it is in the larvae phase, it is a vicious carnivorous insect which searches for other insects to devour; this is very beneficial for your trees and plants since it gets rid of other insects that might harm them. When it graduates to an adult, it becomes a loving nectar and pollen insect; it stores the energy from these sugary foods to spend in its hard-earned lovemaking sessions. You can read an interesting article about the Soldier Beetle in this article by the Chicago Wilderness Magazine.

This insect is not a mosquito, but actually a fly (crane fly). In fact, they are also called mosquito eaters... but the truth is that these insects do not eat mosquitoes. As annoying as they are when they lay close to your front door only waiting for you to open it and enter into your home, they are harmless since they do not bite humans or any other mammals either, they eat nectar out of flowers. You can read more about Crane Flies from using this link to Wikipedia.