The Nature Photography Thread

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to see you on and nice frogs.

[Mandi0284]

I was thinking the last thing would hurt if it stung you. Is that a giant stinger on the back?! Do they sting? Never seen them before.

They really dont go after people, just cicadas. I have never seen them in CO before either, but now when I go hiking I see them all over. They are kinda pretty.
I imagine they might treaten to sting if you tried to touch them.

[CelestiHel]

I was thinking the last thing would hurt if it stung you. Is that a giant stinger on the back?! Do they sting? Never seen them before.

They can sting, but their stinger is no bigger than any other wasp (not that it's much comfort). That whole long back end is called their ovipositor...entirely designed for inserting eggs into prey. I bet there's youtube vids of it...pretty wild stuff!

[ConcinusMan]

Well, I wish they'd get to work on the cicadas around here. With the heat we've been having, they're driving me nuts with all that buzzing!

[EasternGirl]

We have cicada killers all over my yard every summer. My son is terrified of them even though I have explained that they are normally not aggressive toward people. I found out through google that the way to get rid of them is to flood them out of their holes in the ground. I don't mind cicadas...I like the noise they make.

[guidofatherof5]

They are an amazing insect. My kids collect their sheds(exoskeleton).

[ConcinusMan]

Wow. Creepy kids. And dad has a basement full of snakes...

Do they have a collection of rare, incurable diseases too?

The only thing missing is the black rain cloud over their heads, following them.

Of course, I kid.

I've never found their exoskeletons. Never any sign of the insects themselves either. Just the deafening racket they make. The cicada's in the northwest are very small though. About the size of your thumb nail. I used to find them in southern california and those were huge.

[guidofatherof5]

I love that my kids (all but Molly) have a strong connection with nature. I hope someday they will keep a few garters and share the experience with their kids. College first, then kids, then garters.

[ProXimuS]

I like the sound of cicadas, too. We've got lots of them around here. The only thing I see getting them is wasps and birds.

[Steveo]

Didn't get a picture, but I saw my first living, wild radix today. It darted into the brush and I dove in head first after it, but I couldn't find it. It was about 18" with a bright orange dorsal stripe. I don't have to work tomorrow so I might go back in the morning when I have more daylight. I had never been to that spot before and didn't cover even half of the floodplain before it got dark.