Striped Beetle Bug

What do you think of this big guy? He's about an inch and a half long, and he's got huge moose antlers. Some people call these beetles June Bugs, but we've always called the little bronze beetles June Bugs. We've always called these guys 'Hissing Beetles', because the entire time they're doing anything they make a peculiar noise that sounds like they are cussing you out. Grif found this guy in the kitchen. Isn't he cute? Gryphon took this picture, while Zephyr was cringing in the office. He doesn't like grabby bugs as much as Grif and I do.

Grasshopper? Locust?

Who knows? I'm no expert on the jumpy kind of bugs.

VvonV just found this little guy inside his baseball cap, IN our bedroom!

No idea how he got there. If you click on the picture for a closeup, he has really pretty markings.

We put him out in the front yard by the big pond and told him to eat some of our plants. Hopefully he has a chance to do that before a bird eats him.

I like bugs. Always have. I like spiders, too. I've always thought it funny that people like my Mom, who hate certain types of bugs always have more of them. Karma, I guess. She hates snails and Japanese Beetles. They decimate her garden and roses. So she sprays and poisons, blah blah. I, on the other hand, never spray, never poison. I have snails and Japanese Beetles, but they don't decimate my garden. Sometimes there's some nibbling going on, but I'm ok with that. I'm not perfect and I don't expect my garden to look perfect. It could be that all that spraying and poisoning is killing all her frogs/toads. She has a pond, but no frogs/toads. Frogs and toads eat up a lot of unwanted bugs like snails and beetles.

Who knows? I'm just glad to see a grasshopper or a locust, because there really just aren't as many out there as there were when I was a kid. I'd love to see a Praying Mantis, but that's probably asking too much.

Climate change

Just a note here-

Once again, things aren't right. It's June, but the Junebugs that used to appear in May are nowhere to be found. Not a one.

And the lacewings that used to literally litter my windowsills in Junes past are nowhere to be seen.

Yesterday there were at least 11 honeybees that we rescued from the pool. I've never had honeybees in my pool. Are they all committing suicide?

Butterflies? None. Ladybugs? None.

Something is going on, whether anyone wants to admit it or not.

c