Okay I know this is going to freak a lot of you out and make
you vow to never come to north Florida, but that said, I still have to write
about nuisance bugs! Because FL is full of bugs of ALL kinds and I would be remiss if I
didn’t tell the truth. No, they are not a favorite thing that I love about FL. You
know that song, “I Don’t Like Spiders and Snakes”? Well, neither do I, but
being born and raised here, I guess I’ve developed a certain tolerance for
(most of) the little beasties. Throughout my life I have seen the cycle of life
and how important some insects are to OUR lives, how they help make our entire world
habitable. Try living without ants and bees and beetles and flies and even mosquitoes,
and you’ll soon wish them back. Just to give a few examples, bees make honey
and pollinate, which gives us yummy things to eat, flies and beetles eat dead
things, ants aerate the ground and are on clean up duty as well.
And mosquitoes? Their larvae are a mainstay
for fish and other kinds of aquatic animals to munch down on. Spiders are in
charge of insect population control.
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| Deer fly |
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| Horse fly |
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| Scorpion, makes me cringe to look at it! |
I won’t go into the real nuisances; roaches (big or little),or silverfish, or
palmetto bugs, or praying mantis’, or stink bugs, or the ones that hurt, like scorpions,
horse flies (big stingers), deer flies (little, fast, stinging and yellow),
black flies (also fast little stingers), or wasps or hornets, or chiggers or “No-see-ums,”
because I think the only benefit to any of those is that they are someone else’s
food!
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| LB Damage to vehicle |
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| "Love Bug" |
The one bug that stands out as king among useless insects is
the so called “Love Bug,” which—to University of Florida’s undying shame—was
man-made and a total, complete, all-encompassing disaster! Bred to eat mosquitoes/larvae,
they not only don’t, but they breed incessantly during their “season,” kill all
vehicle paint jobs, plaster windshields with cement, make walking out your back
door a “batting” experience. Their only saving grace (if they have one) is that
they are mindless and slow and do not sting!
J here, stopping by from the #atozchallenge 2015!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I've followed you on your listed social media sites.
@JLenniDorner
Meant to kill mosquitoes and don't... LOL. Bug fail. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of bugs. I'm fascinated by the plants at Disney that keep most of the bugs away from the park. Why isn't there a section at Home Depot and other plant-selling stores just labeled "yes, this is what's at the Mouse House, these are the plants you're looking for young Padawan." LOL.
Ugh! Um, thanks, Lisa, I think 😉
ReplyDeleteLast year's challenge was all about fears, and bugs filled a number of soars on the list. And our bugs up here in Canada are no where near as bad as those down south!
ReplyDeleteYeah, weird, creepy bugs do not sit well with me. Love bug my ass.
Now thank you for the geebies!
ReplyDeleteUgh, ugh, ugh! Your post has made my skin crawl. If there is one thing I can't stand it's creepy crawlies! :)
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
When we have warm winters here, I always hear people say the bugs are going to be worse because there was no freeze to kill them off? I don't know if that's true but if so, that would make it sensible that Florida would have a lot of bugs! I've heard that you guys have FLYING cockroaches, which to me are the stuff nightmares are made of. I've never seen all that many bugs during my visits to Florida but I'm always either at the beach or at Disney World.
ReplyDeleteA university made a bug that now destroys car paint called a love bug?! The truth is better than fiction.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, I used to like Love Bug season, but not anymore! I've only seen a scorpion once and hope I don't see one again.
ReplyDeleteOh, I could have written about insects today! Never thought of it. We moved to western Washington from Houston a few years ago, and I confess I don't miss those skeeters, not one bit.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big bug fan myself - especially spiders! I leave them alone in the garden, because I know they catch a lot of pests, but I'll kill 'em if they get in my house! (Well, first I'll shriek and freak out, but then I have to get rid of them!) I do love bumblebees and butterflies and ladybugs, of course! Thanks for stopping by my blog! It's nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about Love Bugs. Why do we constantly mess with natural balances? Our track record in that department is abysmal.
ReplyDeleteI still love anything insects. I watch any show on cable about insects.
ReplyDeleteWow. If it isn't politicians screwing things up with stupid ideas, it's scientists. What does that say about me? Ten years in laboratory medicine and twenty years in politics.
ReplyDeleteI hate bugs. Stink bugs are impossible to keep out. Our last two very harsh winters have reduced their numbers some what. Get occasional horseflies around here. They hurt!
ReplyDeleteLove bugs? Well, they have a nice name, anyway. lol
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa .. they're all good in some way .. and are definitely good for the planet - us perhaps on occasions not quite right - but let's hope the good of bugs comes out and stays out .. I don't much like bugs .. but we don't have that many here .. thankfully .. that irritate all the time .. not sure what I'd do with mozzies in Scotland ...
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
I could say bug off. I particularly hate cockroaches and am a walking feast to mosquitoes. They invented a bug which turned out to be useless. How bloody typical.
ReplyDeleteOmgawww, I live in Jamaica part of the year and those "No-See-Ums" are no joke! They love my flesh and feast with reckless abandon.
ReplyDeleteI still think mosquitos are useless-there are other bugs and stuff to eat. Up north, in Canada June is known as Black fly season and it is bad. Those love bugs look pretty but do these people who invent bugs or bring bugs over ever learn?? Saw your hippo one too and considering they are more lethal than crocs-glad the bill did not pass
ReplyDeleteIt is news to me that 'love bug' is really a bug! I am wary of insects, good or bad.
ReplyDeleteBig fans of bugs at our house! I went with "I is for Insects" as well:
ReplyDeletehttp://gvpeasachantrant.blogspot.com
I find insects very creepy, not my favourite at all. But your pictures are amazing - I did dare to look :). Catching up with your posts.
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