Speaking of things that sting

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Bill in Oregon
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Speaking of things that sting

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Here is New Mexico's state insect, the tarantula hawk. This gorgeous girl sitting on my patio table this morning is about 2 1/2 inches long from mandible to wingtip. Her sting is the most painful in North America. Justin Schmidt, the Arizona entomologist and author of the famed Schmidt Pain Index rates her sting a 4 on the scale of 0 to 4. He says you'll want to assume the fetal position and just *** for three to five minutes. Fortunately, these wasps are fairly mellow in attitude, nothing like an a**hole yellowjacket.
She gets her name from the fact she hunts tarantulas, stings them insensible, deposits eggs inside to feed on the innards and stuffs poor Mr. Tarantula in a hole where he enters permanent dreamtime.
:o

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earlmck
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by earlmck »

Rather a beautiful critter there Bill. I used to see them occasionally when I was a kid growing up in Arizona. I didn't know anything about their sting but just the looks of that wasp caused us to treat it with considerable respect. I never heard of anyone getting stung by one but I didn't hang around with any entomologists either.
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Ray
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Ray »

In the absence of raid or black flag 20' hornet spray, the red tube on the wd40 can will do in a pinch.

.22 rat shot might be too light though.
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Ray, these things almost call for a .410.

:lol:
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GunnyMack
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by GunnyMack »

Here we have cicadas/ locusts and we have the C5A version of a yellow jacket that does the same as the tarantula hawk. First one ya see you wont forget it! My neighbor called last summer says I'm going to do a little shooting. Sure fine by me- he was out with a 38 & shotshells shooting the cicada killers.
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rock-steady
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by rock-steady »

Anyone ever get stung by a Cow Ant? Big ol orange and black fuzzy ant? When we were kids, we were always told to avoid the cow ants and they would sting the fire out of you.

I was showing out to my brother and cousin and picked one up...one time. I picked up the cow ant and said, "See they won't sti...#@&%$$EEEEOOOOWWWWW!!!!

That sucker lit me up. It stung me right in the pad of my ring finger..my finger swelled up and looked like a chicken drumstick. Hurt bad for days.

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vancelw
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by vancelw »

rock-steady wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 11:57 am Anyone ever get stung by a Cow Ant? Big ol orange and black fuzzy ant? When we were kids, we were always told to avoid the cow ants and they would sting the fire out of you.

I was showing out to my brother and cousin and picked one up...one time. I picked up the cow ant and said, "See they won't sti...#@&%$$EEEEOOOOWWWWW!!!!

That sucker lit me up. It stung me right in the pad of my ring finger..my finger swelled up and looked like a chicken drumstick. Hurt bad for days.

Image
Can hardly squish those things! Tough buggers.
I don't know how old I was before I realized they were wingless wasps.

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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Sixgun »

Chicken drum stick! That's funny. Reminds me of the time 35 years ago when I had a beer in one hand and a stick of pepperoni in the other and I bit into it with a yellow jacket on the end. My tongue got as big as your finger....had to go to the hospital.

Both of those creatures are beautiful....but nasty....always wondered what it would be like camping out around things like scorpions, big spiders and other things that go bump in the night.

We don't have anything like that around here...hardly anything in the "watch out" category.....except two legged varmints. I was out in the stables yesterday doing some work and watching the hornets fly around....if you leave them alone, they leave you alone.

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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by piller »

Those huge Cicada killers are pretty mellow. I have never seen an aggressive one. They walk softly and carry a big stinger. I don't mess with them, and they are happy to go about their business. Mud daubers are the same way. They hunt spiders and put them in a mud tube with an egg. As long as you do not touch them, they leave you alone.
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by GunnyMack »

piller wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 1:33 pm Those huge Cicada killers are pretty mellow. I have never seen an aggressive one. They walk softly and carry a big stinger. I don't mess with them, and they are happy to go about their business. Mud daubers are the same way. They hunt spiders and put them in a mud tube with an egg. As long as you do not touch them, they leave you alone.
Yeah but it seems like the mud daubers really like the 3rd prong for the ground in electric receptacles in my shop!
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Pitchy
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Pitchy »

Noooooo thanks, glad we live where we do for that reason anyway. :)
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by AJMD429 »

Insects are interesting in the way they sabotage and mess with each other. Nothing like laying your eggs on the eyeballs of some insect so they can hatch later an eat their host from eyeballs on inside. Like little military robots and so on. :twisted:
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by JimT »

Seems like ants are attracted to the bottom wire on the electric fence around our chickens. Not sure why.
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Rusty »

Isn't about time someone makes a remark about an ex-wife?
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by GunnyMack »

We had a guy in college that was EXTREMELY scared of tarantulas- if he saw one he would run the other way. Of course we all teased him about it. He ran the school's range, someone found a tarantula exoskeleton and rigged it to fall on him when he opened the trap house. He opened up, it fell and the next thing we see is him drawing his 1911 and doing a mag dump into the trap house! Thankfully nothing but his pride got hurt.
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Bill in Oregon »

We also have velvet ants here, which are actually a wingless female wasp with a heck of a sting. They are closely related to the eastern velvet ant, aka red cow killer.
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by 2ndovc »

Pitchy wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:51 pm Noooooo thanks, glad we live where we do for that reason anyway. :)
AAANNNND , That's why I live in Ohio! I hate insects! I'd rather deal with large angry two or four legged predators! Just the thought of those things creeps me out!

jb 8)
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GunnyMack
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by GunnyMack »

Yeah but you live close to Erie, some of the largest mayfly hatches in the world happen there. They hatch by the billions, cover acres when they breed and die- granted they don't sting. Us trout bums go nuts over hatches like that!
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by wolfdog »

Them cow ants will light you up, but you have to work at it to get one to sting you. Do not ask me how I know this. :lol:
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by GunnyMack »

I can remember my uncle catching scorpions around my grandmothers house and then putting them on a red ant mound. It was amazing watching those ants attack the scorpion,killing it and then dismembering it and pulling in into the mound. Mother Nature can be a cruel mistress!
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Gunny, from one trout bum to another -- except there aren't many here in the desert.

8)
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GunnyMack
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by GunnyMack »

Ah but you aren't far from Colorado, there are trout within reach Bill!
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2ndovc
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by 2ndovc »

GunnyMack wrote: Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:57 am Yeah but you live close to Erie, some of the largest mayfly hatches in the world happen there. They hatch by the billions, cover acres when they breed and die- granted they don't sting. Us trout bums go nuts over hatches like that!
They do, but they come and go so quickly it only lasts a few days. Keeps the fish and the birds happy and they don't really bother anyone.

jb 8)
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Gunny, actually, the San Juan, Gila and Pecos headwaters are there for the visiting. Need to make the long drives.
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Re: Speaking of things that sting

Post by Grizz »

scary stinkin' things

at least when Jesus puts His foot down, they won't be able to hurt us any more . . . lookin' forward to that. :D
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