I've been on a bug binge lately, and searching didn't really find anything except a "scary bug" thread, sooo...
Share your love (or hate) for buggies! I'd love to see some bug photos too!

Here's some photos I recently managed to snap of some bugs around my home in Connecticut and my bf's house in Delaware.



Upper left/Bottom Right: Ailanthus webworm moth (CT)
Upper Right: Chinese mantis (CT, though they were introduced to my yard by me)
Bottom Left: Leopard slug (DE)



Upper Left: Slender meadow katydid (DE)
Upper Right: Swamp cicada (CT, saved this guy from being run over in a parking lot!)
Bottom Left: True katydid (CT)
Bottom Right: Chinese mantis (CT, introduced to my yard by me)



Chinese mantis in CT from 5 weeks ago. A lot smaller than in the top photo!



Gorgeous swamp darner I found hanging out on the light outside my bf's house at night in Delaware. I was really lucky, he walked right onto my finger when I put it near him. Getting him off of me was a little tougher!



Dogday Harvestfly aka dog-day cicada, a pretty common cicada here in CT. This little lady had the misfortune of coming out of her shell right before rain, which can be dangerous since their wings can stick to things as they "harden." I tried to put her in a safe and dry area but I guess it wasn't soon enough. This led to her having a permanently gimped wing and being unable to fly. Didn't stop her from trying though, she'd be spinning in circles on the floor of our deck. It was sad. Nature can be cruel. These cicadas don't eat at all as adults though, so we just kept her on plants on our deck until she expired naturally.

I thought we had a dedicated bug thread but I guess we don't, closest nature stuff I could find:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=27444&hilit=nature
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=41378&hilit=spider

I'm going to school for a BS in Environmental Studies currently so this stuff interests me.

Damn, I wish this thread existed when I worked at the entomology lab. I used to collect and catalog tons of cool things.

Paging Cometdebris!

He grows beetles! I'm sure he would like to see this.

My new favorite thread. If all my picts weren't on IG I'd post some here. It hasn't been a good bug year for me though, last year was a giant moth bonanza!

YESSSS!
I am a botanist/field biologist by trade, romping around in the woods for work when I am not geeking out on JP vinyl. So this is right up my alley. Maybe I should start a carnivorous plants thread, seems appropriate......

"Kaiju returns to nature" was the catch all thread before but this works too.

I am hoping to go to Thailand in January and will spend much of the time hiking in the jungle searching for critters. Looking forward to adding then. For now here is a little California style...