Thank Gawd that mosquito is not on my flesh, it's just resting on the flesh of a butternut squash! Here at the house in Big Sandy Mush there has been a freaky bug phenomena... bugs that are normally long gone by october are still hanging, flying, and multiplying around this December. Starting with the bad first, WTF are mosquitos doing still alive in high elevations of the smokey mountains? All standing water nearby was made sure to be dumped, there is nothing new or usual and the owners of this porperty say they never seen mosquitoes here at this time of year, eva'! The sickest part is I am watching these guys fly around slowly in the cold, inside and outside the house. In freezing rains, ice on the ground, temperatures hit 10 degrees and STILL they are here! One could say this is a result of global warming, but man I am cold, why aren't they?There are some character/personality difference in these mosquitoes mainly being they look more light brown, pale, and starved. They also fly very slow and don't bite as often or easy but they DO bite. They do less stealth and more hovering ova' ya face while sleeping and biting up your fingers and forehead. These light weights are also easier to kill, as the can't seem to work up the chutzpah to really zip around. Has anyone else been bothered by mosquitoes this winter, in a region which normally does not have them?
Moving right along... LADYBUGS! And some friends of ladybugs that look kinda like them. Right before the coldest snap here there was a big ladybug boom- literally landing all over me, even in my mouth if i talked! (They taste like bitter lettuce, which is not so good.) These ladybugs even felt like they were biting, which has never happened to me before. After all the freezing cold weather there are still ladybugs crawling around in the house and I found this gypsy band of ladies folded up in a piece of organic cotton fabric on the porch. Check out all the variations of color, I don't think all these guys are really ladybugs but they don't seem to mind. The pink arrow in the picture below is pointing to the extreme black sheep of the gang, cause he was downright missing dots(plus he's all black!)BTW- I was told when I was 20 years old and living in NYC that ladybugs were very good luck, my apartment back then filled up with them during warm weather.
XOXO
There IS something strange going on. I've had a stray few mosquitos in my house in the last month as has my boss. In addition, we had a crazy swarm of them in the garage at work at some point in the last few weeks. Very weird indeed.
ReplyDeleteHey Noel!
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy... cause you are in NYC and I am down here in NC! We also had this really intense scary swarm of them in the basement of the house and they were squeezing into cracks and holes and coming inside.
ICK! I knew it couldnt only be us here at this house...
so Alfred Hitchcock meets global alterations of the future.
i shipped those skeeters over to you guys so you could think about summer,lol. it actually looks more like a crane fly than a mosquito.
ReplyDeletelady bug coloration is almost as varied as zebra stripes. they will come inside during winter.i have a little colony of them in my shed every winter next to my water heater.
Hey Panne!
ReplyDeleteNO thanks, keep ya nasty LA skeeters!!! lol
These babies look like a fly all blown up in the pic, but they are biting mosquitoes, they leave a mosquito bite on the skin to be reckoned wit'! We had found some breeding in a barrel of water during the first cold and dumped them.
Why gawd why! ha
We've had annual swarms of ladybugs here in Toronto, they crawl in every little nook or cranny they can find. I had to stop using my halogen uplights because the stench of crisped ladies was more than I could bear.
ReplyDeleteSee http://torontoist.com/2009/10/asian_ladybugs_swarm_toronto.php
And these ones DO bite.
I have also seen mosquitoes and other unusual summer insects here. Very odd indeed.
Looks like a couple of them, including the black sheep, are mating or getting ready to.
ReplyDeleteBow chicka bow bow.........
you know darn well the skeeters here would rip the wings off those pathetic excuses for skeeters in NC. the little non-native asian tiger species flies right through normal screen and leaves a golf ball size welt on you. the marsh species rivals the crane flies for size and feels more like you're being bit by a horse fly. you can here those coming at you from over 20 feet.
ReplyDeleteall of the skeeters here think bug repellent is seasoning. it's the equivalent of unlimited free beer at a block party.
big sandy mush explains a lot of why they are there. last i checked skeeters don't have calenders. the cold just slows them down a little.
put minnows in any water barrels you need to keep water in and store it as far away as you can. they eat the skeeters, eggs and larvae.
do what you can for providing a space for lady bugs. they help the organic farmers big time.
Linda! I think the ladybug thing is normal, for them to come inside - the poor gang i found was still outside but wrapped in the fabric.
ReplyDeleteCreepy how we are all seeing bugs normally gone by now.
Lou- LOL. I guess they really love 'community' living.
Panne- Don't worry I wrapped those lady bugs gently back in the fabric and placed them in a open box and put it against something that would block the wind. :) I love them. I still think a few of them looked like squash beetles...but for sure I never saw so many variations all at once in one gathering! So pretty.
I haven't seen Minnows since i Lived in LA... I wonder how they do in cold temperatures? Just thinking of them brought back great memories of my grandpaw's crawfish farm and the minnow "pond" which had been a huge old fountain... we used to catch them in picnic plates and them pour them back in.