Zoo deux

[nendil]

I just found out the other day simhuman volunteers to let insects crawl all over her at the SF Zoo! She wasn't there when we visited last month but she can probably tell you the names of all these bugs!


BEEEEEEEEES.


Big ol' beetles having a big ol' lunch.


This is a scary sight. Even though the picture was hard to take due to dark.


Silkworms are the only type of larvae that don't traumatize me into a whimpering quivering ball, because I raised them in elementary school. At least, as long as I don't think about it too hard.


A big-ass stick bug thing!


An even bigger-ass mantis-ish thing!


Wolf spider, I think?


That cricket is screwed. (Actually the spider let it live for a while longer.)

Comments

[simhuman.livejournal.com]

1) BEEEEEEEEES
2) Those guys are pretty new, I do not know about them
3) The white-eyed assassin bugs are MEAN. They can give you a pretty nasty stab wound AND they can spray some really awful liquid. My boss wears goggles when changing out their tank.
4) Silkworms are the most pitiful, harmless things in the zoo. The adult moths have lost any meaningful flight ability as well, so when we have them around they just sit in their bowl or fall out of it and wander around.
5) That stick-bug is a female Australian stick insect. It's the kind I usually take out to show to kids, because they're docile, big, impressive-looking, and don't mind being touched. The spines inside their legs are a little uncomfortable.
6) The mantis-ish thing is another stick insect, a giant thorny phasmid. They will try to crush your fingers inside their spiky legs like a nutcracker. My boss handles them bare-handed, but not I.
8) Yup, wolf spider.
9) I've never gotten to see her jump on prey, but I've heard it's impressive when she does. She's one of our more aggressive and dangerous tarantulas.

[ctrl-a.livejournal.com]

The assassin bugs look like Heartless!