It is 11pm and I was just about to turn off my computer when one of the cats got my attention with all the noise he was making. Turns out he’s playing with this big, really creepy looking bug. Now one of the joys of living in South Africa is the cornucopia of wildlife which this country enjoys and this holds true for bug-dom as well. I love macro work and I love getting the camera up close and personal with these chitinous segmented denizens of the microscopic however there are times when too close is well … just too damn close.
I still shudder to recall waking one night with two “Parktown Prawns” (as they are known locally; Libanasidus vittatus) crawling on me. As if that weren’t bad enough, perhaps I should mention the one was crawling on my face. I went from horizontal and blissfully asleep to vertical with enough adrenaline to kill a small elephant in about 1 nanosecond.
Now this “cute” little fella comes scooting along under my chair to escape the cat. Guess who will be checking under his pillow tonight?
Any entomology genii out there? Identification would be most helpful.
That’s a Mole Cricket, in the family Gryllotalpidae. They use those stout forelegs to dig underground burrows. Pretty cool animals, and entirely harmless.
I hate bugs! I think I would consider moving to either a higher elevation, or to another country!
@myrmecos – thanks for the info; at least I know what it is now. The little critter was as tough as nails though – I thought it’d give the cats a run for its money though.
@nimbu – how’s it going my friend; nice to see you’re still around and about on wordpress. Taking a bit of a sabbatical?
Still hovering around. You’re right, I’m just taking a break from blogging. I’m thinking about coming back…just way too much stuff going on around the world. I’m feeling a bit “backed up”.