Late Night Expeditions

[Sylph]

Well, there's no way to justify this one, except to say that I like animals .

I go out late at night, usually around 1am or so(technically morning, I know), every few nights in my backyard and research the different animals that I find .

It's variable, so depending on the weather and atmosphere (humid/wet/dry), it affects what you'll find.

So anywho :redface: , this was Friday night(/morning :p) and it was a wet night, so quite abit of activity was going on that night. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any frogs or large insects, but I did catch a few things :p .
~

Right on my step! A Pill Bug (Armadillidium)


There's a reason why there's no grass there. The snails eat it :p .Spiral Snail (Rumina decollata)


Another one up close. He's travelling fast believe it or not :p . Spiral Snail


I found a species that I keep personally :p . Milk Snail (Otala Lactea)


Another species I keep personally, The Tropical Leatherleaf Slug (Laevicaulis alte, Veronicellidae )


Grape vines :p .


Another Tropical Leatherleaf .


I saw this little bugger and was so excited. , I almost dropped my iPod :p .


Then I caught him another Armadillidium, but with a rare orange colouration.


I compared him to another one I found.


They looked lonely :p




~
So this is was the culmination of my "Expedition".

That Orange Armadillidium (Pill Bug) is very rare and I think only 1/1000 are born and only 1 in every 1000 survives, due to it's very bright colouration. It's very attractive and bug eating animals would probably notice and kill it, so I was excited when I spotted him. He's with the rest of my colony that live with my snails .

I might take more pictures next time I go out and hopefully find some other cool animals. .

[Inchante]

That is very interesting. Have you ever thought about going to school to study entomology? I worked with a guy who loved insects and was always finding them in the parking lot and bringing them in to show people. I remember he once found a pair of praying mantises (mantis religiosa) mating and brought them inside . . . so that he could watch the carnage.

Personally, my favorite things when it comes to bugs is sitting out on the patio and watching the fireflies (lampyridae) in the garden on a summer evening.

[Zet]

Bugs is the only thing I disslike about summer :p
Mosquitos, Wasps, stungs and itches

[Sylph]

That is very interesting. Have you ever thought about going to school to study entomology? I worked with a guy who loved insects and was always finding them in the parking lot and bringing them in to show people. I remember he once found a pair of praying mantises (mantis religiosa) mating and brought them inside . . . so that he could watch the carnage.

Personally, my favorite things when it comes to bugs is sitting out on the patio and watching the fireflies (lampyridae) in the garden on a summer evening.

hmmm... that's tricky. I definitely want to go to school to study animals and probably get a degree in Zoology, but it would have to wait until I've got my degree in Music. Because, music has always been my first and primary interest and something that I love to do.

Although Animals(all of them) interest me, I wouldn't want to give up Music for them, as I will always be able to study and take care of animals, but Music takes much longer to get back into, once you've stopped.

I should have my Music degree by the time I'm 21, possibly going on 22 and so that would leave plenty of time, as I think a degree in Zoology is about 3years aswell? , so I'd be 24/25 by the time I have both. I would've already been in Music college, and would have finished by the time I was 20, but I had to wait, as financial issues rose it's head.

Entomology isn't an area where I'd love to be in, as I'd have to touch spiders and other insects that I don't particularily want to handle. I don't mind holding insects and letting them crawl on me, but creatures like spiders and flying cockroaches aren't my cup of tea :p.

If I had to choose a specific type of study for animals, It would probably be Herpetology. Because I don't mind reptiles and amphibians, as they are actually my favourite class of animal (amphibians). I'm much more comfortable in the water with a Giant Sea Turtle, than I am holding a little house spider .

Cool about the Praying Mantis though, but doesn't the female eat the male, head first, once they've finished mating? :o , gruesome.

(ps. I wish we had fireflies . )

[Sylph]

Bugs is the only thing I disslike about summer :p
Mosquitos, Wasps, stungs and itches

With all the Tree Frogs in my backyard, the are no Mosquitos :p . Luckily, I don't have wasps near my house, but I have encountered them.

Best advice, don't move too fast or move erratically, they take it as a threat :o .

[zeon]

they look like woodlice lol

[Zet]

With all the Tree Frogs in my backyard, the are no Mosquitos :p . Luckily, I don't have wasps near my house, but I have encountered them.

Best advice, don't move too fast or move erratically, they take it as a threat :o .

Although Sweden can be beautiful and idylic during the summer, Sweden has a bad reputation when it comes to Mosquitos :redface: Some summers we get kind of a mosquito epidemics, we are use to it but I still hate it

[Inchante]

Bugs is the only thing I disslike about summer :p
Mosquitos, Wasps, stungs and itches

You don't have any fireflies where you live, do you? There aren't any where I live now, but when I lived in the Midwest there were tons of them. They are enchanting.




Edit: As an addendum, another species that is fantastic to watch in nature is the humming bird. I don't think they exist outside of the Western hemisphere, though.

[Sylph]

they look like woodlice lol

Oh yes, they are . That's what you call them in england :p , but I don't think the ones out there can roll into a ball. The ones that roll into a ball are classified as Armadillidium and have many sub-families, such as Armadillidium Vulgare, which is what mine are. There are a few that can't roll into a ball, normally called woodlouse, but some of those can roll up too. Look for their tails, if they don't have one, then they can roll up, if they do have one (or 2 in some species), then they generally can't roll up and will die if you try to roll them up.

They're called;
Pill Bugs
Potato Bugs
Woodlouse(Woodlice is plural)
Rolly Pollies(Roly Poly Singular)
Piggly-Wigglies(we use this one)
Ball Bug
Armadillo Bug

and alot of other unique names, depending on the country.

[Sylph]

You don't have any fireflies where you live, do you? There aren't any where I live now, but when I lived in the Midwest there were tons of them. They are enchanting.




Edit: As an addendum, another species that is fantastic to watch in nature is the humming bird. I don't think they exist outside of the Western hemisphere, though.

We don't have fireflies . Although if we had them, they'd probably die of predation from our frogs & lizards or from the massive heat during the day and sometimes the night too. It can be warm here.

It's rumoured that we get hummingbirds down here, but I've never seen one personally. They say they come to our garden (known as the Botanical Garden), but I've never seen one there either, although there are reports of them coming here and there's even a flower here that they would feed on in other countries (can't remember it's name x.x )