Hmmm. Maybe. hard to tell from that!
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Hahaha ya, thats just it right there. This is a group of insects i dont dare go down the rabbit hole on.
My terrible pics sure didnt help much.
So there was actually a question behind this, forgot to post above.
There have been numerous occasions me and fellow workers are working in dense bush and get hit by something. I feel its a poison injection, not a bite given the prolonged pain and swelling around a singular dot. So far none of us have seen the culprit, but im leaning towards these.
Excuse the lack of proper description. But one thing that sticks out is that the sting, assuming it is a sting, hurts for a while (hours) then just becomes warm. However when rubbed, it hurts like a SOB, and it is right around the point in the center that looks exactly like a sting mark. If aggitated at all it hurts quite a lot, then subsides fairly quickly, making me think its not so much the chemicals in the sting, but the stinger itself is still inside. A 3 to 6 day window for many insect stingers dissolving, or the surrounding flesh dissolving, and it ejecting seems exactly in line.
Do you think this might be the group? It really feels and looks like an ant/wasp group type sting.
quite possibly. They have evolved serious venom because the females are wingless.
the red velvet ant is also nick-named the cow killer because the venom is so bad.
and, like other Hymenoptera, the pain persists for days. I don’t think they leave any part inside, not like honeybees. Many ant bites work the same to me: there is a venom component that must generate some immune necrosis. or maybe just some cells from inside the venom gland are injected as well.
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Cheers for that, makes sense.
Are any members of the group stingless?
Any ideas what this guys is? He was too big to get the auto kill today. Hawk moth species? Will release it elsewhere if its not an introduced species.
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A quick looks seems to match up!
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Last night on my walk I saw this huge flying insect flitting around these sweet smelling flowers. Its body length combined with its wingspan seemed to be almost as big as my hand. At first I thought it was a hummingbird because of its size and ability to fly backwards. I took a video but later discovered that it didn’t actually record, so these are the best photos I got:
Does anyone know what this is? Some kind of moth? The size and body shape really threw me off, but it was fascinating to watch.
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Hummingbird hawk moth. Very cool. Divergent evolution.
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Thank you! I just read about them, very cool insect. I’m surprised this is the first time I’ve ever seen one, that I know of.
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You see them from time to time but they aren’t that common.
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definitely NOT a hummingbird hawk moth.
Er, was that the question?
What is the weird orange thing?
Cicada emerging from its nymph stage. The vivid colors will probably darken in some areas like the eyes There are many species of cicada, and the adults of this one appear to be red Also common colours are green and black.
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This time of year is great for observing insects, enjoy.
I’ve seen the hummingbird hawk moth thingy from time to time, always a treat. I was also very confused the first time I observed it.
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I don’t think the adults are red. I’d have surely seen them before if they were. Or are they much rarer than the other kind?
I have looked for a completely red one, but not found. As i said, it is likely that the adult will change colour over the next few hours as its skin and wings harden and oxidise in the air. When protected by the nymph skin underground they would have been soft and bright coloured.
I think it’s likely that the species would not survive long as adults with a bright glowing colour that screams “Eat me!” to all passing birds and tree rats…
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Yes I think I just happened upon a mass hatching. There were many of them. None of the Taiwanese hikers passing me had any interest in them. Not Instagrammable I guess.
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