Giant Water Bug
Is it cheating if the bug is in a zoo, behind glass? If so, call me a cheater, but this amazing bug was too much of a draw for me to put my camera down. It sat underwater, still as can be, with its buddies nearby, waiting patiently under a floating rock for the crickets on top to fall in the water.
I watched for a while, snapping more pictures, because these things were so cool looking, huge, and photogenic. Suddenly one cricket, apparently dared by its cricket friends to go for a swim, hopped into the water, inches from one of these underwater monster/bugs, and froze.
I don’t know how an insect brain works, or what the cricket was thinking, but I knew watching it that it had seen. It knew what was waiting, just below the surface of the water. It floated, unmoving, because it had seen what was waiting underneath the rock if it were to try and swim back.
It was probably the most horrifying thing I have ever witnessed in the bug world.
This girl, however, (and I’m assuming it’s a girl because those sure look like a lot of eggs to me, but if I’m wrong I’m sure someone will let me know) was more interested in me and my camera. I didn’t have the flash on, but I’m wondering if she saw a reflection of herself in the camera, because she kept coming closer and closer, until she was right up against the glass and we were eye-to-eye. It was pretty cool.
But I don’t think I can ever forget that cricket, floating on the water, knowing that something was lurking just below the water at land’s edge, waiting for it to come back; waiting and hungry.
I’m not sure I can ever go swimming again.
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
Scott said,
July 10, 2008 @ 8:26 am
First!
Cool. I love giant bug movies and the idea of one of these, about the size of a VW would be terrifying.
David Brady said,
July 10, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
@Scott: “first” posts make my teeth itch.
That said, I agree… but I can’t decide if a VW-sized waterbug would be terrifying or freaking awesome.
What I can’t get over in this photo is the eggs all over her back. *shudder*
JFargo said,
July 10, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
@Scott - Thanks. Now not only am I not going swimming in a lake ever again, I’m also not going within 50 feet of one, just in case.
@David - Don’t worry. The zoo folks assured me that those eggs weren’t going to hatch into mutated bugs the size of VWs, though they noted that the new protein feed was definitely working well. It’s normal for these things to be the size of small cats, right?
tceisele said,
July 10, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
“but I can’t decide if a VW-sized waterbug would be terrifying or freaking awesome”
That’s easy. It’s terrifying if it is coming to eat you, but it’s freaking awesome if you are sending it to eat somebody else!
Brian L. said,
July 10, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
@David: I wold have to go with freaking awesome. Especially if the VW sized bug could be ridden to school/work. That would be dominant.
@tceisele: I think getting eaten by a giant water bug would be one of the most awesome ways to go. Terrifying, yes, but still utterly awesome.
wright said,
July 10, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
I grew up fantasizing about being shrunk down to insect size (half inch or so); I devoured all fiction I could find on the topic. I still love that kind of stuff, even when it’s as full of cheese as “A Bug’s Life”.
I still remember a line from an old child’s encyclopedia, concerning insects: “Eat without being eaten and care for the young; those are the only laws of Insect-Land.”
It’s a great fantasy, stalking through the grass stems. I’d give the most-experienced human jungle fighter / hunter on the planet twelve hours before they were something’s breakfast /lunch /dinner. It’s a JUNGLE down there…
MacNut said,
July 10, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
“I’d give the most-experienced human jungle fighter / hunter on the planet twelve hours before they were something’s breakfast /lunch /dinner. It’s a JUNGLE down there…”
How much of a chance the human jungle-fighter had would depend on whether he had weapons able to puncture the carapace of an attacking bug. If they had say, an AK47 shrunk down to their size but with armor-piercing bullets, the bugs wouldn’t stand a chance.
Steve Jackson said,
July 30, 2008 @ 3:39 pm
An individual bug in a face-to-face confrontation wouldn’t stand much of a chance. But there are lots of bugs, and they are all around you, and the flying ones swoop very quickly, and webs can be disguised with dirt, and you have to sleep sometime.