Monday, December 28, 2009

My Town Monday: San Diego bugs (+ 2 contests)

In the middle of all the festivities, it's time for a My Town Monday post! So, I am closeting myself and my laptop away from my noisy family to spend a little time putting together the post and hanging out with all of you.

This week features...bugs and creepy crawlies around San Diego County.

Bugs, Christmas, New Year's Eve? Don't even look for a connection. There isn't one!

My adorable critique partner, Kathy Krevat, found a bug in her backyard, emailed me a jpeg of said bug and asked if I could identify it. I happen to be doing some research on assassin bugs (also called kissing bugs) for Sherry's fourth mystery, i so don't do famous (Surprise, Editor Wendy! ;) ). And there's your twisty windy explanation for how this post came about.

Here are a few facts about some bugs in San Diego County:

*Watch out for black spiders with an hour glass shape on the abdomen. These are western black widows. The poison from a black widow's bite is five times more toxic than the poison from a rattlesnake bite.

*If you find a cobalt blue pillbug, you've spotted a pillbug with a virus (iridovirus). Researchers from the University of California at Riverside and at Berkeley are hot on the trail of this ill pillbug (intentional rhyme).

*We have four species of fireflies, but not one of them flashes light.

*In the summer, you'll find lots of large green beetles called figeaters or green fruit beetles. They have a loud buzz and fly around as though they've spent too much time at the local watering hole.

Here is Kathy's mystery bug. Can you identify it? Tell us anything about it?

Please pop over to the My Town Monday blog to see what others in the group are posting about. ALSO, I'LL NAME THE MYSTERIOUS BUG THERE.

And abruptly changing topics:

Random House gave Blogger Bookworm Readers a copy of i so don't do spooky and and an ARC to use in a giveaway. The details are here. Thank you to Bookworm Readers and Random House.

WHILE AT THE ORTHODONTIST, Child #4 stumbled upon a contest to win a copy of i so don't do spooky through the American Cheerleader magazine. Enter online here.



sources:
http://www.sdnhm.org/research/entomology/entofaq.html
http://www.kaweahoaks.com/html/assissin_bug.html

21 comments:

  1. BookwormDecember 28, 2009 at 7:20 PM

    Thanks for posting about the contest, Barrie! (: Hopefully that will inspire some more entries. And um....lovely pictures of the bugs. (;

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  2. BarrieDecember 28, 2009 at 8:43 PM

    Hi Bookworm! I meant to comment on your blog that I linked to the contest, but you beat me to it! Thanks again! P.S. I am still in love with the trailer you made for I so don't do spooky!!

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  3. Sherrie PetersenDecember 28, 2009 at 9:16 PM

    Barrie, that bug is NASTY! That's all I can tell you about it!

    I just killed a black widow in the garage yesterday and then my daughter freaked out because there were spider guts on the ground. *sigh*

    How cool to discover a contest for your book in a magazine! I just won it from Tabitha's blog. Yay!

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  4. chocolatecovereddaydreams.blogspot.comDecember 28, 2009 at 10:31 PM

    Is that a croach? (A cricket and roach.)

    Sounds like an interesting topic..assassin bugs.

    Enjoy the family time!

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  5. BarrieDecember 28, 2009 at 11:02 PM

    Chocolate Covered Daydreams--a croach! Sounds like a great creature for a sci fi novel!

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  6. BarrieDecember 28, 2009 at 11:14 PM

    Sherry--agreed! I wouldn't want too many of those guys in my backyard.

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  7. AnonymousDecember 29, 2009 at 5:35 AM

    I'm so glad our fireflies light up. I never knew they couldn't!

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  8. BarrieDecember 29, 2009 at 8:05 AM

    Green Girl in Wisconsin--And I'd never noticed that ours didn't light up!

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  9. Charles GramlichDecember 29, 2009 at 9:55 AM

    I do believe that is a cricket.

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  10. TeresaDecember 29, 2009 at 3:20 PM

    I also vote for cricket, and it looks like the Asian fighting cricket kind. They really aren't as cute as Disney drew them in Mulan.

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  11. Kelly H-YDecember 29, 2009 at 5:34 PM

    Yikes ... I Don't Do Bugs ... especially spiders!

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  12. EileenDecember 29, 2009 at 9:25 PM

    I can safely say if I saw that bug I would lose my mind.

    On the upside I saw I so don't do spooky on the front YA table in my local bookstore. Go you.

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  13. BarrieDecember 29, 2009 at 9:40 PM

    Eileen, I have roomed with you. I know you have depths of courage and could face any bug!

    Thank you for the news about i so don't do spooky on the front table of your local bookstore. A friend of my from Toronto emailed to say it was not in her Chapters. Wah!!!

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  14. UnknownDecember 30, 2009 at 10:16 AM

    That bug is some type of mutant from crawling through some type of nuclear waste that was thrown down... heck, I have no clue, but it's weird looking!

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  15. Sarah LaurenceDecember 30, 2009 at 4:00 PM

    Yikes! This is one of those moments when I’m not envying your warm climate. Our creepy crawlies are frozen solid (so are my toes). Happy bug free New Year?

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  16. AllieDecember 31, 2009 at 7:29 AM

    I was going to guess some form of cricket too.

    It's kind of neat looking. I like bugs as long as they leave my personal space alone.

    Happy New Year!

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  17. TerryLynnJohnsonDecember 31, 2009 at 12:15 PM

    Hey, I picked up my copy from Chapters a couple days ago.

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  18. kelly hayesJanuary 5, 2010 at 10:34 AM

    The bug is a Potato Bug, also known as a Jerusalem Cricket. Etrememly icky, but toatally harmless. I've found one in my backyard before and it's an experience you don't soon forget. There are a few websites devoted to them. Just google Potato Bug, if you want to see more...God help you.

    Kelly

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  19. BarrieJanuary 5, 2010 at 11:08 AM

    Oh, Kelly, you are so smart. That's why I love being your critique partner. And also your great writing and critquing. ;)

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  20. Margaret DillowayJanuary 12, 2011 at 11:29 AM

    Eww, I recognized it too. I had one of those click-clacking under my bed when I was a kid and had to get my dad in there to squish it. It was hard to kill! I'm still scarred.

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  21. AnonymousMay 11, 2012 at 6:37 AM

    It's called a cave cricket.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are always welcome!