Sex is Dangerous....

[brewmaster15]

Sex can get you into all sorts of troubles. Parenthood is an obvious one, but it can make you sick, and possibly Kill you. Now before you start to wonder if the admin has lost his mind, no he hasn't and this isn't the kind of thread you thought it was when you clicked on it. Sorry. We still don't allow X-rated stuff on the forum, strictly pg13 . I wasn't referring to people Sex, I'm talking Bugs...Yes real bugs. They do have it also and it comes with some serious risks. You all may not be aware that spiders and mantis often eat their mate alive...Thats true..they do. But probably more insidious is the STD..Sexually transmitted Diseases. Thought that was a people thing only? wrong! Its a bug thing too,

Take for instance the Lady Bird Beetles here. They mate like most creatures, the female lays her eggs and they move on.


_IMG9487_01 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

_IMG9533 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

IMGP7712 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

IMGP8034_01 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr

_IMG9241_01 by Al Sabetta, on Flickr


So These lady bird beetles are very cool critters and very beneficial in your yards.. However they paid a price for their moments of wildness.. They are infected to various degrees with an STD. The disease is Laboulbeniaceans (labouls for short), a group of insect-parasitizing fungi/STDs Those yellowish things all over their shells and coming from their joints is part of the Fungus. Its primarily spread during mating. The first pair looks healthy and probably is, but seeing on how they were in the same weed patch as the others..its likely they are also sick.



Luckily for us , we don't get this one. Its kind of like being slowly eaten alive. I can't imagine its fun to have. There are thousands of species of these that make reproduction in the bug world more hazardous than it was already. I had known about this bug STD for a while having seen pics , but never saw examples in person. I noticed this weekend that I had a bumper crop of LadyBird Beetles in my yard. As in most cases, thats ideal for pathogens to spread rapidly...Add to it that its spring and everything out there has only one thing on its mind. It didn't take long before I noticed alot of beetles with this junk all over them,, I initially thought it was pollen until I remembered The STDs/parasites.

If anyone has watched The TV series, "The Last of Us" this thread will probably be real familiar. If you haven't , you probably should if you like dystopian, zombie apocalypse shows. I'm not a huge fan of these shows, but when then main character is a fungus I have to watch, Turned out to be a decent show.

I'm not expecting any deep conversations on this one, I know that most people aren't fans of bugs. Just wanted to share a few images I took and possibly share a tid bit of the world most people never see. And of course I couldn't resist the click bate title and story line

. Oh and next time you see a bug, before the foot comes down, Maybe realize for a second that we share more than we differ in . Life's tough no matter whether you are a person or bug,.

Happy Spring ,
Al

[pastry]

I heart you, Al... you finally tricked the hell out of me

[mleibowi]

Al- clickbait ��

[bluelagoon]

Seems like some species just live for one thing. Salmon comes to mind. At least they die happy.

[brewmaster15]

Al- clickbait ��

Well yeah but now you know a cool bug fact that will never be of use to you unless you are watching "The Last of Us "with a bunch of friends and want to dazzle them.. or. Maybe you are on jeopardy... either way though the images are still interesting. Makes you glad bugs aren't human size.. we'd be extinct..

[brewmaster15]

Seems like some species just live for one thing. Salmon comes to mind. At least they die happy.

They do look like they are smiling alot.

Attachment 135434

[Second Hand Pat]

Great pics Al but what a slow, nasty way to die I hope it's not painful. I was just shooting ladybugs here and they were clean looking. They were hanging out in the blue mist (plant) flowers. Not mating just eating I guess.
Pat

[Greg-Florida]

Fun facts. Great pictures!

[AquaticNerd]

I didn't do a superb job capturing this with my phone camera, but the moment I saw it, I knew I had to capture it and post as well. Al, here's a tribute to your first image - 'Nature is Sexy'.

IMG_20230630_081049.jpg

[brewmaster15]

I didn't do a superb job capturing this with my phone camera, but the moment I saw it, I knew I had to capture it and post as well. Al, here's a tribute to your first image - 'Nature is Sexy'.

IMG_20230630_081049.jpg

Lol! I'D much rather have my lady bugs procreating than japanese beetles..those things are a royal pain. I saw my first ones in the yard yesterday.