Friday, June 8, 2012

What is this?!

Saw 2 of these in my yard today after 3 days of heavy rain and/or watering. They're probably 2.5-3 inches long.

2 comments:

  1. your in a fly zone? they may be going north or south. The dreaded Arkansas black spotted stabbing mantis. unlike the praying mantis this dangerous beetle bomb hypnotizes its victim by vibrating black spots before its eyes. Or something like that!

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  2. I did a google image search and it leads me to believe these are COttonwood Borers. The female lays eggs in the root systems of cottonwood or poplar trees, the larvae chew away at the roots, do their metamorphosis thing, come out of the tree, eat leaves and mate. Cycle repeats. They can kill young trees but mature trees are usually unharmed. But these would explain why my poplar has been losing some leaves in summertime.

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