Creatures of the Sonoran Desert

[AntlerAlchemist]

I know it happens all the time... but I still felt bad. Such is life. I have been noticing a lot of tarantula hawks out now that it has warmed up. I watch them as they check out every hole, and I secretly hope there isn't a tarantula in there. Well here is where they get their name sake. You can see how the tarantula hawk has dragged the tarantula through the sand. It will find a quiet place to lay it's egg and bury the spider. The tarantula was about the same size as my little Shelob, which would make the wasp about 2 inches long. I hear it has one of the most painful stings there are, I don't ever want to find out what it feels like.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

About the sting from the tarantula hawk. Copied from Wikipedia

Tarantula hawk wasps are relatively docile and rarely sting without provocation. However, the sting—particularly that of P. grossa—is among the most painful of all insects, though the intense pain only lasts about five minutes.[7]One researcher described the pain as "…immediate, excruciating, unrelenting pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations."[4] In terms of scale, the wasp's sting is rated near the top of the Schmidt sting pain index, second only to that of the bullet ant, and is described by Schmidt as "blinding, fierce [and] shockingly electric".[1] Because of their extremely large stingers, very few animals are able to eat them; one of the few animals that can is the roadrunner. Many predatory animals avoid these wasps, and many different insects mimicthem, including various other wasps and bees(Müllerian mimics), as well as moths, flies (e.g., mydas flies), and beetles (e.g., Tragidion) (Batesian mimics).

Aside from the possibility of triggering an allergic reaction, the sting is not dangerous and does not require medical attention. Local redness appears in most cases after the terrifying pain, and lasts for up to a week.

 

[Ungoliant]

I hear it has one of the most painful stings there are, I don't ever want to find out what it feels like.

Skip to 10:40 for the actual sting.

 

[GingerC]

Ahh, the tarantula hawk! They're really pretty, but I wouldn't wanna mess with one :s

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Ha ha I know! At least they aren't very likely to sting unless provoked. I've even had them fly into me, thankfully they are wasps and not hornets!

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Skip to 10:40 for the actual sting.

Ha ha I disliked the guy in the clip "I'm going to show you why not to get a pet alligator by provoking this one here and then sticking my arm in it's mouth!" But the part where he gets stung, yeah no thanks!

 

[aphono]

Yeah he is kind of stupid.. on top of it all, he apparently has a thing about NOT crying... Uhm, okay..compensating or whatever...

On the other hand, those rubber tipped tweezers! Would that work in picking up little crickets without killing them? I have a heck of a time trying to pick out pin head crickets for T slings- sometimes they get uhm, "squished a bit too much for their good"..

 

[GingerC]

I've always liked that channel- you've got to remember, the dude's working from a script, so the things he says aren't necessarily his own opinions. But that's not really the point, the point is the "educational" value of it all.

(In case it wasn't obvious, replace "educational" with "sadistic".)

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

The reptiles were really out yesterday! Here is a snake track in the sand. We hiked to the wild horse tank in the saguaro NP from the speedway trailhead.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Canyon tree frog tadpoles and a Sonoran mud turtle!

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Even rattle snakes get thirsty It was drinking before we scared it into a defensive position.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Gila monster this is the third one I've seen this year! They on average spend only 3 weeks a year above ground. The rest of the time is spent in burrows. They can survive on 5 meals a year!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Still no centipedes... peccato

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Still no centipedes... peccato

I have sadly never seen a centipede in Arizona! I have always wanted to find a Scolopendra heros I have looked under many pieces of wood, I only ever see lizards, scorpions and beetles!

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

I actually took a picture of the same horned lizard before. This is the one I pictured next to the spider burrow. This time the lizard was not running away, but instead becoming one with the dirt. The ants didn't even notice it's ominous presence. Even walking over it multiple times. I was able to watch it eat one ant, but by the looks of it this isn't a super hungry lizard

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

The sad remains of a desert tortoise. This was off the trail in a wash.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

The bees have been swarming a lot the past month or so :-S This swarm looks as though it built a comb in the tree. Twice while hiking I have had huge swarms of bees fly over head, it's pretty scary. I'm not sure what the percentage of Africanized bees are out here in the desert. But I try to avoid any I see

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Another Gila monster, again on the wildhorse trail. Although judging by the patterns and the fact that this one seemed to be missing the tip of it's tail. It is a different lizard! I guess maybe it is the breeding season, so they are more active than usually. I have a video clip but I would have to upload it to a file sharing site :-/ so I'm not going to add it here.

 

[aphono]

Way cool. I have never seen them in the wild... sure would love to someday.

 

[GingerC]

At this point, I'm just living through you because I live in Mesa