Comments on: The Meaninglessness of Nature

By: AdamB

AdamB — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You know, I think they are rather pretty bugs. For some reason beetles (outside of roaches, which I beleive are a type of beetle technically, though I could be wrong) have never had any sort of ew factor for me. I guess I just don’t associate them with any sort of health or hygeine issue (unlike flies, ants, mosquitoes, silver fish, cockroaches, etc.)

By: AndiF

AndiF — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I am really sentimental about junebugs because the sweetest dog that ever owned me was crazy about them. Just about every summer night, our house would resonate with the sound of Nugeli thumping against the side of the house in order to catch junebugs. As far as I could tell she never ate any; she’d just “pop” the one she’d caught and then go after the next one.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m just an amateur scarabologist, but I’m reasonably sure that when green junebugs swarm without explanation, it doesn’t portend shit.

Well, it does portend junebug shit, anyway.

By: ae

ae — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Great junebug nookie action shot, Twisty! Just gorgeous. You should do a naturalist guide for North South Austin. These are damn good. The leaves underneath look so pretty.

AdamB, silverfish rank right up there with Tim and Beverly LaHaye in giving me the heebie jeebies. Brrrr.

By: Becker

Becker — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Proper junebugs have been gone from Missouri for so long people have come to give the name to different beetles altogether. It’s sad, but then again, what good are junebugs if you don’t have string? I mean, who has string anymore?

By: Xavier Harkonnen

Xavier Harkonnen — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In Utah we call them Box Elder bugs. My friend Joe calls them fuckbugs, because they frequently and unashamedly transfer DNA right in front of you.

By: bitchphd

bitchphd — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

They are pretty, and I love the sound they make. Them and cicadas.

By: Orange

Orange — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aw, we don’t have any giant green beetles around these parts. The last two swarming infestations I witnessed were far more horrifying than iridescent sex-crazed bugs: thick clouds of gnats that made the air gray, and hordes of millipedes that punished their killers by releasing a stink when stomped on.

By: e2

e2 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Xavier, I'm from northern Utah (right near Box Elder County) and we don't call those Box Elder bugs. We call Twisty's bugs pretty. Box Elder bugs are those nasty little critters with red on their backs that congregate in great masses, usually on the outside of your dilapidated fake stucco rental, and then migrate to your inner sanctum throughout the winter. They then tend to fall, with alarming regularity, into your nice, beautifully topped off homebrew and taste like juniper berries. The cat won't eat them. Hell, even the fish won't eat them!

By: Chris Clarke

Chris Clarke — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In Utah we call them Box Elder bugs. That's interesting, Xavier, because in both Virginia and California (and, apparently from the upcoming link, in Illinois) "box elder bugs" refers to these cute little guys. I like watching the ways common names for organisms change from place to place. (Writing the obligatory joke about "entomology" and "etymology" has been left as an exercise for the reader.)