When I was a kid, most of my time outdoors was spent searching for and learning about wildlife. Whether it was catching bluegills in a local pond or looking under rocks for salamanders. But by far the most horrifying and fascinating creature I ever came across was the cicada. There are nearly 2,500 species of cicada in the world. The ones I remember from my youth were most likely tibicen or dog day cicadas since they appear annually at the end of the summer. Their sound is almost unbearably loud but now that I'm living in the city and no longer hear it during the summer I miss it. One of my favorite memories is being woken up by my father in the middle of the night to watch a cicada molting. It was like a movie monster come to life. I wasn't scared of the cicada itself, but watching it molt from it's skin and leave behind a crunchy carbon copy was so unsettling. Not at all the same effect as watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon. I think it's because the discarded shell still had eyes which appeared to be looking at you. Something about having a casing covering your entire body, even your eye is really disturbing. I wonder what feels like to be in that skin just before they shed? It has got to be uncomfortable. During the summer, our yard would be littered with these shells which now remind me of the popplers. Looking back, despite being the creepiest thing I'd ever seen, they might be my favorite summertime creature based purely on scientific curiosity. Sorry, fireflies.
Next up in horrifying creatures, the house centipede.
Friday, January 29, 2010
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The worst thing I've ever imagined (aside from when I was thinking about vampires going to the bathroom) came to me when I learned that centipedes prey upon cockroaches. Just thinking about that, from a Honey I Shrunk the Kids point of view is so awful and scary. But, now that there's YouTube, I don't have to work so hard to be horrified.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9MWWcpitaw
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