[hntrjmprpro45]

I am not sure if it is the unusually hot and dry weather that is causing all of our insects to grow so big but I AM DONE WITH IT!

Just today I found a HUGE beetle (looked a bit like a June bug but almost the size of a gatorade lid) with antennae that were about an inch and a half long. I could literally hear it scuttle across our tile floor. Seriously, it was too big to smush with a shoe (could you imagine cleaning up that carnage?!) so I swept it out the front door onto the porch.....only to find a GIANT winged insect sitting on the front porch sun bathing itself. Again, this was nothing like any of the other flying insects I had EVER seen. It looked like a cross between a horsefly and a dragon fly. The body was WAY too big/round to be a dragon fly but the wings were too long and slender to be a horsefly not to mention it was easily 3 inches long Ya I didn't even go near that one!

Not 5 minutes after the epic beetle and monsterfly, I went into the bathroom only to find a huge wolf spider. Luckily, this insect was easy to recognize but again I was amazed at it's size (size of my palm). It also had babies on its back which only added to the yuck factor. I then went to retrieve some sort of insecticide only to find that all we had was scented Off bug spray. I figured a healthy dose of Deet might do the trick so I hosed down momma and babies. Babies scattered every where and I smushed those with a shoe, but momma spider was not so easy. I ended up trapping her under a cabinet and essentially fogging her and myself (its best to make sure you have the bathroom door OPEN). I think I will wait until this afternoon and see if my husband can check if its dead.

Has anyone else had any really weird/large bug sightings this year? Anyone know why they are so incredibly big?

[Frivian]

I don't usually find large bugs this far north... but about a month ago I found a wolf spider on the floor of my room next to my bed. Killed it, then 2 days later I saw a spider on my bed. Killed that one, then the day after that I saw another one on my bed.

Then I slept on my couch for literally 2 weeks. I was too afraid of the thought of having spiders crawl on me in my sleep!

After cleaning my room and not finding anymore spiders, I felt safe enough to move back into my room. But I am still paranoid about it and shake my blankets out before climbing into bed!

[Opus1]

Just today I found a HUGE beetle (looked a bit like a June bug but almost the size of a gatorade lid) with antennae that were about an inch and a half long.

I've seen those. I've also seen the more scarab-like beetles with the massive mandibles down here in Ga. One got on my boot outside of a store, and it was a good 3-inches long. Even though I had my boots on, I quickly jiggled it off. I wasn't taking any chances.

It looked like a cross between a horsefly and a dragon fly. The body was WAY too big/round to be a dragon fly but the wings were too long and slender to be a horsefly not to mention it was easily 3 inches long Ya I didn't even go near that one!

Cicada?

Has anyone else had any really weird/large bug sightings this year? Anyone know why they are so incredibly big?

I think it has less to do with the weather/heat and more to do with just happening across some types of insects you've never seen before. There's at least 3-4 times a year I see a bug I've never seen before. And I'm the type that takes an interest in insects, so I'm always watching them.

[1sock]

Has anyone else had any really weird/large bug sightings this year? Anyone know why they are so incredibly big?

We're in Minnesota, and just in the last few years I've started seeing "Giant Water Beetles". Now, I grew up ON A LAKE and never saw these dang bugs before, they look like the little cute black water beetles, if you gave them a bunch of steroids. Or like a large, swimming cockroach. Now, I understand that they are Giant Water Beetles, and supposedly they've been here all along, (though how I never saw one in 25years or so, I don't know!), and they are in our town parking lots dead, all the time. We have them in the parking lot outside of work, (dead), and about 2 years ago I was outside in the dark, doing chores, and heard "pinging" noises of something landing hard on the barn roof- went outside of the barn and saw these suckers all over the ground! I still have not actually seen them in the lakes, but I'm pretty sure if I'm swimming and find some of these swimming around me, I'll probably drown myself trying to get away.
Gross. I finally start to get over my fear of June bugs, and these suckers come along.

[coloredcowhorse]

Cicadas have a lengthy life cycle so that could be what you saw...and they are good sized.

Haven't had the annual Mormon Cricket migrations here this year, yet. These things are huge (2-3 inches long, 1-2 inches high) and voracious...they eat EVERYTHING. To keep your garden (and your yard) you put up a border of 8-10 inch high aluminum (not foil...metal sheeting) around whatever you don't want them to devour. Roads become slick with ones run over....reddish color completely covers lane markers. Major YUCK factor.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/searc...rickets+nevada

[maxiford812]

IHas anyone else had any really weird/large bug sightings this year? Anyone know why they are so incredibly big?

Do you live near a nuclear test lab?

Seriously, if I'd had a day like yours, I'd be in a fetal position in the corner.

[411]

I think I would have to move if those types of critters lived in my area.

Until I saw your post I thought nothing was worse than a palmetto bug. Dead or alive, I am paralyzed with fear. I can't get close enough to a live one to kill it and can't dispose of a dead one. In fact, I could probably dispose of a human body easier than I could a dead palmetto bug.

[BrookdaleBay]

I'm terrified of June Bugs. If I ever came across an insect larger then that, I would never leave the house. A couple weeks ago I found a http://i54.tinypic.com/2gtyskx.jpg Luna Moth attached to our back door.

[1sock]

I'm terrified of June Bugs. If I ever came across an insect larger then that, I would never leave the house. A couple weeks ago I found a http://i54.tinypic.com/2gtyskx.jpg Luna Moth attached to our back door.

Brookdale, June Bugs used to be my "scariest insect" too, (I think when I was a little girl one got caught in my long hair and terrified me- yucky and loud to boot, which I think made them scarier. I had the same problem with those flying grasshoppers...)

Anyway, meet our Giant Water Beetles
Somehow, Junebugs just don't seem as scary as they used to be to me....
http://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.co...ant-water-bug/ And Oh My Freaking' God, there's a picture of one eating a goldfish????? I think I'm happy I keep seeing them on land... I don't think I could handle finding them in the water.

[Kryswyn]

Luna Moths are beautiful! I hope you didn't kill it!

I don't like spiders. I hate them, but I won't kill them if I can move them. Now in VA we have assassin bugs. Not so bad when they're small, but when they get over 2" they are the things of monster movies and nightmares.

[Perfect Pony]

OK, so it was about 25 years ago or so, but when I lived in Palm Springs I was staying in the house with a friend and no adults and a 4" long Vinegaroon ran across the living room. I have never been so scared in my life. My friend and I locked ourselves in the master bedroom and piled towels under the door and cried. We didn't leave the room until morning. I'll never forget that bug or that night.

http://www.vinegaroonmoon.com/vinegawhat.htm

[Canaqua]

I've seen some monster bugs up here in Mass this summer too, some HUGE black horsefly/beetle things that bite, they are driving the horses nuts and don't care one bit about any brand of fly spray.

I'm actually starting to think that maybe that radiation from Japan is finally reaching here and causing mutant bugs!

[Vesper Sparrow]

I hate these things up at my camp, pine sawyer beetles:

http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/inse...wyerbeetle.htm

They are huge, with enormous antennae, and don't seem to be able to fly in the normal horizontal way. Instead, they fly low and vertically and end up looking for something chest height to land on, which usually ends up being my shirt.

I pretty much had a meltdown last year over the Asian Tiger Mosquitos on the trail. First year we had them, nasty bite and leave huge welts.

I was bitten or stung by an Assassin Bug when I was a kid. Still remember that.

The one big insect (other than butterflies and moths and dragonflies, which I love) that I don't mind is Daddy Longlegs. But I go out of my way not to kill any of them, preferring relocation.

[kookicat]

I so shouldn't have clicked on all of those links. If I lived over there, I'd walk everywhere with a hammer in case I saw a huge bug.

The moth is the worst! I have a real phobia of them...