Primary Directive

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This post is dedicated to one of the primary drives of all creatures. No, not eating, sleeping, or finding shelter. Not checking your email or CrackBerry. Mating.

Emily sent me this article from Scienceray.com. It's full of good photos (check out the dragonflies), but I've cherry picked it for the ugliest bugs.

This first one is of a pair of amorous Lixus angustatus, aka Snout Beetle, aka weevil. They are the bane of flour and baked goods the world over, and come in such a wide variety that scientists are having trouble keeping them all straight. Suffice it to say you don't want them.








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Here we have the diminutive but lethal ambush bug. This insect pounces on its prey, which is often much larger than itself, grips the hapless victim in its forearms, pierces it with its beak, then sucks out its innards. I'm so pleased that we'll have more of these in the world thanks to this pair.

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Last but not least, we have a grasshopper pair. Could a post about ugly mating bugs be complete without a picture of mating grasshoppers? Probably, but I liked the colors and the sexual dimorphism here. I never would have thought the pink bug and the yellow bug belonged to the same species. But then, no doubt my wife and I get the same reaction. What's that pretty thing doing with that ugly thing?

Thanks, Emily.