The other day whilst exploring one of the more remote regions of our shop (i.e. the middle) I was rather disgusted to come upon what seemed a secret stash of legs and heads from potato bugs/ground babies/big ass disgusting orange ground-dwelling bugs. These insects are usually 1 to 2 inches long, ranging from bright to burnt orange in color, live in the ground, have big mandibles, and black horizontal stripes on their abdomen. Also, they appear slimy usually, but that might be just a prejudice (I HATE insects in general-they are the one thing that creeps me out, I don’t know why).
But this was exceedingly strange: Here, in the middle of a 5000 square foot, concrete-floored, roofed shop, on a 4-foot high table, in about a single square foot of area, were the remains, legs and heads only, of at least 100 of these darn things! I didn’t search around, but the type was fairly selective-carcasses of other bugs were few and far between.
Looking up, their is a rafter, but it forms a tight box, so while a bird might nest there, it would have to really work to drop those parts out of the nest. Plus, that rafter isn’t one of the Two Traditional Nesting Sights Where We The Birds Can Crap On Your Nice Cars. Also, what self-respecting bird picks the heads and legs off a meal, repeatedly? I figure a big spider might be the culprit, but where would he find so many of these things in that location? Around here (Central Coast CA), they seem pretty rare fortunately, so where did anything find so many of them to feed almost exclusively on them? Anyone heard of anything like this before?
Yeah, actually. Mice will eat bugs, and are tidy and territorial creatures, so I wouldn’t be surprised if your resident mouse hit the bug jackpot one week and left all the icky parts in a nice pile.
You say it’s a little-used section of the shop? Did you also see mouse turds, or maybe a nest or bedding?
And I’m intrigued by what kind of bugs they are. “Potato bugs”, in the rest of the U.S., means a kind of beetle that lives on potato plants, which obviously isn’t what you’re describing. A Google search for “California orange ground-dwelling insect” turned up this: http://nrs.ucop.edu/reserves/stebbins/insects.htm
Is this it? (WARNING: big ugly pic of big ugly sci-fi movie-type bug!) :eek:
Yup, they are Jerusalem Crickets, alright. I knew “Potato Bug” was the wrong name- its just what I’ve always heard them called. Possibly because you often find them while digging up potatos. Ick, I hate those things!
Yup, they are Jerusalem Crickets, alright. I knew “Potato Bug” was the wrong name, and now that you’ve said it I recall hearing it before- its just what I’ve always heard them called. Possibly because you often find them while digging up potatos. Are the real thing large and disgusting?
I will have to check for mice. That actually seems the most likely culprit, a creature both mobile and picky. But it seems like it would take a whole colony of mice to leave the sheer number of parts I found… Maybe I have a bigger problem on my hand than big bugs?
Um, sweetie, there’s no such thing as “one mouse”, as in “the mouse” or “a mouse”. They’re like cockroaches–if you see one in a big, dark, quiet, little-used building, there are, oh, at least, say, maybe, um…[giggling helplessly some more]… oh, probably at least two more, hiding.
Another possible predator is a bat. Although these more usually take flying insects, some species do pick crawling insects off surfaces. Bat roosts often have large piles of insect legs, wings, and other less edible parts below them. Is there a space above the rafter where a bat could squeeze in? And bats have high metabolisms and enormous appetites -a single one could easily leave the remains of hundreds of insects below its roost. I wouldn’t expect a mouse or other non-flying small mammal to bring its prey back to a central location, especially on an open tabletop where it would be vulnerable to owls.
Whoa, catch your breath, Duck Duck, it’s OK… But really, you think there might be more than one?
In any case, It doesn’t seem to be “a” mouse… between six cats (well, at least OUR cats… I won’t vouch for other peoples) mice don’t stand much of a chance, and against all odds we have never had much of a vermin problem. Bats, though, we have lots of… and that rafter would be a great bat roost. I’ll have to get a ladder and check more closely. Excellent thought, Colibri.
