Yesterday and the day before that, I saw some massive bugs outside my dorm. These bugs were about 2 inches long–maybe a little longer–about as big around as one of my fingers (and I do NOT have itty bitty digits), were either yellow and black or white and black striped, and flew. Yeah, they FLEW.
To me, the reminded me of overgrown wasps without the dramatic waist. I’m fairly certain they’re not cicadas, since they aren’t in the trees and don’t seem to have nearly the right body shape (they’re sorta like a tube of lipstick that’s been tapered down to a point at one end).
This begs the question: what the heck are they? I’m in northwest Indiana, and I’m not exactly accustomed to seeing bugs the size of Buicks. Are they dangerous?
Interesting. I don’t live in a dorm but I work in one (in mid-Kentucky), and yesterday I saw this huge cockroach-looking thing on the floor - at least as thick as my thumb and a good deal longer. I killed it with some 409 but it’s quite rare to see a bug that size around here.
That doesn’t answer your question, but it does point toward a huge-bug conspiracy of some sort for the midwest.
It’s probably a locust. Do they have cigarish shaped bodies? Also, are you seeing a lot of little brown shells around that look odd and bug like? That is their husks that they molt.
Ohhhh. You know, could be grasshoppers… though my kneejerk reaction (and I’m in NW IN also) was cicada. There are an unholy number of gigantic dragonflies this year also…
Floyd, that’s them, down to the burrowing (I’ve seen the burrows in the ground). ::shudders:: I don’t mind insects, normally, but wasps get to me. So, of course, the monster wasps of all time are going to infest the area around my dorm. ::sighs::