Entomology

I have a collection of insects that I keep - outside - at our house in Houston. As soon as I capture a new specimen, I search the internet in order to determine whether or not it is dangerous. So far, I have not discovered many harmful creatures. Just very gross-looking ones. The bugs down here are enormous compared to those up north. The Banded-Winged Grasshopper in the picture below is about two-and-a-half inches long. The lovely Palmetto Bug (read: American cockroach) next to it is over two inches in length. The Cicada Killer, second from the right, curled up after it died. It has a stinger, but allegedly is not aggressive toward humans. The scorpion-looking thing is actually a gentle Southern Mole Cricket. Even though these critters appear pretty repulsive, they are fairly innocent. I must admit that I am becoming somewhat desensitized to all of the insects in Texas . . . as long as they are outdoors!

Some of the interesting bugs in my collection.