| To hear sounds of chirping (stridulating) insects click on
the chirping cricket above and or on the table of crickets below.
Notice that crickets do NOT chirp by rubbing their legs
together! They rub a tiny scraper on one wing across a file on the
other wing. The file vibrates and causes a small stiff patch on one
wing to vibrate, producing the chirp. Here is another great source
of
information. |
I take
my biology students bug hunting here every year. Praying mantises
and even a walking stick have been found here. Last year a monarch
I tagged in this area was recovered in the Mexico mountains 1,643
miles south of Waterloo! NOTE: As of December of 2004 we learned
that two more of our monarchs were recovered in southern Mexico. We
can call them our biology class' "travel bugs"! The picture here is
a netted insect's view looking up at some students and
myself.
Many
people ask about why this area was never fully developed. The
streets were put in along with sewers and city water many years
ago, maybe even 20 years ago, with the idea that people would want
to build houses. Unfortunately for the developer, that didn't
happen. Reason unknown.
The
fact that it didn't is great for people who like to walk the area
but a financial disaster for the person who started the whole
enterprise. The streets are now crumbling.
Now this is one psychedelic
caterpillar!