| 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!
