Sunday, July 5, 2009

Weekend Edition Sketch

(click for larger view)

I've been ever-so-slightly obsessed with insects recently. They're just so WEIRD! For example, on my aforementioned roadtrip with the 'rents, my mom & I exited the car at one point to take some pictures of Mt. Hood. Whilst hangin' on the roadside, my mom poked her finger at something that looked to be fuzzy, but turned out to be wet & slimy. We both thought it looked like trucker spit, but it was far too abundant to be the work of just one trucker, however talented. After conducting some research I now know the truth: it was a spittle bug. At first I was relieved to learn it was not human spit we touched, but not for long. The spittle bug gets its name from the bubbly foam surrounding it, which is not saliva, but urine & other bodily secretions which it whips into a foam with its legs and abdomen. Apparently it's a defense mechanism, because even other bugs don't want to go pawing through that stuff. See what I mean? You can't make this stuff up.

2 comments:

Nina Crittenden said...

Oooh, I love his stumpy little legs!

Anonymous said...

I googled this image of a spittle bug: http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/images/spittlebug_nymph.jpeg

Gotta say, I much prefer your cute ones!