When insects attack
Posted 8 February 2010 // Helen Rickerby
Maybe it’s a sign that summer has finally arrived — a couple of short comments we’ve recently received from Te Ara users have been about insects.
Giant dragonfly
Giant dragonfly shopper
Blair McLauchlan sent in the above picture and says:
Today, 4 February 2010, a colleague bought a set of shelves from a store in Tory St, downtown Wellington. As he tried to leave, a frighteningly big dragonfly scared him by ‘buzzing’ him and then insisting on landing on him, and then his purchase.
He took a quick photo with his cellphone camera.
Black pine beetle infestation
Robin Roche’s insect problem is more ongoing, and more annoying:
We live in Whakamaru and this year we have had an infestation of black pine beetles. They come into the house just on dusk, through any opening and carry on for a couple of hours. We have never had this before and are wondering why.
If you know anything about black pine beetles, and can give Robin some advice, please leave a comment below.
I’m familar with those black pine beetles. We used to get them at our bach in the Coromandel. They make an annoying clicking sound and have a propensity to fall on your face while you’re asleep. Sorry - I don’t have any advice on how to get rid of them.
Your black pine beetles may be the introduced pest burnt pine longhorn (about 20-30mm long?). These critters are highly active in warmer weather; there’s probably a batch of larvae who have pupated after several years of grubbing about in pine wood and emerged from a tree near you. They’ll be all fired up to do the wild thing with other wild things before they die - adults only live for a matter of weeks, most likely.
I remember giant dragonflies well - riding home from school (think 1940s) they often hovered around our horses. Hence the name we had for them - horse dragonflies. Scary little dudes. I was sure they were dangerous. This is how myths are formed…