Desbreko

[color=#4B0082]Your link is broken, The13thMan. It should be pointing to [url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061027-tarantula-video.html]http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061027-tarantula-video.html[/url].

Speaking of arthropods eating small rodents and birds, I found this [url=http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyardbirds/hummingbirds/mantis-hummer.aspx][u]article[/u][/url] about a praying mantis eating a hummingbird. It's got pics, too:

[center][img]http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/8349/mantiscatcheshummingbirmi4.jpg[/img][/center]
I'm torn between feeling sorry for the hummingbird and cheering on the mantis. I think it's pretty awesome that the mantis could catch something that big.[/color]

[QUOTE=Dagger]My post won't follow the same format as most of the rest of the thread, since I just wanted to say that I thought this [url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0308_060308_spider.html][u] short article[/u][/url] was quite interesting. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the spider's body structure--even with the labeled photograph included, it doesn't totally make sense to me. Pretty interesting stuff, though.

~Dagger~[/QUOTE][color=#4B0082]o_O It looks like it has the abdomen of a spider, the thorax of a praying mantis, and the legs of a grasshopper. . . . The platypus of the arthropods?

And I'll also vouch for dragonflies biting when handled. They don't care if they're just sitting on you, but hold one in place and you'll find that sucker chomping down on your finger. Not that it hurts much--at least not from the common Darner dragonflies. Now, when I caught an alligator lizard and it latched onto my finger, that hurt. . . . But that's a different subject.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Probably my favorite insect is the praying mantis, or [i]Mantis religiosa[/i] (Order Mantodea, Family Mantidea). I find them around here occasionally, and I like catching and keeping them as pets. Usually it's not hard to find food for them; moths, beetles, and other easily catchable insects abound in the spring, summer, and fall. Watching them catch and devour their prey alive is lots of fun.

For some general info, these mantids grow to about 2, 2 1/2 inches long, and have wings covering their abdomen, which they can use for short flights. Males are usually a tan color, and females are green like the one in the picture. Another interesting thing about mantids is that, after mating, the females eat the males. They're like the ultimate dominatrixes.[/color]

I think I looked into that when we first switched to IPB and it would've been a huge pain due to differences in how IPB handles line breaks in posts messing with the HTML. I'm sure it would be possible, but it would probably require rewriting a good bit of the post templates.
 
Btw, I still have this screen shot of the Caramelldansen skin if you want to relive a bit of the magic. It's not really the same without the animation, though. :sad:

You remember right.

Most of those are likely search engine spiders.

I'll take the hug.

But we already made another Padded Room Party.

[color=#4B0082]Heheh. Remember that AIM conversation we had, oh, four or five months ago, Beth? The one where I laughed maniacally and said I had thought of a great prank? And that it didn't matter that I told you because you still wouldn't see it coming? Well, I'm patient in my plotting and today it paid off. :smirk:[/color]