I hate Bugs!

Bugs are ICKY! Bugs are GROSS!

Yes, there are some bugs I can tolerate. Ladybugs, for instance. Ladybugs are nice, small, pretty to look at, harmless, helpful to flowers. I like ladybugs.

Dragonflies are cool too. Again, nice to look at and pretty harmless. Butterflies are nice also.

I am talking ICKY bugs. Giant cockroaches. Crickets who eat book adhesive. Stinging bees. Evil wasps. Biting, Nile virus-carrying mosquitos. Buzzing cicadas. Giant moths who crash into your head for fun. Anything bigger than 1/4 inch, that flies into you on purpose and is ugly and hairy and dirty and germy and can hurt me or crawl on me!

Yes, I know that bugs are beneficial blah blah blah we need them for pollinating crops blah blah the ecosystem depends on them blah blah blah. Can't they STAY at the farm then? Huh?

It's summer in Arizona. And with summer, comes bugs. They're EVERYWHERE!!! Just last Monday, there were THREE different bugs on my landing at seperate times that were over 2 inches long. That's inexcusable! That's MY private landing, and they were NOT invited! Bastards.

Yesterday, I was walking my dogs in the courtyard. When I moved here, I had my choice between 2 apartments. One was overlooking the main pool by the office, and one was off to the side of the property, overlooking a courtyard. As I did not want to hear screaming kids all summer and see people squished into bathing suits that should not be squishing themselves into bathing suits, I opted for the latter. How nice, a little quiet area to walk my dogs in peace, away from traffic and the parking lot and screaming children.

Well, we were out there and I was standing in the shade of this big tree. It's 110 degrees out now, and shade is essential!!! I just happened to glance over at the tree trunk (which was about 2 feet away from me) and this is what I saw:



ICK!!! What the hell? I about DIED! There were so many. Obviously, I could not take pics of all of them, besides they are basically the same thing anyway. I got away from that tree only to discover they were all over ALL of the trees in the courtyard! No fair!

Closeup -

I realized, of course, that these were exoskeletons (see, I paid attention in science) after the initial shock wore off. You could see where the insect burst out the back of the thorax. Ick ick ick. The actual bug itself was nowhere to be seen, thankfully. But, then I thought about it...

If there are THAT many bug shells on these trees, that means that there are THAT many BUGS in these trees! ACK!

I'm having a really hard time walking my dogs now.