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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature:  Creepy Crawly Bugs


Outside there is a true beauty to California nature, Unfortunately nature also has some creepy crawly insects that you will want to avoid.

There are several species of stinging caterpillars in California, including the common grapeleaf skeletonizer, several buck moths and the puss caterpillar. The grapeleaf skeltonizer is found on plants in the grape family. It is a small caterpillar, white, with two blue bands at a quarter of the distance from the head and tail ends and a broken blue band in the center. Each segment of the body is adorned with a transverse row of black urticating hairs in clusters of thirty or more.

Buck moths are chiefly found feeding on a variety of desert plants and will rarely be encountered. All the species are similar in appearance with a distinctly segmented body and six complete rows of dark-branched urticating spines. The head is brown and hard and distinct from the rest of the body
The puss caterpillar is found in California nature and can give you a nasty sting The puss caterpillar is covered with so many hairs it looks like its wearing a fur coat. Interspersed among the body hairs are numerous, yellowish, lack-tipped urticating hairs. This species is found in the southwest portion of the state where it prefers an oak woodland habitat. If you are stung by a stinging caterpillar, use cellophane tape to remove the venomous spines and then wash the affected area with soap and water and apply an antiseptic petroleum-based ointment. Go to a doctor if severe systemic reactions occur.

Puss caterpillars are a convex, stout bodied larva, almost 1" long when mature and completely covered with gray to brown hairs. Under the soft hairs are stiff spines that are attached to poison glands. When touched, these poisonous spines break off in the skin and cause severe pain. In California, there appear to be two generations per year, one in spring and the other in the fall. Natural enemies keep these caterpillars at low numbers during most years; however, they periodically become numerous.
Probably no creature on earth can cause as much torment for its size than the tiny chigger. Chiggers or "red bugs" are the larvae of mites belonging to the family Trombiculidae. In humans, chiggers can cause intense itching and small reddish welts on the skin Chigger mites are about 1/20 inch long, usually bright red, have hairy bodies, and travel rapidly.

Chigger larvae do not burrow into the skin, nor suck blood. Chiggers attach themselves to the skin, hair follicles or pores by inserting their piercing mouthparts. When chiggers attach to humans, they are not usually noticed for some time. During feeding, they inject a fluid into the skin which dissolves tissue. Chiggers feed by sucking up the liquified tissues. Although chiggers in North America don't usually carry any diseases, the bites themselves can get infected. Although chigger bites are often more annoying than dangerous, one problem is that they are often confused with chicken pox. The fact that chigger bites are usually concentrated along a child's waist, ankles, neck, and arm pits, usually help to distinguish chigger bites from a mild case of chicken pox.
pillbugs are creepy looking bugs found in California nature Pillbugs, and sowbugs are slow-moving, crawling arthropods. They require high moisture and are most active at night. When resting during the day, they may be found under trash, rocks, boards, under decaying vegetation, or just beneath the soil surface. A heavy infestation indoors usually indicates a large population outdoors. Mulches, grass clippings, and leaf litter often provide the decaying organic matter they need to survive.

Both bugs are found throughoutCalifornia. They are wingless, oval or slightly elongated arthropods about half an inch in length and slate-gray in color with body segments resembling armored plates.  Pillbugs or "rolly-pollies" lack the tail-like appendages that sowbugs have and can roll into a tight ball. Sowbugs are often called woodlice and possess two tail-like appendages, seven pairs of legs, and well-developed eyes. They are incapable of rolling into a tight ball.
Centipedes and millipedes are commonly seen in yards and occasionally enter homes. Centipedes  are many-legged animals and belong to a group of animals called Chilopods. They are usually brownish, flattened animals with many body segments.

Most of the body segments have one pair of legs. Centipedes are fast runners and may vary in length from one to six inches. They have one pair of antennae or "feelers" that are easily seen. Centipedes have poorly developed eyes and are most active at night.

They are active predators and feed mainly on insects and spiders. All centipedes have venom glands to immobilize their prey. The jaws of the smaller local species cannot penetrate human skin; however, the larger species may inflict painful bites.
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