At first glance the animals, with their strong hind legs, resembled grasshoppers. But they lacked wings, which most grasshoppers have. Their front legs were studded with thorns, like those that praying mantids use to capture and hold their prey as they eat them alive. But the heads and hind legs of these baffling insects were clearly different from those of a mantis. From above they looked almost like plant-eating walkingsticks. Yet their second body segment was too short for a walkingstick, and their guts contained body parts from other insects, proof of carnivory.

With so many fundamental distinctions in body shape and diet, it took only a few hours to conclude with certainty that these organisms fit in no existing insect order. We would have to create a category for them, one on a par with the flies, the beetles and the termites.

Unbeknownst to science, this chain of life had remained intact for more than 45 million years!


http://www.sciam.com/media/inline/000C4A73-7799-1D9B-815A809EC5880000_1.jpg


http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=000C4A73-7799-1D9B-815A809EC5880000

Great, now I need not only Spider spray, Ant spray, and Wasp spray, but Gladiator spray, too.

- Warren

chroot

Now that mention it, throw out all that bug spray and mix up a batch of Q-spray. Simply get yourself a spray bottle, garden or flower variety, fill it up with warm water and a heaping wad of dish-soap. You can use Q-spray indoors or outdoors since it is fairly safe as it is merely dish-soap and water.

Since insects breathe through a complex network of air tubes (tracheae) that open to the outside through a series of small valved apertures (spiracles) along the sides of the body, the dish-soap clogs these air tubes thereby suffocating the insect.

I love the smell of lemony fresh dish-soap in the morning..... smells like victory! :D

BTW - Q-Spray is a trademark of Q-Enterprises Development (QED) :D

Originally posted by (Q)
thereby suffocating the insect.

That has to take like nine minutes to work. Then you have one really pissed off bug for nine minutes.... sounds like a bad idea. I'd rather give 'em CNS paralysis.

- Warren

Actually, I've sprayed wasps in mid flight. They usually fly another few meters, drop out of the sky, and by the time they hit the ground, they're on their backs doing the "legs-up twitch." Sometimes it takes a little longer but regardless of how long it takes, which is at most a minute or two, they are never in any condition to get mad and attack. They're usually gasping for air and are frantically trying to save themselves.

The solution works very well. Don't knock it till you try it. ;)

Heck, you only need to worry about them if you live in south africa.