Lemurs are Hard to Come by...but Insects Aren't

Even though this is the only place in the whole world that has lemurs hopping, leaping and dancing around, it is still pretty tough to find one. Most of the time you have to be happy with seeing other animals instead.

But for me, that's easy, I love insects. And insects are not hard to find here. Last weekend I went with my wife to help her office collect plants and replant trees in a forest very close to the Indian ocean. While walking along and looking for plants we came across plenty of fantastic six-legged creatures.

This little girl looks like part shrimp and part grasshopper. How do I know it's a girl? Look at that long skinny needle coming out of her abdomen (butt). That's an ovum depositor. An egg laying tube in other words.

Look at the claws and jaws on this hunter. That would be a scary creature to meet in the dark.

Ok, maybe not that scary. This praying mantis is pretty tiny after all.

But like all praying mantids, it is still a great hunter. And also like all praying mantids, it comes complete with wonderful camouflage.

Not every insect spends part of it's life as a caterpillar, but every insect does have six legs. Even caterpillars only have six. Flip one over next time and count the shoes. You'll find six shoes or legs in the front that all look about the same, short with little claws. And behind them you will find several sets of stumpy legs with suction cups on the end. Those act like legs, but they are not legs. They are fake legs and disappear when the larva pupates and pops out an adult.

This katydid did do what katydids do do so well...it hid. Katydids eat leaves, but there are lots of things that eat them back, so they have to blend in while they enjoy their salads.

Here's someone on the prowl, or should I say on the slither, for a tasty katydid.

"Hey, fungus isn't an insect!"

You're exactly right, but that isn't a white puffy colony of fungus--it's an aphid! But if you want to hide, looking like a ball of untasty fungus is a neat trick. Look closely and you can see little black lines. Those are the legs. Yep, six of them.

And here's the weirdest of them all. I stared at this little darling for awhile. I couldn't tell what it was. It walked like an ant, but there were no other ants around. And most ants love to be around their ant friends. It had six legs and three body parts, so it couldn't be a spider.

Or could it? The thorax and abdomen may look like two separate parts, but they do seem awfully close when you zoom in. And maybe I counted my legs before they hatched, so to speak. Those two skinny "antenna" up front actually bend in the middle like, say, legs. Six plus two is eight. Eight legs, two body parts. Hey, wait a minute, it is a spider.

When I went to pick it up after observing in for several minutes, something else happened. I accidentally knocked it off a leaf, but it didn't fall to the ground. It fell halfway to the ground, and floated in the air, hanging from a long thin...silk thread.

You never can tell with little creatures. Look close they may not be what they seem. Why don't you head outside today and see if you can find something cool and creepy. Good luck and don't hurt the poor things. You're way bigger and scarier than any of them.