Sunday, October 24, 2010

Bat's in the belfrey, Bugs on the tile.....


For some reason the evening after a rain we get an infestation of these bugs. I guess the correct term would be some kind of beetle.
For some reason they only come out at night and only after a rain. Why?
In a area about 10 ft by 10 ft , I counted about 60 of them.... that's seems like a lot..
The don't seem to do any damage other than fly and buzz around into and around your head.
In the morning, the are all upside down on their backs, with a few still wiggling their legs.
I tried to right them up, but it seems that their useful work of buzzing and irritating ends after the sun comes up.
Perhaps they are called the vampire beetle?

The are about an inch or so.....
I wonder how they would taste.... not that desperate yet.

9 comments:

Bob Mrotek said...

Your little friends are males of the species Pleocoma puncticollis. They were in search of females in the damp cool evening (or early morning) and they were so intent on scoring that they just ran out of energy.

Tancho said...

Thanks Bob, If anyone knew I figured it would be Mr. Bob, Answerman!

You are wealth of knowledge, I just hope you know how much people appreciate your knowledge base!

JerryL said...

Yep, they are also called "Rain Beetles" and are found the forests etc.
The female is bigger and usually stays at home (burrows) and waits for the mail to come home.

Nita said...

About a month ago I wrote asking about a recipe for Tortilla Soup, since I had not been able to find any that tasted like what I had in Mexico.You asked about the spices used in a recipe I had found. Dried Mexican oregano, dried basil, pureed chipotle chiles, bay leaf, cilantro with the usual onions, lime juice , chicken, cheese, baked tortilla strips in a base of chicken broth. Anything you would add? Sorry it took me so long to get back, but some eye trouble developed.
Nita

Calypso said...

I have heard them called water beetles (not beatles - the mop tops of the 60's). Speaking of 60 - that is a lot of them.

Tancho said...

Hi Nita, I haven't seen too many recipes using Basil or Chicken in the soup, chicken stock possibly. Usually Anaheim, poblano chiles are used instead of chipotle, since they are pretty smoky and carry some heat, try just using the sauce that comes in the can the chiles come in.
Try a few recipes I am sure you will find one that comes close to the one you remember. Then just tweek a little.....

Tancho said...

Calypso, luckily we only see them in the moist evening...with that kind of quantity , too bad I can't figure out how to capitalize on them...

Don Cuevas said...

Tancho; (speaking of beetles) do you have a recipe for Tacos de Jumiles that you could share with us?

Saludos,
Don Cuevas

Tancho said...

Oh SeƱior Cuevas...where did you dig that one out? Did you taste them on your last trip to DF?

I am still waiting for karbnish.....

Here is some interesting info on your bugs ""As taco filling, in Taxco and other regions of Mexico they are eaten alive, as jumiles can live up to one week after the cooking process, including beheadedment and toasting. Scientific research showed that jumil has analgesic and tranquilizing qualities.

Jumil was discarded by the Mexican "high cuisine", following European standards, as it was falsely seen as having the typical "stinky scent" and "spicy bug flavor" of the other stink bugs. Their eating was regarded as the result of food shortage and superstition.""

You first.....