Strange Creature in Our Yard

I saw the strangest bug today. I'd seen a couple around here before, but hadn't had the wherewithall or energy to grab the camera and take some shots. Besides, if I remember right, one of them landed on my arm, and it freaked me right out... I brushed it right off and it disappeared.

I spent most of the afternoon, after downloading the pix trying to find information on it on the net. I figured it was unique enough that some of the words I used would bring it right up. NOPE! So, I continued to search. My wife thought it was funny that 3-4 hours later I was still searching for it. Well, I finally found it. (WAY too many hours later to mention here!)

That creature is a Wheel Bug aka an Assassin Bug aka a True Bug. It's called a Wheel Bug because of that ... "wheel" on it's back. Actually, when I was searching, I started looking for dinosaurs, because it reminded me of the one with the rounded "fin" on it's back, but I gave up looking for the specific name. It was on the rail of the ramp out our front door. I'd watched it walk part way up the rail and across the porch rail before I got the camera and this shot. (I have a Kodak DC3400 Zoom Digital Camera. The picture was center-weighted, and I was trying to use the close-up capabilities. They failed for most shots but for the ones I'm displaying here. I really HAVE to read the instructions, sometime!)

Back to the bug... He stopped on the corner of the porch rail, and appeared to be weighing his options. For some attempted shots, I raised the camera up in front of him, and he backed up a touch, like you would when something appeared out of nowhere in front of you... (and you'd go "Whoa!!!) But, even so, he didn't seem too intimidated. Then, he turned and walked back down the rail, dodging the camera by slipping off the top to walk on the side a bit. I watched him walk all the way (about 15-20 feet or so) to the end, and stop to "weigh his options". He was walking back up to the corner of the porch when I came in to start searching.

I tried:

• insect indiana leaf
• insect serrated thorax
• indiana bug brown "2 inches" wings
• insect indiana serrated leaf gray
• bugs indiana leaf

and various other combinations, including dropping "indiana". I looked mostly in Google's images, though I probably should have just used Google and pulled up a few of the first pages. Oh, well... I can be tenacious when I want to be.

I found quite a few pages on the thing, which I knew I would, once I knew the actual name. If you're interested, check out. What's That Bug, Assassin Bugs, Bug Guide: Wheel Bugs, and Wikipedia: Wheel Bug, among MANY others. (Like I said... Once you know the name, you can find BUNCHES of them.)

I just thought some of you might be interested because...

• It is a strange creature - Looks like something out of Space Troopers(?) and various other sci-fi movies
• It's considered an Assassin Bug (kills soft PEST bugs by grabbing them with the front legs, stabbing its long probiscus into them, exuding some type of enzyme that turns their insides to mush, and sucks 'em dry)
• It's bite while not exactly poisonous (it shouldn't kill you), can be quite painful, take weeks to heal, and can leave a scar
• The "wheel" doesn't appear until they are adults, after 4-5 moltings.

Strange what you can find in your own back yard, huh?

Marion Jones

In case you missed it, Marion Jones, 3-time gold and 2-time silver medalist in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, has pled guilty to two counts of lying twice to federal officials about doping (steroid use). (See LA Times - Marion Jones pleads guilty to lying about steroid use.) Both these times were after she won the medals, and, apparently, after she found out that she had been doping. (She says her trainer gave her "the Clear", beginning in September 2000 to July 2001, telling her it was flax-seed oil from 1999, and she didn't find out until November 2003. (See The Guardian (online newspaper from the UK) Jones may lose Olympic medals.)

Now, while I haven't been paying attention the Barry Bonds thing, apparently, this is the same excuse that Bonds used (that his trainer told him it was flaxseed oil).

Ya know... Trainers are responsible for the atheletes they train (be it team trainers, personal trainers, whatever). They and the atheletes know what's legal and what's not legal. There have been plenty of cases (seems in the last few Olympics), where atheletes have failed their "pee test", and banned substances were found.

The majority of atheletes really want to win (they don't do it for the experience or parties or whatever). They are competitive. And they all know the rules - If caught taking banned substances they will be kicked out of the Games, most will be stripped of any medals they won, and they will serve at least a few year ban. Most atheletes, especially in the Olympics, have just a few years when they are in their "prime" to win medals. And, I choose to believe that most will NOT take anything that runs the risks listed above. I DID say MOST, because there are SOME who will, and SOME whose parents will push them to, and SOME who are just trying to "pull the wool" over people's eyes.

I have much less trust in the individuals' trainers, though. How easy would it be to train a teenager for the Olympics and, if they don't perform to their expectations, convince them that the drug you are asking them to take is NOT a banned substance, though they know it is? I recall a young girl given some kind of cold or allergy medicine that apparently had a banned steroid in it. Whether the trainer knew or not, s/he should have checked. The athelete was dismissed from the games, and accused of doping. Did the Olympic committee whose responsibility is checking for doping CARE that the girl was young? I hope so. Did they then check to find out what she was given and by whom? I believe so. Was the amount of the banned substance found in the blood/urine enough to REALLY give her a performance advantage, or a high? I doubt it very much. And there are MANY OTC medicines which contain at least ONE of the banned substances. If an athelete has a headache or muscle-ache, what can they take? Ibuprophin (Motrin)? Acetemetiphone (Tylenol)? Naproxin (Alieve)? Asperin (Asperin)? And if they ARE told that's what they're taking, why would they disbelieve the trainer who spent the last few months or years with them? What if they get an OTC from their parents? Or are they just supposed to suffer?

Now that they can test for banned substances, they need to be able to test for the LEVEL, and before a person gets banned... from the individual game, the full Games, and the sport they grew up loving. 14yo kids should NOT be BANNED for years or life because they simply had a banned substance in their systems if they didn't know. (Lie detector tests can verify this.) The Olympics committee knows how long substances remain the bloodstream and urine. THAT'S how long they should be banned. If a trainer gave an athelete something and the athelete didn't know, that trainer should be banned for LIFE from the games in which they were caught.

Ok... What does this say about Pete Rose? Bonds? McGuire? and others? - Steroids in baseball is only going to give that athelete strength. It is NOT going to improve his eyesight, eye-hand-coordination, or timeing. Ok... it might help his speed a little, but to get a home run, you still have to hit that 9 to 9-1/2 inch circumference (see rule 1.09 - BTW: That's 2.86" to 3.04" diameter), 5 to 5-1/4 ounce sphere with a "smooth, round stick not more than 23/4 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length" (see rule 1.10). Should Rose be banned from the Hall of Fame? No... I don't think so. Enhanced or not, he set records doing something that while almost everyone can play, few can do as well. (From my understanding, he even bet on the games he played, FOR HIS TEAM. If he'd bet on the other team and his lost, that would be a different story, wouldn't it?

Ok... Let's give Marion Jones (remember her?) the benefit of the doubt, and she didn't know she was taking steroids when she won. What she DID do was lie about it after she DID find out. Now, think about this: If you were an athelete, and found out after the fact that you won those medals while on performance-enhancing drugs, would YOU want to tell ANYONE?

And what about that 14yo who had a banned substance in her system, not her fault, and only because she took an OTC for a cold or aches?

I understand that we want our atheletes "clean and sober". I'm from Indiana, near Indianapolis, and any time a Pacers or Colts player is in the news, I hate it when it's something negative they did. Do I blame them? Not all the time. I try to find out what happened... What "spin" EVERYONE is putting on the story. If I believe the athelete, then I don't care. If not, get them off the team, they're only ruining it for those who are following the rules.

As for Marion... Should she lose her medals? Well, I'm not sure as far as the steroids are concerned, and the fact that they would have to give one of her gold medals to 2nd place, who I understand is coming off a two-year ban for steroid use, kinda makes it seem hypocritical, doesn't it?

Should she lose her medals because she lied to the feds about it? NO. Atheletes are just people who's job is a sport. They get in trouble in various ways, just like "regular" people do. Should she pay for lying? YES. And it shouldn't be any more than any other celebrities get for lying to the feds. But if that's the only reason for taking the medals away, she SHOULD NOT lose them.

What do you think?
-wds