Brachystola magna

Posted 15 September 2014 by

Photograph by Ralph Arvesen. Photography contest, Honorable Mention.
Brachystola magna -- plains lubber, or western lubber..

20 Comments

Marilyn · 17 September 2014

It's not that I'm hungry, but is this one of those that you can eat ?

KlausH · 17 September 2014

No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.

https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c · 17 September 2014

KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.

https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c · 17 September 2014

May I go slightly off-topic and say that the quality of the "Honorable Mention" photos is superb.

Matt Young · 17 September 2014

May I go slightly off-topic and say that the quality of the “Honorable Mention” photos is superb.

I do not think it is especially off topic, and I too am impressed by the quality of the photographs we have received. Unfortunately, we are running low on Honorable Mentions, and we may shortly have to reduce postings to 2 per month. This photo is from 2009, which was a bumper year. I have not looked closely, but I think the number of entries has decreased slightly each year since 2009. Regarding the grasshopper, incidentally, he has 4 legs for walking and 2 specialized appendages for jumping.

Mike Elzinga · 17 September 2014

https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c said:
KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.
"Four legs good, two six legs baaaad!"

Marilyn · 18 September 2014

Mike Elzinga said:
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c said:
KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.
"Four legs good, two six legs baaaad!"
Why is it that ones with four legs are OK to eat but the six legged ones aren't good to eat or are you just pulling the leg.

Just Bob · 18 September 2014

Marilyn said:
Mike Elzinga said:
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c said:
KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.
"Four legs good, two six legs baaaad!"
Why is it that ones with four legs are OK to eat but the six legged ones aren't good to eat or are you just pulling the leg.
Leviticus 11:21-2

21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.

Just Bob · 18 September 2014

Just Bob said:
Marilyn said:
Mike Elzinga said:
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c said:
KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.
"Four legs good, two six legs baaaad!"
Why is it that ones with four legs are OK to eat but the six legged ones aren't good to eat or are you just pulling the leg.
Leviticus 11:21-2

21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.

Actually, I get the pre-scientific confusion of thinking grasshoppers and locusts have 4 legs, not counting the 2 very different hoppers. But beetles? What kind of beetles could ever be thought to have only 4 legs?

Mike Elzinga · 18 September 2014

Marilyn said:
Mike Elzinga said:
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c said:
KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.
"Four legs good, two six legs baaaad!"
Why is it that ones with four legs are OK to eat but the six legged ones aren't good to eat or are you just pulling the leg.
Animal Farm. See page 13.

Jim Thomerson · 18 September 2014

I grew up on our family ranch in Menard Co. TX. We would get various concentrations of lubbers from year to year. I don't recall ever seeing a subadult. I used to gather them and sell them for fish bait for a penny each. I no longer live at the ranch, but visited during the 2012 outbreak. There were many more lubbers than I had ever seen before. My father told me that at times they were so numerous that enough lubbers would get squashed on train tracks, and lubricate them to the point that a train could not get traction.

Marilyn · 18 September 2014

Just Bob said:
Just Bob said:
Marilyn said:
Mike Elzinga said:
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c said:
KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.
"Four legs good, two six legs baaaad!"
Why is it that ones with four legs are OK to eat but the six legged ones aren't good to eat or are you just pulling the leg.
Leviticus 11:21-2

21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.

Actually, I get the pre-scientific confusion of thinking grasshoppers and locusts have 4 legs, not counting the 2 very different hoppers. But beetles? What kind of beetles could ever be thought to have only 4 legs?
Something could have gone extinct; a missing link yet to be discovered..... 'On all fours' could mean something that doesn't walk upright, but with a horizontal spine parallel to the ground, as in a crawling position.

Just Bob · 18 September 2014

Marilyn said:
Just Bob said:
Just Bob said:
Marilyn said:
Mike Elzinga said:
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkfz_ydidIaI_m6NKfKsDtTO1rKHmi8B-c said:
KlausH said: No, you may only eat the 4 legged ones.
Don't worry. Just pull off the 2 smallest legs and carry on.
"Four legs good, two six legs baaaad!"
Why is it that ones with four legs are OK to eat but the six legged ones aren't good to eat or are you just pulling the leg.
Leviticus 11:21-2

21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.

Actually, I get the pre-scientific confusion of thinking grasshoppers and locusts have 4 legs, not counting the 2 very different hoppers. But beetles? What kind of beetles could ever be thought to have only 4 legs?
Something could have gone extinct; a missing link yet to be discovered..... 'On all fours' could mean something that doesn't walk upright, but with a horizontal spine parallel to the ground, as in a crawling position.
Read the passage. It says specifically that beetles are OK to eat because they have 4 legs (as opposed to all the forbidden bugs with 6 or more legs).

Mike Elzinga · 18 September 2014

Jim Thomerson said: I grew up on our family ranch in Menard Co. TX. We would get various concentrations of lubbers from year to year. I don't recall ever seeing a subadult. I used to gather them and sell them for fish bait for a penny each. I no longer live at the ranch, but visited during the 2012 outbreak. There were many more lubbers than I had ever seen before. My father told me that at times they were so numerous that enough lubbers would get squashed on train tracks, and lubricate them to the point that a train could not get traction.
Mayflies cause similar problems on highways in the Great Lakes region. They get so thick that they completely smear the windshield of a car with slimy, sticky goop; and they make the road so slick that there can be multiple car pile-ups due to bad visibility and greasy roads. I got caught in one of these swarms many years ago. I had to go at a crawl on the shoulder of the road until I reached my destination. And man did they stink! Cleaning the car took hours.

hrich · 18 September 2014

Could it be that 'beetle' in Leviticus 11:21-2 is a mistranslation of a word that in the Hebrew means something not a beetle?

Dave Luckett · 18 September 2014

hrich said: Could it be that 'beetle' in Leviticus 11:21-2 is a mistranslation of a word that in the Hebrew means something not a beetle?
As Bugs Bunny would say, "Ehhhh.... could be!" The Hebrew word הַחַרְגֹּ֣ל ("hahargol"), translated "beetle" by the KJV, occurs only once in the OT, so its meaning is a guess from context. It possibly might mean "beetle", but more likely it means "cricket" or some specific species of cicada. The reason that these translations are more likely is because "beetle" is not consonant with the general rule given in v 21: "those that have legs jointed above their feet for leaping in the air". It would appear that the translators of the KJV, back in 1611, did not have a comprehensive grasp of Linnaean insect taxonomy. Who knew?

Dave Luckett · 18 September 2014

Oh, dear. It seems that an attempt to give the Hebrew script failed. It looked all right on the preview. Oh well. The rest is right enough.

Marilyn · 19 September 2014

I suppose it will have to be a conscience decision. Either way it will have gone by then, hopefully.

Kevin B · 19 September 2014

Marilyn said: I suppose it will have to be a conscience decision. Either way it will have gone by then, hopefully.
This seems to be a non sequitur May I create another disjunction by asking if the photo is of an extra from Quatermass and the Pit? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6105578.stm

Andy White · 6 October 2014

Are you guys serious about easting it? Has anyone tried it yet???