African proverb: The little ant at its hole is full of courage.

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At the end of yet another hot day in the mid-30s I went for an hour's walk in the desert right around sunset, when the breeze starts.
Right in the middle of the path a zillion ants were scurrying in and out of their tunnel.
It was one of those times that I wished I had not worn sandals.

You can click once or twice on the photo if you really want a closer look.
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(Linking to Camera-Critters.)
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Late instar caterpillar on the road to metamorphosis

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Why did the caterpillar cross the road (or here, the sidewalk)?
 Probably to look for a twig in the wadi on which to spin its chrysalis.
 It will emerge as a Swallowtail butterfly,  a Papilio machaon syriacus.

The photo, taken in November, can be enlarged 2x. -- Recommended!

Butterflies in Israel -- the facts behind the stamps

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Linking to Camera Critters.
More butterfly posts:
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/safe-home-for-butterflies.html
and
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2011/12/of-moths-and-men.html
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Sand fly threat

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So, let's get back to discussing the intentional communities in Ramat Negev Regional Council that my group visited a few weeks ago. 

Everything looks nice and we heard about the advantages and good feeling of living together by choice in a communal settlement (yishuv kehilati).
 But we also noticed the lecturers kept rubbing their arms as they spoke.

And then our guide pointed out these fly traps hung all around (around the kindergarten, in this photo)  and the source of the itching became clear.
Traps not just for regular pesky flies but rather for dangerous little sand flies.

Sand flies of the genus Leishmania bite and cause leishmaniasis, known colloquially as the Rose of Jericho.  (Warning: that link shows ugly scars that can result from the bites.)
It has always been endemic in Jericho, but apparently in the last few years the disease has spread into Israel's Jordan Valley.
And now the sand fly has invaded certain parts of the Negev too.

Two years ago the Israel Ministry of Health designated  Sanford F. Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases of the Hebrew University as Israel’s National Laboratory for Leishmaniasis.
I just hope the various government authorities get their act together and decide who should be  responsible for controlling this threat in Israel.
 An estimated 12 million cases of leishmaniasis are reported worldwide, with 1.5-2 million new cases a year.

No one promised the early and the current pioneers in the Negev a rose garden, but they should not have to suffer from the Rose of Jericho.
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(For ABC Wednesday, U is for ugly urticarial papules.)
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Praying mantis

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Olives weren't the only green things we found in the olive grove.
Look at this big praying mantis!

Give it a click or two and enjoy the details of this strange insect.

A contribution to Camera Critters Weekend Meme.
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Passover plague of locusts

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Oh no, a locust!
It landed on my patio today.
Must have been almost 2 inches long. 
I sure hope it is not a harbinger of an approaching swarm.


Last month Egypt had a plague of millions of locusts, which made Israelis think of the ten plagues that the Bible says were needed to convince Pharaoh to let our people go.
But then the Egyptians of 2013 burned tires and the black smoke and the favorable winds drove some of the locusts across the border into Israel a few weeks ago.

Our Agriculture Ministry put the country on locust alert.
When swarms (some were 6 kilometers long!)  landed on field of crops in the south, they were sprayed by crop duster planes and trucks.

How strange to have locusts right before the Passover holiday.

Now we hear that some Jews, especially those from Yemen, like to bake this type of grasshopper until it becomes a crunchy delicacy.
There is some debate, but many rabbis rule that this locust is kosher, the only kosher insect.
If you have the stomach for it you can read "The locusts are coming! Yum!"

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(Linking to Camera-Critters meme.)
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Bite of summer

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Robin, a blogger in Israel, challenged us to a Sunday meme about our version of summer.
Well, here is what summer means for me:
Yep, I'm very sensitive to insect bites.
The pretty bottle contains vinegar. If you put it on a bite or sting right away, it helps a lot to stop the itching. I never go out without some cotton and a little vial of vinegar, just in case. Tiny bugs find me anywhere, even on the bus.
What I forgot to photograph is toothpaste. It heals most bites in a few days (as opposed to weeks).
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We have no natural bodies of water in Jerusalem like lakes or rivers. So for me summer is not swimming and fun.
It is lots of heat (no air-conditioning), winter greenery that turns brown and dry, and bugs that do not exist in cooler seasons. It is even too hot (no rain here for amost half of every year) to go hiking very far.
One good thing for Jerusalem: our higher altitude and inland location gives us less than half of sweaty Tel Aviv's humidity.
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Happy summer to Robin and all participants in Summer Stock Sunday!

Praying with a mantis

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this and nothing more."
. . .

. . .
Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore--
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;--
'Tis the wind and nothing more.
. . .

from "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

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Would that I could write such poetry. But I too, in the midnight silence, heard a sudden TIK at my window.
It turned out to be a visitation by a big praying mantis!
Strange . . . I was praying a bit before going to bed when the Mantis religiosa (his scientific name) appeared. It was nice to have someone to pray with.
Especially since mantis is Greek for prophet.
Luckily there was a screen between us. A mechitza maybe?
;-)
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You're invited to the Camera-Critters meme to see other bloggers' animals.

Creepy caterpillars on the capers

Bright fuzzy caterpillars on the caper bush? OK . . . Bon appetit, little critters!
See those serious thorns? Ouch! I never cut caper branches without strong gloves.

And you have to keep after them all the time or they overrun everything. They seem to thrive in old stone walls.

To see what animals other bloggers posted this weekend check in at Camera-Critters blog.

Computer bug!

Oh, gross! I returned from a walk in nature in the cool of evening only to discover a myriad of winged ants dancing frenetically on my warm notebook computer and mouse.
Talk about computer bugs!
I even shot a video of their rapid movement but I will spare you. The photo is bad enough!

Please go enjoy some bigger and prettier animals over at our Sunday meme at http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/.