Have you ever had any weird experiences with bugs you weren’t familiar with at the time?

glumshoe:

Plenty, but this made me think instantly of last summer when I met @vampireapologist for the first time in TN for the eclipse. We’d gone barefoot hiking within twenty minutes of her arrival, and a large, green beetle scuttled across our path. She bent to pick it up as I whipped out my phone to photograph it. It was beautifully iridescent and colorful, and neither of us had seen one like it in either Indiana or Ohio. 

If we had, we wouldn’t have picked it up. The fiery searcher caterpillar, a native of Tennessee, releases a powerful stench when distressed. Smelly Anne had stinky fingers for hours despite washing her hands multiple times.

These also live in Texas, and they have beautifully rainbow-colored bellies, but they do Not like being handled.