Got Bugs?? (Tucson, Sierra Vista, Prescott: home, landscaping, scorpion)

[Raean]

What kind of bugs are there in the southern areas?
How about northern AZ?
Mosquitos, Flies, Bees, Ladybugs, or things I've never heard of maybe?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Raean

What kind of bugs are there in the southern areas?
How about northern AZ?
Mosquitos, Flies, Bees, Ladybugs, or things I've never heard of maybe?

Probably lots you've never heard of (or at least seen):

Arthropods of Tucson, AZ

LOTS of wierd insects in AZ. Even in the relatively short time I've spent their I've seen moths that look behave & sound like hummingbirds, a tarantula the size of a very large saucer, & a wierd little fuzzy thing that scurried around like a maniac & looked like enormous snowflake (NO idea what the hell it was).

Ken

[keninaz]

In general I think you will find that you will have a bigger variety and more of the insects at lower elevations and where the temperatures are more to their liking.
I lived in SE AZ near Sierra Vista and had more spiders, scorpions and ants by far that we now have in Prescott but it's much cooler here too in the mountains at 5400'.
I only see small black ants here, and not often, few spiders and I have not seen a scorpion yet.
I fish frequently at one of several lakes in the area and yet I see few mosquitoes. We also have a creek across from our home yet I see almost none.
There are only a couple of varieties of rattlesnakes that like it this high. You can look at this if you are interested in that. Snakes of Arizona (http://www.reptilesofaz.org/herp-snakes.html - broken link) Clicking on the snake will show it's range in the state as you will note as you go higher there are on a couple types higer up.

[camnalex]

It seem like any places with greenerie (parks, yard landscaping, store landscaping etc.) attracts HUNDREDS of moths. They also have HUGE beatle like things called junebugs that fly around. Theres a few others but what i found nice was that no matter how moist it got (places like Bullhead, Lake Havasu, Lake Mead etc.) there were never any mosquitoes! In fact I went to Tennessee to visit and until they ate me up i forgot they even exsisted lol. Oh and also theres no ticks, so in a nutshell none of the bugs that really bother you unless you dont like moths

[Raean]

Thanks for the link Ken, will have to check it out.
Nice to hear no mosquitos, those can ruin the nicest summer day
Junebugs are pretty common here too, yuck!
Same as those moths that look like hummingbirds, though I've only seen 3 so they aren't that common.
I think the scorpion thing scares me a little, never had to deal with that before. If they're slow moving I can handle it, just don't like things that come at you fast and sting like wasps!
Thanks for the info guys

[camnalex]

Lol I personally have never seen a scorpion in Arizona but honestly I think that maybe just luck because everyone else I know there has seen one killed one or had one in their house, but Ive never known anyone that actually got hurt by one so I guess they are slow or maybe just not smart lol

[DesertZone]

I am always surprised at the lack of bugs I see in Arizona. I study wildlife and know there is many sp., but I dont see as many in numbers as I do in Idaho.
I have noticed though wasp and butterflies do seem to be common when I have been there, but not much in the way of flies and mosquitos

[keninaz]

I got stung by one a few years ago when I lived in Safford.
Really my fault in a way. I went outside bare footed on a very warm night and some little ones were on my driveway hunting small bugs.
I did not see them until I stepped on one and he stung my toe. It felt rather strange for a few days and that was it.
There were quite a few in the Safford area.
When I first came to AZ in the 60s with the Army when we went to field some on the guys liked to find them and drop them into red any nests. The ants took them apart and fed on them.
They said it was to rid out sleeping area of them but I think they liked doing it too.

[~PaperMoon~]

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

Probably lots you've never heard of (or at least seen):

Arthropods of Tucson, AZ

LOTS of wierd insects in AZ. Even in the relatively short time I've spent their I've seen moths that look behave & sound like hummingbirds, a tarantula the size of a very large saucer, & a wierd little fuzzy thing that scurried around like a maniac & looked like enormous snowflake (NO idea what the hell it was).

Ken

I've seen those things a lot here since moving here, those moths that look like hummingbirds! I wondered what those were! They move fast and look too big to be an insect and look like a little bird with wings that move fast like humminbirds. I've never seen flying things like that till I came here.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by ~PaperMoon~

I've seen those things a lot here since moving here, those moths that look like hummingbirds! I wondered what those were! They move fast and look too big to be an insect and look like a little bird with wings that move fast like humminbirds. I've never seen flying things like that till I came here.

Yeah they are pretty startling I have to say - very cool though once you figure out what they are. The hover in place while they feed from flowers just like a hummingbird and are roughly the same size (their beating wings sound a bit more leathery though). Sometimes called hummingbird moths or sphinx moths. REALLY COOL.

hummingbird moth - Bing Images

Ken