A-Z of insects in India
on Roundabouts in Delhi (India), 11/May/2011 14:45, 34 days ago
Absolutely enormous antAbsolutely enormous antsthat feed off the normal sized ants. The small ants do all the hard work whilst the big ants supervise and then eat the small ants for dinner. It’s a bit like a lesson in corporate politics. So fascinated am I by their routine that I spent an entire lunch time the other day watching a big ant give the little ants instructions and then gobble up any small ants that came too close. I swear I even saw him use a bit of torn off leaf as a napkin whilst checking the stock market figures on his laptop.Cockroaches– urgh! I know it’s probably insect discrimination but there is a reason why in films featuring insects, cockroaches always play the mean, scary characters. They are diiiisgusting. I’m pretty bug tolerant and my inner Buddhist refuses to kill most insects but now when I spot one of these running towards me there is nothing doing but to whip off my flip flop and flatten it. I’ve been informed that some of them can fly. If this is true and if I do encounter one then I’m afraid that may be the end of my tenure in India. Either that or I’ll be purchasing a floor length bee keepers’ hat.Gheckos– not technically an insect but I wanted to mention them here as they are frequent visitors during the summer and the best bug deterrent around as they eat the cockroaches, spiders and mosquitoes. They look like lizards that have been put through a mangle as they’re completely flat and sort of glide along the walls and over the ceilings. Their only downfall is that apparently their droppings are highly poisonous; still there is no such thing as a totally safe option out here.Hunter spiders– I didn’t know these existed in India until I got bitten on the foot by one. I sort of blame myself for knowingly allowing it to reside in my room thinking it was just a harmless house spider. I also didn’t really relish the idea of trying to catch it and throw it out as this thing was the size of a small dinner plate. It was so big it didn’t crawl so much as swagger around the room. However, two weeks of purple swollen foot later I was not feeling so merciful. The next hunter spider I see will be joining the cockroaches. Of course my inner Buddhist still says this is not good karma and I will most likely be entering the next life as a cockroach or a hunter spider.Mosquitoes– these can be found just about anywhere in the world but what makes the Indian mosquitoes stand out is that, like the ants, they’ve been supersized. The tiger mosquitoes in particular are so big that you can see the stripes on their body that give them their name. Possibly one of the most pointless insects to exist as I fail to see what their purpose is other than to inflict pain, spread disease and cause sleepless nights. My mosquito net is my favourite thing. I can lie in bed and watch the mosquitoes try to come near then bump into the net whilst I shake my fists at them in triumph andmake faces. It’s all about the small victories.Termites– again, not exclusive to India but a lot more common here as they thrive in the warm, damp conditions provided by the monsoon season. What I don’t understand is that I thought termites were supposed to feed on wood, so it’s a mystery to me why I frequently open my wardrobe to find them munching quietly on my shoes. Possibly because they provide the warm, damp conditions that they crave but I didn’t bring that many pairs of shoes with me in the first place so I don’t really appreciate those that I do have being used as sustenance.