Kabuto mushi (insect)

woodworkingboy

TreeHouser
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The time of year to see these guys in my area, very cool giants of bugs. I think rather beautiful with their nicely shaped shiny strong bodies, enclosed in a kind of armor. Tough fighters, male against male. long battles of pushing and pulling to dislodge the opponent from their perch, like sumo wrestlers. The legs have tiny spines and they can really grip. The strength is quite surprising, they twist in your hand and it requires a good grip to hold them. They fly onto older Oak trees and drink the sap where there are cracks in the bark, but not considered a damaging insect. The males have the long proboscis. Rather slow flyers, mostly active during early morning and night hours, running into one while on your bike will give a good bop on the head. They do pretty well in captivity on some honey diet, or you can buy a special food jelly in tiny cups, kids hunting them is a major summer activity. Named after the helmets that samurai warriors used to wear during battles. A bugs kind of bug, very active mating. The females don't seem to refuse. ;)
 

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Definitely, some musculature that you don't normally associate with insects. It isn't so easy to pull them off the bark.
 
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