Huhu and other beasties

 

I remember these from my youth - mobs of them used to beat themselves up crowding outside lights.

They are a native beetle about 50mm long (say 2 inches the biggest ones) with enormous antennae.  In grub form the live in rotton logs.

Last night one astounded Mr B by banging repeatedly on the glass doors when we had interior lights on after dark.  I managed to trick it with an outside light then get a couple of reasonable shots of its patterned carapace. (They fly by the way in case that wasn't obvious from the text above, and make a sound like a small furious helicopter.)

This morning, paddleboarding across the bay in mill-pond conditions, I could see ripples spreading from something small struggling in the water.  It turned out to be a cicada. Duly I fetched it out with the paddle, plonked it on board and continued with it to the nearest land to complete the rescue only to have the ungrateful wee beastie fly back in the direction of open water just as disembarkation was imminent.

Obviously his girlfriend was on the other side of the bay - or she'd ditched him and he was determined to drown himself anyway.