Thai wasps

**Curious George** · 14-06-2006, 06:59 PM

^ Again, your photos are superior. Since my name is "Curious", I couldn't let this go by without finding an ID. Information on the Web is sparse, with the included picture the best I could find. Maybe you should sell yours.

It's a longhorn beetle that has become a severe pest, infesting and killing young trees. The literature that I found said it was uncommon in Thailand though.

Cerambycidae Lamiinae Aristobia horridula

**Dougal** · 15-06-2006, 02:04 PM

There are apparently lots of different varieties of this type of beetle.

I used to live in Camberley in the UK, home to much of the British army. It seems that the army brought one type of this beetle back with them from India and it is now fairly common in the houses in the area, thus all new timber bought in that area needs to be treated specifically for it.

A bit of trivia.

**RDN** · 16-06-2006, 01:21 AM

Originally Posted by Dougal

There are apparently lots of different varieties of this type of beetle.

I used to live in Camberley in the UK, home to much of the British army. It seems that the army brought one type of this beetle back with them from India and it is now fairly common in the houses in the area, thus all new timber bought in that area needs to be treated specifically for it.

A bit of trivia.

I like trivia... I used to live in Camberley! Do you know Peter Gammon's shop on the hump in the A30 (Osnaburgh Hill), just before the traffic lights with the Frimley Road on the left. I lived in the flat above that shop for a year. And I remember the story about the beetle in the wood. Funny I should have one in my back garden 23 years and 6,000 miles later.

More trivia... it also probably explains why the guy who came to give me a quote for cutting my grass, trimming the trees and generally taking care of the garden said he would also spray the trees to get rid of the bugs. Maybe he was talking about this bug? Maybe I should get him back, but I thought 1,000 baht a month was a bit steep!

**Dougal** · 16-06-2006, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by RDN

Do you know Peter Gammon's shop on the hump in the A30 (Osnaburgh Hill), just before the traffic lights with the Frimley Road on the left.

I remember the name but I don't think I can picture the shop. I had a house in Branksome HIll Rd in College Town behind the new Tesco. I guess I was living there the same time as yourself. All changed now, but the elephant is still there.

**RDN** · 16-06-2006, 01:45 AM

Originally Posted by Dougal

Originally Posted by RDN

Do you know Peter Gammon's shop on the hump in the A30 (Osnaburgh Hill), just before the traffic lights with the Frimley Road on the left.

I remember the name but I don't think I can picture the shop. I had a house in Branksome HIll Rd in College Town behind the new Tesco. I guess I was living there the same time as yourself. All changed now, but the elephant is still there.

Yes, I know the white elephant, but forget what is was there for. If you head up the hill towards the traffic lights with the Frimley road, go over the lights there's a row of shops on the right and there's a foot bridge over the road there, too. Peter Gammon's shop sold all sorts of weird stuff - mixture of hardware, stationery, sweet shop, supermarket, basically anything that fell off a lorry.

It's a small world.

**HermantheGerman** · 18-06-2006, 04:27 AM

You guys should try selling some of your pics. Those creatures would make a great horror movie, especially's RD.

**RDN** · 19-06-2006, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

You guys should try selling some of your pics. Those creatures would make a great horror movie, especially's RD.

I went looking for more bugs on the trees in the garden, and found a couple of large holes bored into one of the trees. Here's one:

And then I had a look at a coconut tree and got a bit of a shock when I came across this:

And there was another one on the other side of the tree:

It's clearly not the longhorn beetle, but of similar size and with rather large claws at the front! Not sure I want to go looking for the live ones!

**hillbilly** · 19-06-2006, 06:38 PM

Excellent shots RDN. How are you doing that?

My camera (Nikon Cool Pix 5900) ain't up to the task.

**Curious George** · 19-06-2006, 07:10 PM

^ I agree that I cannot achieve a closeup as shown, and I recently bought a new camera specifically to catalogue our orchids with closups. Wanting to give RDN a chance to respond, I'll just say that camera type, with more details than you may want to know, are stuffed into the image file with a header called EXIF. Most any photographic software will allow you to see this information stored in the file. Here's a piece of the info from RDN's last photo:

~
XResolution - 180
YResolution - 180
ResolutionUnit - Inch
DateTime - 2006 :19 11 :16
YCbCrPositioning - Centered
ExifOffset - 196
ExposureTime - 1/320 seconds
FNumber - 2.80
ExifVersion - 0220
DateTimeOriginal - 2006 :19 11 :16
DateTimeDigitized - 2006 :19 11 :16
~

Now I'm going to look up the specs on RDN's camera and see where I missed the mark when purchasing mine.

**Marmite the Dog** · 19-06-2006, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Excellent shots RDN. How are you doing that?

My camera (Nikon Cool Pix 5900) ain't up to the task.

You need to use the macro function. There should be a setting with a picture of a tulip somewhere.

**RDN** · 19-06-2006, 09:20 PM

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Excellent shots RDN. How are you doing that?

My camera (Nikon Cool Pix 5900) ain't up to the task.

I didn't realise what my camera could do when I bought it. In fact, I only got it because a Thai ex-g/f had one and I was impressed by the size and weight, and that it took good quality movies.

So the camera I'm now using is a Canon IXUS 30. It's not that expensive and certainly not the top of the range. But it does have a close-up facility which I only discovered recently - having decided to "read the effing manual" when I was trying to work out what all the buttons were for!

The camera I used to use is a Nikon Coolpix 775 which does take good pictures but it is so damn big!! (and heavy). Both cameras have the same numbers written on the lenses: 5.8-17.4mm 1:2.8-4.9, but the Canon has 3.2 megapixels, whereas the Nikon is half that (I think - can't remember, and it's not written on it). I keep the Nikon as a "backup".

As MarmiteTD says, the close-up ("macro") function is switched on by pressing a button with a flower (tulip?) icon on it.

**RDN** · 19-06-2006, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by Curious George

^ I agree that I cannot achieve a closeup as shown, and I recently bought a new camera specifically to catalogue our orchids with closups. Wanting to give RDN a chance to respond, I'll just say that camera type, with more details than you may want to know, are stuffed into the image file with a header called EXIF. Most any photographic software will allow you to see this information stored in the file. Here's a piece of the info from RDN's last photo:

~
XResolution - 180
YResolution - 180
ResolutionUnit - Inch
DateTime - 2006 :19 11 :16
YCbCrPositioning - Centered
ExifOffset - 196
ExposureTime - 1/320 seconds
FNumber - 2.80
ExifVersion - 0220
DateTimeOriginal - 2006 :19 11 :16
DateTimeDigitized - 2006 :19 11 :16
~

Now I'm going to look up the specs on RDN's camera and see where I missed the mark when purchasing mine.

I just remembered I have a Firefox extension called FxIF installed - it adds the Exif data to image properties. So I just right clicked on one of my pictures above and then clicked on "Properties", and this is what I got:

It correctly says the camera make and model, and exactly when I took the picture plus a lot more. Blimey!

**dirtydog** · 20-06-2006, 12:25 AM

you can also check by downloading the pic and going to acdsee and check all the info in there, probably photoshop aswell.

**Curious George** · 20-06-2006, 04:44 AM

Originally Posted by Curious George

Now I'm going to look up the specs on RDN's camera and see where I missed the mark when purchasing mine.

I see why RDN can get such great shots - In Macro mode, his camera focuses down to just over one inch. My rather expensive 8 megapixal camera has 2 Macro modes, but still can only focus down to a little less than eight inches.

To get the same shot as RDN, I've got to take a very high resolution pic, and then crop it. I bought my camera due to its great specs, but wanting to take good close-ups, I may have done better with one like RDNs.

BTW RDN, since you've got a good 'bug' camera, please entertain us with more pics of those exotic Thai insects. They don't all have to be alive, since I also like the Cicada shells you just posted. Is this the year of the Cicada in Thailand?

**Marmite the Dog** · 20-06-2006, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by Curious George

Is this the year of the Cicada in Thailand?

Nope. They have the same year, every year in Thailand. The Year of the Monkey.

**Dougal** · 20-06-2006, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by Curious George

BTW RDN, since you've got a good 'bug' camera, please entertain us with more pics of those exotic Thai insects.

For the enthusiastic; I have seen a programme on TV where the they set up a white cloth stretched between some bamboo poles at night and then shone a bright light onto one side of the sheet. The bugs are attracted tot he light and fly onto the sheet where you can photograph them.

**friscofrankie** · 20-06-2006, 02:49 PM

Yeah, we got some of them at my house. We call 'em window screens.

**RDN** · 20-06-2006, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by Curious George

...BTW RDN, since you've got a good 'bug' camera, please entertain us with more pics of those exotic Thai insects. They don't all have to be alive, since I also like the Cicada shells you just posted. Is this the year of the Cicada in Thailand?

Ah! THAT's what they're called - Cicada. My g/f calls them "Jagga-jun" but I haven't looked for the Thai name, so doubt if my transliteration is correct. They're the bugs that make that awful racket at dusk - and basically any other time if encouraged by the appropriate noise, like someone using a rotary grass-cutter! They're also the big, fat, juicy bugs you can find on sale roasted or barbecued at food stalls.

Well, today I decided to take some more pics of the old Cicada skin if it was still there - we had heavy rain last night - and wanted to try out the "Digital Macro" mode of the camera. MarmiteTD talked about "Macro" so I read the manual some more and found out there was another mode - Digital Macro - which was more close-up than "close-up"!

So I went back to the tree and surprise! surprise! There was yet another shell next to one that I photographed yesterday!:

So maybe I should have a look again tonight - I might catch one "at it", discarding his old skin.

So here's my "Digital Macro" shot of the head of the Cicada shell:

I just checked the camera receipt - 11,900 baht from "Big Camera" in "Big C" opposite Central World Plaza, Bangkok. Worth every satang!

**hillbilly** · 20-06-2006, 04:58 PM

Truly amazing shots. I guess that I do have to drag out the instruction book.

**Sir Burr** · 20-06-2006, 08:24 PM

The interesting thing about cicadas, is that they are all 17 years old. For most of their life, they live underground feeding off sap that they get from tree roots. Once they get to seventeen years old, they are sexually mature. They all start heading towards the trunk of the tree that's been feeding them and emerge from the earth. They all climb up the trunk where they extend their wings and start that racket they make to try and attract a mate. They live for about three months after they have emerged from the soil, then die.

**Curious George** · 20-06-2006, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Nope. They have the same year, every year in Thailand. The Year of the Monkey.

Ahh, now I understand that Thailand has many different species of Cicada - Thanks for that! Some are an annual species, while others are the synchronized periodical species. I guess if some of the synchronized emerge during the Year of the Monkey, they would have a twelve year cycle. Being raised in North Central US, we had a seventeen year cycle species. Maybe it was too cold for them to come out more often.

**Marmite the Dog** · 20-06-2006, 09:38 PM

Good stuff, RDN.

**RDN** · 20-06-2006, 11:54 PM

Originally Posted by Sir Burr

The interesting thing about cicadas, is that they are all 17 years old. For most of their life, they live underground feeding off sap that they get from tree roots. Once they get to seventeen years old, they are sexually mature. They all start heading towards the trunk of the tree that's been feeding them and emerge from the earth. They all climb up the trunk where they extend their wings and start that racket they make to try and attract a mate. They live for about three months after they have emerged from the soil, then die.

Hi SB, do you know if they are responsible for all the holes in the tree trunks? I noticed more holes and more cicada shells in other trees today:

**Propagator** · 21-06-2006, 12:08 AM

Amazing pictures - has made me get out the instruction manuel for my camera. Always wondered what that tulip thing was for!!!

**LesBonsTemps** · 21-06-2006, 12:26 AM

I'm a newbie, grew up and live here in the southeastern U.S. -- this has been an interesting thread.

We have both types of cicadas. Two years ago, the 17 year cycle hatched and I've never heard such noise!! On a summer night, we leave the French doors open to the deck and enjoy the softer sound of the other types while watching the fireflies. I didn't notice fireflies in Thailand -- do they exist?

And no, the cicadas aren't the cause of the holes in the trees -- they burrow in the ground. More likely, the trees are being bored by a type of beetle. We have pine beetles that bore and very badly damage and weaken the trees -- usually not a problem until we get a high wind, and then the trunk snaps at the weakened spot.

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