View allAll Photos Tagged Bug
HBBBT everyone! This Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) kindly presented me with a great view of its butt! (BTW - Why is there always a rogue blade of grass in the way?!!!!!)
I used to give out something called the "Bug Award". I put it on the windshields of 100s of VWs throughout the Chicagoland area, and DeKalb, Illinois in the early 1990s.
Any time I saw a VW Bug I'd pull a U-ey, or drive back around the block, pull over and put this under the windshield wiper. I drove my friends nuts! I marked off my finds on a map, and marked off every one I gave out.
Beetles were rare in Illinois by this time, eaten up by road salt. So to find one in the midwest was truly special. (Even more so now.)
" This Bug's For You" is a reference to Budweiser's famous ad slogan of that era, "This Bud's For You."
In Arizona if I gave out Bug Awards I'd never get anywhere. I'd be stopping all the time.
Attachment system on the Arkel Bug. Did not fit my Zefal rack, dissappointing, since it's one of the most widely available rack brand in France and Spain.
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A much anticipated comparison between two pannier/rucksac products from two of the leading brands (a pity Ortlieb hasn’t come out with a good solution yet).
So I got the Arkel Bug a couple of years ago, and was extremely disappointed with the result. The fitting hooks did not fit my Zefal rack (one of the most widely available brands in France and Spain), so I had to replace the rack. Then I discovered that the aluminium hooks were so sharp that they literally destroyed the metal part of the rack on the contact point.
As a rucksack is not very comfortable either, the metal hook that attaches the bag to the bottom part of the bike rack is always on the way (that’s on your back); you got two clunky bits of aluminium up your neck (the bag is really tall), there’s no chest strap, and to make things worse, the bottom of the bag is shaped as a wedge, so the bag is never ever going to stand, it just falls (ok for a pannier that you are not going to be putting anywhere but on your bike rack…but not very clever for a rucksack that you are to take with you anywhere, librarly, class, office, sports centre, etc).
On the fabric/material side comes the only plus of the bag. The entire product oozes quality (at 179 $ / 100 GBP is the least you can get); for the ridiculously high price you don’t even get a rain cover. Result: I haven’t used the bag for 2 years. The inside of the bag is “Spartan” to say the least. The back is not padded and there is no pocket/keyring/pen holder of any kind.
Same goes for the outer pocket (there is an extra hidden pocket that is supposed to house the raincover). So it seems that they took a pannier and tried to double it as a rucksack adding some features; a complete fail (since it simply doesn’t work), obviously in my opinion.
So last month I bought a Vaude Cycle 25, another pannier/rucksack combo I had been looking at for years (after wasting a lot of cash on the Arkel Bug, I didn’t exactly felt like spending more on another bag, so I stuck to my Ortlieb panniers until now). So I got the Vaude. What a nice surprise.
The bag is almost 400 gram lighter that it’s Canadian counterpart (which is nearly 50% of its weight). The bag comes with plastic hooks that fit into my Tubus rack AND it comes with an extra pair of hooks for thicker tubed racks (say a Zefal or a German/Dutch bike). The fitting on the bike is fast with a black adjustable rubber band. The fabric not the Vaude is not as sturdy as the Arkel’s Cordura, but it’s tons lighter AND comes with a raincover, that it’s neatly stowed on a lower compartment. This same compartment houses the “pannier system” ; you simply undo the zip, and the pannier hooks disappear of sight under the bag leaving you with a proper rucksack (way more comfortable than the Arkel), a bag that no one would actually suspects is a pannier.
The inside of the bag looks also like a proper rucksack, there is a padded compartment for a laptop/books, a keyring hanger, and the outer pocket has lots of little pockets for coins, mobile phone, etc.
The Vaude comes with an extra flexible attachment to carry a helmet. All in all, a really well made bag, light, comfortable and nice. But most of all, a product that delivers (at a reasonable price, you could actually buy more than 2 Vaude for the price of the Arkel).
Arkel Bug: 1365 gr (3 Lb): 179 $ (100 GBP)
Vaude Cycle 25: 980 gr (2 Lb 2 Oz): 45 GBP
A review of someone who likes the Arkel Bug: EcoVelo
A review of someone who does not like the Arkel Bug: Why I hate my Arkel Bug
Bugs 'n Flowers Birthday Cake
2 Flowers with 20 Cupcake petals, 2 cupcake Lady Bugs, a cupcake Caterpillar and a cupcake Butterfly
Detail of the bottom pocket on the Vaude Cycle 25. Very cleverly made. You can quickly stow the raincover (not provided on the Arkel Bug) and the pannier mounting system.
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A much anticipated comparison between two pannier/rucksac products from two of the leading brands (a pity Ortlieb hasn’t come out with a good solution yet).
So I got the Arkel Bug a couple of years ago, and was extremely disappointed with the result. The fitting hooks did not fit my Zefal rack (one of the most widely available brands in France and Spain), so I had to replace the rack. Then I discovered that the aluminium hooks were so sharp that they literally destroyed the metal part of the rack on the contact point.
As a rucksack is not very comfortable either, the metal hook that attaches the bag to the bottom part of the bike rack is always on the way (that’s on your back); you got two clunky bits of aluminium up your neck (the bag is really tall), there’s no chest strap, and to make things worse, the bottom of the bag is shaped as a wedge, so the bag is never ever going to stand, it just falls (ok for a pannier that you are not going to be putting anywhere but on your bike rack…but not very clever for a rucksack that you are to take with you anywhere, librarly, class, office, sports centre, etc).
On the fabric/material side comes the only plus of the bag. The entire product oozes quality (at 179 $ / 100 GBP is the least you can get); for the ridiculously high price you don’t even get a rain cover. Result: I haven’t used the bag for 2 years. The inside of the bag is “Spartan” to say the least. The back is not padded and there is no pocket/keyring/pen holder of any kind.
Same goes for the outer pocket (there is an extra hidden pocket that is supposed to house the raincover). So it seems that they took a pannier and tried to double it as a rucksack adding some features; a complete fail (since it simply doesn’t work), obviously in my opinion.
So last month I bought a Vaude Cycle 25, another pannier/rucksack combo I had been looking at for years (after wasting a lot of cash on the Arkel Bug, I didn’t exactly felt like spending more on another bag, so I stuck to my Ortlieb panniers until now). So I got the Vaude. What a nice surprise.
The bag is almost 400 gram lighter that it’s Canadian counterpart (which is nearly 50% of its weight). The bag comes with plastic hooks that fit into my Tubus rack AND it comes with an extra pair of hooks for thicker tubed racks (say a Zefal or a German/Dutch bike). The fitting on the bike is fast with a black adjustable rubber band. The fabric not the Vaude is not as sturdy as the Arkel’s Cordura, but it’s tons lighter AND comes with a raincover, that it’s neatly stowed on a lower compartment. This same compartment houses the “pannier system” ; you simply undo the zip, and the pannier hooks disappear of sight under the bag leaving you with a proper rucksack (way more comfortable than the Arkel), a bag that no one would actually suspects is a pannier.
The inside of the bag looks also like a proper rucksack, there is a padded compartment for a laptop/books, a keyring hanger, and the outer pocket has lots of little pockets for coins, mobile phone, etc.
The Vaude comes with an extra flexible attachment to carry a helmet. All in all, a really well made bag, light, comfortable and nice. But most of all, a product that delivers (at a reasonable price, you could actually buy more than 2 Vaude for the price of the Arkel).
Arkel Bug: 1365 gr (3 Lb): 179 $ (100 GBP)
Vaude Cycle 25: 980 gr (2 Lb 2 Oz): 45 GBP
A review of someone who likes the Arkel Bug: EcoVelo
A review of someone who does not like the Arkel Bug: Why I hate my Arkel Bug
Novelty bug cupcakes custom made to order for a 3rd birthday party. Featuring snails, caterpillars, dragonflies, ladybirds and bumble bees.
At the "Rolling Sculpture" car show, I always gravitate towards the vintage VWs. The 60s style bugs with the headlight covers and double bumpers are such classics.
Been slowing down on shooting & scanning lately, sorry. Summertime, house-repair distractions, etc...
This abandoned VW Beetle was found in Hampton (NJ). For you Jersey folk out there, check out the old inspection sticker on the windshield!
On sand dunes in Jersey.
Many thanks to Maria (Rockwolf) for researching this one for me and suggesting correct ID :)
An engineless VW Bug in an Mojave desert yard.
Exposure: 2.4 minutes @ f/8, 200 ISO. Full moonlight and AA maglite
I believe this to be the leaf-footed bug. Its classification is within the family of Coreidae and more specifically, it is within the species Acanthocephala declivis. This name translates from Greek meaning ‘sloping thorn head’. This bug was found on February 23, basking in the sun outside of the Village apartments at UNCW. This bug demonstrates the concepts of Intrasexual selection. The males will fight competing males by delivering a powerful squeeze in order to deter them from mates or food. The length of the back femur and its largest tooth are proportional to its body size. A larger A. declavis would have larger femur and tooth compared to a smaller one. The female femur and tooth ratio has not been studied, but it is assumed that they play a role in the female-female battles and that the scaling is also increased with size. However, it was found that the females use these hind legs as warning display and as a visual signal for other A. declavis. More information can be found here: www.stri.si.edu/sites/publications/PDFs/1998_Ann_Ent_Soc_...
Photo taken by our friend Jean-René
Bug called Rhinocéros, Oryctes Nasicornis, Scarabaeidae
4 cm long
Who doesn't like a sunflower shot with a bug on it? A bit of a lazy garden shot, mebbe, but yah boo to you: my photostream; I like it, it stays.
Being a little more grown up about it, the Helianthus genus lists about 70 species and is North American in origin.
The young flowers are heliotropic - they track the sun across the sky during the day. Which gives them their French name, tournesol and the Spanish girasol. But once they start blooming, they stop and generally face east.
I love them but the spouse doesn't. They are intrinsically linked to cancer care in the UK. Dunno why, but they just are. And she says she doesn't want to bring work into the garden. Which is fair enough.