The power of insects
I came across a few strong little creatures on my walk last week.
The first ones I noticed were a line of ants carrying loads of white things from one side of the paddock to the other. Maybe they were moving house. I managed to get a clear shot of one of them (hey – ants are small so it wasn’t that easy).
A few kilometres on I heard a buzzing sound on the ground and saw two insects fighting or mating, (it’s hard to tell the difference in the insect world), or the third thing that could have been happening was the wasp emerging from a host insect (which is a pretty hideous thought!)
Once I had snapped this shot they flew (still joined together) to a branch and sat there for a while doing who-knows-what.
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t want to be at the pointy end of that red wasp’s sting. Many years ago I was stung by something very similar. It managed to sneak beneath my shirt and get me on the stomach. As I was trying to get it off it also stung my fingers. I was very sick (including horrific burning and itching, fevers and nightmares) for about four days. I was also a passenger in a car when it happened and ended up jumping out while we were still moving (slowly – luckily!)
It was a bit scary for me to get this close to the beast, but I felt better once I’d taken the shot and knew I had (almost) overcome my fear of wasps.
Have you ever been so frightened by an insect that you’ve jumped out of a moving vehicle?
I hope not…
xxx Have a great week! xxx
Dianne Gray author 
I have never jumped out of a moving car, but being stung, especially by bees, can leave me feverish as well. I don’t care for them at all. But where I live, here in Kentucky, USA, it’s just a part of life
Tim
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Where I grew up I remember constantly getting stung on the bottom of my feet by bees (you’d think I would have remembered to put my shoes on!) and it’s such a horrible feeling. There are loads of bees where I live now, but they’re mainly in the trees (and I still walk around barefooted) 🙂
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I pulled my car up onto the grass and leapt out because there was a bee in the back window. My friend, who was in the car at the time, still laughs hysterically (30+ years later) whenever she mentions it. This is why I live in a part of Canada that doesn’t have really nasty creatures, certainly nothing like those Aussie buggers. (Yellowjackets make me run screaming – even though I only got my first sting 2 years ago and, apart from a burning fire feeling for about 30 seconds and bruising later in the day, was absolutely fine..) I wouldn’t have been photographing that wasp thing unless I was about 500m away and had a lens about 8 feet long. You’re a much braver woman than me!! 😀
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Oh Suzan, I’ve found a soul-mate-car jumper! It’s terrifying when you’re trapped in a car with something that wants to sting you, so you know exactly how I feel.
I had to Google Yellowjacket and they look like they would give you a very nasty sting! Stay clear of those xxx
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It is hard to tell if insects are fighting or mating. I think they might be doing both! Any insect that stings I stay clear away from. You’re so brave, Dianne. I’ve been thinking about you. Hope you’re doing well. Hugs!
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Yes – the fighting/mating thing is an enigma in the insect world, Amy, particularly with spiders who are eaten by the female soon after the deed!
I’m doing very well, thank you so much my darling xxx
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What a photo. Never a moving vehicle, but I have jumped….
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I hope you didn’t injure yourself, Cynthia 😉
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ha ha…
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Good grief, just what kind of insects do you have in Australia that makes a person jump out of a moving vehicle and get ill for several days? Sounds like it could be a weapon of war! But where you live is so gorgeous, so I suppose you take the good with the bad.
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I love living here so I guess the creepy crawlies and flying stingers love living here too, Carrie 😉
I hope all is going well with your mother. I’ve been thinking of you xxxx
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Thank you. It is. Life is getting back to normal, whatever that is. 🙂
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I once jumped out of a car to get away from a date that I was afraid of. Luckily it all turned out okay. I sometimes wonder what ever happened to that man. It was scary to see how quickly charm could turn.
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Yikes – that’s scary, Carol. I have a friend who had a very similar experience and I was actually thinking of her when I posted this. The man wasn’t a date, but he had offered her a lift and it ended up like something out of a horror movie. I’m glad everything turned out okay for you (and my friend) xxx
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I wonder if the white things they’re carrying are eggs. They seem too big, but it depends. Sorry about that sting!
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I think they might be eggs, Joy. It looked like they were moving house. Maybe it’s a sign that we’re going to get a lot of rain and maybe a flood.
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I do alright with most bugs, but I admit that I have a problem with spiders. It is so visceral, that I forget that my responses are so personal and not widespread. Once I was a passenger, driving with my best friend, Sally, as we took the freeway downtown. I looked over at her, and a gigantic spider, anchored to the ceiling of the car, was lowering itself slowly down onto her head.
I remained calm. “Pull over, now.”
“What? Here?”
“Yes, here. Now.”
Without further question, she pulled off the freeway. I called, “Out, out, out!” as I bailed out of the car. She followed suit, jumping from the driver’s seat nearly out into traffic. She ran over to my side of the car, bending and peering at the tires. “What’s the problem? Do I have a flat?”
“No, no, no. It’s there,” I pointed to the spider swinging from the ceiling.
She bent over and peered in. “That? That little bitty spider? You made me pull over for that?
I’ve never lived it down.
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Haaaaaa! what a great story, Alta. I love it. I would have said the same as your friend because spiders don’t really worry me, but you don’t want anyone to get a fright from anything when they’re cruising down the highway 😀
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Insects are fascinating but I’m not fond of getting too up close & personal… even though I like to waste… err… spend time watching them. Our tiny black ants have a nasty bite… and attitude… sometimes they seem to seek us out. But are useful as their track runs across the place where anyone unaware tries to enter the G.O.’s workshop is at their mercy. The small wasps are worse, and we move them on at every opportunity but the larger scarier looking but laid back hornets are just part of the deal.
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I’ve had a plague of black ants here since I got back. They are everywhere and have even taken to eating my tea towels if I leave them in the kitchen overnight and my dirty clothes in the clothes basket. They’re relentless. I’ve read that corn meal will make them explode so I’m almost to the point of giving up on my refusal to kill any creature and start spreading it around the place. We’ve also got paper wasps here that are small but pack a huge punch – I was stung on the finger last week and it felt like a cigarette burn, but that’s the only the second time I’ve been stung by one of those so they’re not too aggressive if you leave them alone (I must have walked close to a nest without realising). I’d be staying right away from the G.O.’s workshop 😉
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Oh Dianne, I’m cringing at the thought of the wasp stings. How painful. I’m impressed that you could go so close to one again. I can appreciate how bad you felt afterwards. I was bitten twice by a black house spider just before we went to Hawaii and I felt very unwell for about 36 hours afterwards. It wasn’t nearly as bad as your experience though.
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Some of those house spiders are far more poisonous than people realise. They say huntsmen are okay, but I’ve been bitten by one and it’s awful! Who knows what a black house spider can do to you? Any bite from an insect can cause really horrible symptoms. I feel for you (especially as you were about to go on that beautiful trip!) xxx
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It took a couple of days and some pills from the doctor before I was back to normal. It wasn’t pleasant – nausea and vertigo. Serves me right for doing some spring cleaning!! Won’t do that again.
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Haaaa – me either! 😀
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Ugh, I’m really getting no fonder of those bugs Dianne. I’m very happy that the’re half a world away.
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I just got a good shot of one I think will really make your skin crawl, Roy (I’m so mean) lol 😀
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I wasn’t driving, my ex husband was. The moment I saw the huntsman on the inside of the windscreen, a scream, a pull over and I was out on the nature strip. No Mortein handy, sprayed the car madly with Aeroguard. We didn’t see where it went. I felt sick the whole time, with my feet on the dashboard (at least it wouldn’t have any massive bites) It’s a wonder I didn’t have therapy. 😯 Love your pics as usual and glad you didn’t get stung darling. xxx
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That’s true horror movie material, Jen! Yikes. I’m glad you didn’t get gravel rash and the spider didn’t bite you! 😀
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I’m also very wary of anything that bites or stings. I remember our daughter was once stung on her head by a hornet when she was swimming. She shot out of the pool like a bat out of hell and gave us all such a fright. Your last photos is a really amazing shot. That pointy thing looks quite lethal. 😯 Wishing you a great week my friend. xx
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Ouch! On the head – wow, that would have really hurt, no wonder she shot out of the pool so fast.
Wishing you a wonderful week as well with loads of enjoyment in the house 😀
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Regarding your fighting/mating creatures: dragonflies do not mate in that fashion, and that brown one is most likely going to eat the red dragonfly. Sometimes the shoe is on the other foot, however. I once observed a large blue darner eating something almost as large in a tree. I tried to get photos of that, but they were too far away. 😦
I once stepped on a beetle in my living room (this was up north, not in south Florida), and a parasite that had been living inside it uncurled and started to move away. I can’t tell you how grossed out that made me! After cleaning up the beetle and worm, I washed my hands several times and still felt contaminated.
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Is that red one a dragonfly? Wow – I thought it was a hornet, but now that I look at it’s wings… hmmm. Interesting 😉
My niece recently discovered one of those parasitic worms and it was absolutely gross! I could imagine how freaked out you would have felt and the washing of the hands would have almost taken off skin. Yikes!!!
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I’ve just googled and you’re right – that is a red dragonfly! I’m stunned because of the colour I thought it was some kind of wasp or hornet. Had I known I probably would have tried to save it 😦
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Ants are amazing ~ industrious and strong.
I’m “wary” of stinging insects but not scared enough to jump out of a moving car.
Now, if it was a snake . . . I would be out in a flash!
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Haaaa – yes, I’m sure a snake would send me rolling out of a moving vehicle regardless of the speed, Nancy!
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I never liked (probably DISliked) insects until I read E.O. Wilson’s books. There is so much to be fascinated about with insects!
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Absolutely, Jacqui. Those books are amazing! 😉
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I’m afraid wasps scare me, even though I’ve never actually been stung – I admire your bravery to get so close – it does look beautiful close up!
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I’m really not keen on anything with a sting, Andrea, so we’re on the same page here. I love taking close-ups (and it’s really good when I get the one I want) 😉
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Oh my, this looks worse than my wasp enemies I deal with here. Way worse! Good thing those aren’t here to sting me. Last time I got stung, I got about 20 stings on my hand and wrist before I managed to run far enough away to get away from the horde I’d accidentally unearthed while weeding. If a red wasp had stung me that many times, I might have died. Dang!
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20 stings? On my! That must have been extremely painful, Char. I’m so glad you’re okay now (your hand would have been very swollen for a while). Sheesh – you’re one tough woman! 🙂
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Thankfully since I wasn’t thinking too straight, my husband sat me down with ice immediately and gave me Benadryl. So it hurt for a while, but didn’t end up being too horrible.
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What a wonderful man 😀
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Those ants know a thing or two about the weather and climate so I would check your flood protection kit. Moving their eggs is a bad sign. Ours all try to come inside when bad weather is coming. That last photo is a very close look at his stinging equipment…
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I’m thinking the same thing, Pauline. We really didn’t have a wet season this year so maybe it’s going to come very late – the ants know. I’ll be stocking up for the next few weeks 😉
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I need rain for the garden. Had 60mm last night up the road at Southport, we had 2mm…
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😦 you certainly need more than 2mm. We had 17mm yesterday – better than nothing 😉
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Have bow had a total 27mm this week, getting better… 🙂
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No, but I don’t rule it out, Dianne 😦 I’m no insect fan, stinging or otherwise. Poor you!
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Let’s just hope you never have to, Jo! 😉
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I’ve never jumped out, but I almost caused an accident because of a large bug that flew in the open window as we were driving. I was the passenger and it landed in my hair, near my ear and I could hear it buzzing. All I could do was scream, get it out and hysterically try to get away from it by making my boyfriend (husband now), take it out of my hair as he tried to drive down the road.
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I’m sure some really serious accidents are caused by this, but no one ever knows about it. If you had been driving, who knows how you would have reacted. Having a nasty buzzer caught in your hair would have been absolutely horrible. One of my sisters friends had a wasp fly into her ear while she was driving and the car rolled (she was okay).
Yikes – what an awful experience for you. xxxx
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To your questions, thankfully no! But I recall getting stung by wasps as a lad on the farm. This resulted in major swelling of my cheek up into my eye. I have to say that I get very nervous whenever a wasp happens into my car while driving about.
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Ouch, Allen. That must have been quite traumatic – and it was probably incredibly itchy as well 😦 We need to have super human strength (or a lot of calmness) to just slow the car down as stop if we see a wasp buzzing around our face 😉
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I almost jumped off my couch while reading this blog post. Surely that counts! So scary, Dianne. You’re a brave Aussie soul.
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Haaaa! You so funny, Britt 😀 I can just imagine you jumping off the couch and landing in a nija yoga position xxx
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Love your photos, Dianne! I ran an insect mini-series on my blog last year because insects are incredibly interesting and sometimes underrated.
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Wow – I’ll have to go back and take a look Susan 😀
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That’s crazy amazing! I’d have FREAKED out. I had a praying mantis jump on me once while I had the window down in the truck, but that’s it. I hope no more wasps attack you. 0.o
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Haaaa – I can’t have you freaking out, Daphne! (but I must admit I did freak out a bit) 😀
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I once was stung quite badly by a wasp when I was camping at the Grand Canyon. It got me on my hand, which swelled so badly my fingers curled like talons – and then it stayed like that for 4 days! It hurt so badly. From then on we refer to that incident as The Day of the Claw!
If I’m caught in a car with a mosquito I’ll jump out for sure. I can’t stand the ominous, foreboding buzzing as they head toward your ears — driving a car in a sitch like that could be dangerous!!
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Ouch! The Day of the Claw sounds like it would have been absolutely hideous – you poor thing! Yes, that horrible foreboding buzzing sound in the ears gets me too (particularly when I’m trying to sleep) 😉
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I wouldn’t have been able to do this – I’ll freak out a bit and move my camera away! Though recently I’d learnt about a new type of bug called the “Cigarette Beetle” … rather fascinating sort (and seen through a microscope, that’s a lot more acceptable!)
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I was set to jump at any moment when I was close to them, but luckily they didn’t worry about my presence 😀
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Do insects fight? You’ve really got me pondering this question. I surely know they mate; that’s whey there are so dang many of them!!! I read an article once that insects could easily take over the world at some point. How scary is that? And if they’re WASPS we’re all in deep trouble. I am also allergic to wasps – not bees, but wasps. If one was coming at me in a car, I’d probably jump out too.
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These two were fighting to the death, I think Pam. It wasn’t pretty…
The day that wasps take over the world will be a very scary day! 😉
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Dianne I have jumped from a slow moving car in a carpark, when a huntsman ran down my shoulder, hiding in seat belt compartment. My husband was in big trouble as a day or two before Mr huntsman was found in car and then lost in car on our travels. But my husband lied and told me he had caught him because we were miles from home. I would not have gotten back in if I knew.
Poor little dragonfly, maybe wasp was taken him home to feed the family. Nature can be so cruel. Don’t get me started on wasp nests. Im very vigilante we have many different ones here too.
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Wow, Kath! I’ve found another car jumper. My hubby would be in trouble as well if he said it had been caught – ha, men are so funny sometimes 😀
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Stunning images Dianne! Insects and I aren’t the best of friends, but I’ve never had such a painful experience as you describe. I now do my best to stay very calm around anything that stings because if I freak out I feel like it’s more likely I’ll get stung. I actually talk bees/wasps out of the window when I can! No really! I speak out loud, ‘no up a bit, now left, yeah nearly, go on, up…there you go!’ I realise they’re the ones freaking out because they’re banging against glass and it’s confusing, frightening, maybe painful…hmmm, I’ve just had a very sweet conversation with a colleague, and my best side is coming out…catch me on another day, and who knows 🙂 H xxx
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I’ll have to try and talk them away next time, Harula! What an awesome thing to do xxx
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Wow, these are great. And you have guts! You got back up on the horse! Of course, horses are much less scarier haha.
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You’ve got to have guts living here sometimes, Luanne. I’m glad you like the pictures 😀
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Hah! I feel that way sometimes about Arizona . . . .
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This post shows when one takes the time there is so much to see.
I roamed barefoot in the bush as a child and learned to love the small creatures.
Ants fascinate me it is nice to know you watch them too.
I found then hard to photograph too looking at your photo,
I thought ‘Where is Wally?’ _/\_
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It’s a wonderful life walking around looking at all the small creatures, Jack! It’s great to see you here – I feel like I know you well after reading all Pauline’s posts 😀
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A good few of my friends came via Pauline. I jokingly say “It is good having friends even if they are other peoples.” 🙂 _/\_
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Once when I was still a motorcyclist a queen hornet landed (or collided with) my leather jacket. It was beautiful creature of gold and red fronds but very, very large and very scary. I swiped it off rather briskly, I’m afraid!
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Oh – wow! I would have swiped it off as well. Luckily you remained relatively calm! 😉
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Great photos! Insects fascinate me, too. And microbugs. I’m currently reading a non-fiction book called The Hidden Side of Nature – very interesting.
Nasty experience with the stinging bug – ‘orrible. I’ve had a Huntsman jumping on me while I was driving – that was a bit scary, but it didn’t bite me. Horrible to think of ourselves as prey, isn’t it? Ewww.
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Absolutely – I don’t like to think of myself as prey either, yikes! But i do love insects. The new peacock spiders they’ve found in Australia are awesome. If you haven’t seen them already it’s worth a google to find out about them 😀
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Peacock spiders are amazing. There colourful appendages are like the Papua New Guinean tribal masks!
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That is so amazing! I just created a blog about insects and animals. I hope you can see it diannegray!
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I’m certainly going to take a look! 😀
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