# sign of the times



## massaman (May 31, 2011)

Everyone talks about the end of the world but I am wondering because I am seeing a massive plague of june bugs on my driveway at night. There must of been hundreds of them on the cement and this could be a plague of june bugs instead of locusts stated in the bible maybe and just hoping this is not a bad omen or a warning of whats to come and anyone else see any mass infestations of june bugs besides me?


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## GreenOasis (May 31, 2011)

We get flooded with them every year. Our dragons love them.


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## patrickfraser (May 31, 2011)

I hardly get any June bugs, anymore. Used to get the big ones, then started only seeing the baby ones, now rarely a baby. There must be something killing them off, or all their habitat's been taken away or built over. Not much "nature" in the city.


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## PhilinYuma (May 31, 2011)

massaman said:


> Everyone talks about the end of the world but I am wondering because I am seeing a massive plague of june bugs on my driveway at night. There must of been hundreds of them on the cement and this could be a plague of june bugs instead of locusts stated in the bible maybe and just hoping this is not a bad omen or a warning of whats to come and anyone else see any mass infestations of june bugs besides me?


You have cause to fear, Paul. It is written that before the rapture, the end will come for the most sinful state in the Union. Just which state that will be is clearly revealed in the last three verses of Revelations, 22:ixx-xxi: This prophecy was not recognized for centuries because scholars failed to realize that two of the letters that mark the doomed state are contained in the last word of Revelations, and of course, they are not in order; that would be too easy.

See for yourself:

And *i*f any *m*an shall take *a*way from the words of the book of this prophecy, *G*od shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the *h*oly *c*ity, and from the things that are written in this book.

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely *I **c*ome quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

The grace of our Lord jesus Christ be with you all. *A*me_*n*_.

Note that there is no Z or N in these three verses.


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## Rick (May 31, 2011)

When the end of the world comes it will be at the hand of man, not june bugs. I am fairly certain it will be a slow decline that has already begun.


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## ismart (May 31, 2011)

Thank goodness Macho man was just in time to save us! :lol:


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## patrickfraser (May 31, 2011)

JESUS! LOOK BEHIND YOU! QUICK!


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## Mr.Mantid (May 31, 2011)

When it happens, it happens. Read, study the bible and pray. There's nothing you can really do besides that.


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## guapoalto049 (May 31, 2011)

ismart said:


> Thank goodness Macho man was just in time to save us! :lol:
> 
> View attachment 1726


That might be the funniest picture ever. RIP macho man lol.

Please end this topic before it envelops the rest of the forum. Religion and politics are a dead-end, especially over a computer!


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## idolomantis (May 31, 2011)

Mr.Mantid said:


> When it happens, it happens. Read, study the bible and pray. There's nothing you can really do besides that.


You could also try to survive. And the world will end when the sun goes dying and roasts the planet, and by that time humans are long gone. I think humans will manage to kill themselves before year 3000 anyways, or nature does it.


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## ismart (Jun 1, 2011)

guapoalto049 said:


> Please end this topic before it envelops the rest of the forum. Religion and politics are a dead-end, especially over a computer!


There is no debate here. Macho man saved us from destruction! The june beetles are rejoicing. "Ooh yeaah!"


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## guapoalto049 (Jun 1, 2011)

Hahaha the cream has risen to the top YEEEAH


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 1, 2011)

ismart said:


> There is no debate here. Macho man saved us from destruction! The june beetles are rejoicing. "Ooh yeaah!"


Thank Macho Man for that! (And for those who wonder what the Great Mantis Goddess [bbHN] thinks of all this, She doesn't really care). More June bugs for everyone! Ever tried them with vermicelli and a nice marinara sauce? Yum! :chef: 

Are we wandering slightly off topic yet? I don't think so.


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## angelofdeathzz (Jun 1, 2011)

I knew a guy who knows a guy's cousins friend that had a uncle that heard from his sisters boyfriend that a flock of wild junebugs once attacked a small family and ate there dog! Sadly Macho man was reportedly on the toilet with very dark sun glasses and could not see this unfolding ): true story, so it could all be over soon !!!


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## Ricardo (Jun 1, 2011)

Rick said:


> When the end of the world comes it will be at the hand of man, not june bugs. I am fairly certain it will be a slow decline that has already begun.


Rick is so win.

And everyone the amount of times the " end " hasn't been the end is ridiculous. The world will end not of biblical or religious origin , but of the suicidal path humans or more specifically corporations have taken.


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 2, 2011)

Ricardo said:


> Rick is so win.
> 
> And everyone the amount of times the " end " hasn't been the end is ridiculous. The world will end not of biblical or religious origin , but of the suicidal path humans or more specifically corporations have taken.


If by "world" you mean a planet habitable by man, I agree with you, but planet Earth won't miss mankind; it will hardly notice that we have gone. We are taught from early childhood that man is the summit of "creation" by virtue of his intelligence, but I wonder if intelligence as ratiocination and advanced tool using capability wasn't just a regrettable misstep that will be easily corrected with our extinction..

And since I'm getting preachy, here, let me add that the claims that though we hear constantly about how "we" discovered atomic power, got to the moon, plumbed the oceans' depths, and on and on, it's worth remembering that "we" did not. That was done by men who are frequently underpaid and who are regarded contemptuously as nerds and egg heads. Most of us watch silly shows like Are you smarter than a fifth grader? (is that celebration of ignorance still on?) and spend our time watching sports and reality shows on TV, I don't have TV, but Iwatch mantids sitting motionless in a cage. Still, they are cute, aren't they?


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## Peter Clausen (Jun 2, 2011)

I wish I could see a mass emergence of june bugs. We don't really get them out here in Oregon, like that. Though I wonder what, exactly, you are calling a june bug.?

Reminds me of a short song (there is a tune) my dad taught me when I was a kid:

Rumple up a gump stump

coon in the holler

rake a snake a junebug

stole a half a dollar

So few things generate zero hits on Google. I would really like to know where this comes from.

Enjoy your lives and leave something of the world for your kids, and their kids. It feels good to see beauty in nature and to protect it, but don't be afraid to tromp a few plants while you're out there enjoying the rest, I say. What I like about this forum is we have an appreciation for a kind of insect that most people never see, or have the chance to get to know. I wonder what the world would be like if American culture embraced insects as pets. If the Jones' replaced their pet dogs and cats with bugs, the world would be a much more interesting place, I think. I would want to know the latest pet project my neighbor was working on, instead of watching his cat digging up my garden to deposit some fertilizer.


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 2, 2011)

Rumple up a gump stump

coon in the holler

rake a snake a junebug

stole a half a dollar

Was your dad from Louisiana, Peter? Words like "coon" and "holler" sound right for the SE US. Here is the link for a song by Louisiana Red, called "Cootie in the gump stump".It's an MP3 from Amazon, so it should only cost you a buck: http://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Bear-Cootie-Gump-Stump/dp/B000QNK1SM

"Gump stump" sometimes has the same meaning as "ying Yang" and I assume that both are euphemisms for "anus": "He had money coming out the gump stump" If you simply Google that phrase, you'll see a number of references to it with this interpretation.

I think that that is not the meaning here, though. Did you ever hear the song, "Racoon's got a bushy tail"? Me neither, but apparently it contains this verse:

Rabbit up in the gum stump,

'Coon in the holler,

Possum in the 'tater patch,

Fat as he can waller.

Here's the link for that one: http://www.timpoe.com/songs/raccoon2.html

I would guess that your dad only vaguely remembered the original song and made up nonsense phrases like "rake a snake a junebug" (nice assonance!) to fill the gaps.

Thank you. I really enjoyed researching this. There was nothing remarkable involved in the research. Since you had struck out with the compete verse, I simply chose phrases that seemed as though they might belong to a song. And Google is my _special_ friend.


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## ismart (Jun 2, 2011)

Peter Clausen said:


> I wish I could see a mass emergence of june bugs. We don't really get them out here in Oregon, like that. Though I wonder what, exactly, you are calling a june bug.?


Good question! I automatically thought june Beetles _Cotinis nitida_? Is this what you were referring to Massaman? Or some other critter that emerges in the month of June?


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## Peter Clausen (Jun 2, 2011)

I listened to the song on Amazon and the tune is all wrong, but your next theory seems right on the money.

My dad is from South Dakota. He grew up on an Indian reservation (that’s his story, anyway)—cowboy/ranch, small one-street town stock. I’m headed out there in a couple weeks and will follow up on your research with that side of the family. Of course, I think the song was much improved on account of the bug reference  . Maybe I'll catch a few junebugs while I'm out there, assuming the world doesn't end between now and then. A couple weekends ago, a Christian friend at work told me that there were many who believed that Jesus would be returning to take believers, that weekend (or something that approximated this). I told him that he better not call in sick on Monday, or I was going to be really confused! That Monday, he was even less thrilled to be at work than usual.

When I think of junebugs, I think of Polyphylla spp., but I know the common name is applied to many diff. species around diff. parts of the country.

Thanks Phil!


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## massaman (Jun 2, 2011)

this is the what I am referring to as june bugs as always called them that!







their flying is annoying as it makes alot of noise and a day before a big storm there was like a minefield of them all over my driveway and trying to walk around them was a pain as they stuck to my clothes and stuff!


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## guapoalto049 (Jun 2, 2011)

I get a bunch of those every year around my house, never knew they were called June bugs! Regardless, my shield likes them


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## Peter Clausen (Jun 3, 2011)

Yes, Massaman, those are junebugs! We call them May beetles out here (and when I say we, I mean the 10 people in Oregon that give a rip), but the name is interchangeable with junebugs. The genus us Phyllophaga, assuming I'm seeing your bug correctly.


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 3, 2011)

It's interesting that you got "swarmed", Paul, after a heavy rain storm. These beetles, and a lot of others, overwinter underground and the rain must have made the soil moist enough to cue them to emerge.

Here in Yuma we have "green junebugs" which are really fig eating beetles, Cotis mutabilis. They pupate in decaying vegetation like compost heaps and I remember that there was a "plague" of them in San Diego when I lived there. They flew_ en masse_ and died _en masse_, often upside down where their bellies sparkled like emeralds. A sight to remember. This thread is much more fun since it got back to insects!


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## Ricardo (Jun 3, 2011)

PhilinYuma said:


> If by "world" you mean a planet habitable by man, I agree with you, but planet Earth won't miss mankind; it will hardly notice that we have gone. We are taught from early childhood that man is the summit of "creation" by virtue of his intelligence, but I wonder if intelligence as ratiocination and advanced tool using capability wasn't just a regrettable misstep that will be easily corrected with our extinction..
> 
> And since I'm getting preachy, here, let me add that the claims that though we hear constantly about how "we" discovered atomic power, got to the moon, plumbed the oceans' depths, and on and on, it's worth remembering that "we" did not. That was done by men who are frequently underpaid and who are regarded contemptuously as nerds and egg heads. Most of us watch silly shows like Are you smarter than a fifth grader? (is that celebration of ignorance still on?) and spend our time watching sports and reality shows on TV, I don't have TV, but Iwatch mantids sitting motionless in a cage. Still, they are cute, aren't they?


You're a good man phil and very wise! And I think interacting with the environment is better then watching shows which as you said " celebrate ignorance ".

And Yes I understand it will be a long long time before earth itself is destroyed. The human race however is much more likely to perish rather quickly


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