True Bugs (and the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug in particular)
I hate bugs. I don't mean insects in general, I mean bugs, the true bugs. That's what they are, I'm not making up the "true" part of it! The true bugs are just one kind of insect (all bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs). One thing that sets them apart from other insects is their hypodermic needle-like mouth parts that suck sap from plants (or sometimes animals). There are different groups of true bugs, such as leaf-footed bugs, assassin bugs, spittlebugs, milkweed bugs, stink bugs (foul smelling substance come out glands in their sides), cicadas, and even aphids. We know how aphids suck the sap out of plants!
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| western leaf-footed bug |
It's the big ones, the squash bugs and stink bugs (also called shield bugs for their shape) that get me. Those are the ones I hate. I don't love milkweed bugs, but they're small enough not to freak me out when I see them. I can knock them into a jar, dump them onto my "bug mashing" stepping stone, and... mash them. I don't do that anymore. I found that they help control the amount of seeds milkweed produces, and it produces a lot! Many true bugs are beautiful.
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| green stink bug |
But, when I'm enjoying an early fall afternoon on my deck, reading and minding my own business, and hear a loud buzzing-clicking sound and a dark object flies behind me, I'm not happy. A stink bug has landed on the closed half of the French doors! Quickly, I jump up to close the other, as some stink bugs are searching for warm places to overwinter. Not in my house!
Too late to catch it (it flew off clicking and buzzing) I identified it as a brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). A very invasive pest. They are native to Eastern Asia, and were first found in the US in Pennsylvania in 1998. They migrated west, and by 2004 were sighted in Portland, OR. BMSB are a serious agricultural pest, sucking sap from pods, bugs, blossoms, and fruit. With climate change the agricultural losses are expected to increase.
Naturally, I took some photos, including some creepy stink bug shadows as it crept along the window. I doubt I could have summoned up the courage to catch this thing.
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| brown marmorated stink bug |
There are sites online to report BMSB sightings. It's that serious. Oregon has it's own site, but the USDA site has a link for reporting no matter what state you live in.
https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/invertebrates/brown-marmorated-stink-bug
By the way, ladybugs are not bugs.
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| green stink bug |
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| stink bug - Chlorochroa kanei - it has no other name |
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| an orgy of squash bugs |
They're creepy. I'm not fond of bugs either.
ReplyDeleteThey're big and crunchy hard, and they look right at me and know I'm coming for them! Insects should not be smart! Squash bugs are the worst, because they congregate in groups.
DeleteSquash bugs...ugh. We fight them every year. We had stink bugs in Arkansas, where I lived for several years. We have the milkweed bugs on milkweed (the wild ones; we don't have the room to grow them). Our big looming problem now is the spotted lanternfly, which may endanger New York's grape industry, in addition to them attacking various trees. They are beautiful but deadly to plants.
ReplyDeleteMilkweed bugs are pretty, but... At least they stay on the milkweed. I don't have room for milkweed either, but planted some seeds given to me (in fact, those seeds are why I built my Butterfly Garden), and they plants have taken over. No butterflies on them either. Bees.
DeleteGreat shadow shot! looks like a movie monster!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought! It's also how I view stink bugs and squash bugs!
DeleteI get stink bugs here and there, mostly on the raspberries earlier in the season. Haven't seen any lately. And never a squash bug. Maybe I have some little predator here. I hope. Or maybe mine are stupider than yours!
ReplyDeleteI had them on blackberries that were growing near my shed when I moved in. I've gotten rid of most of the berries. Never a squash bug! Wow. I didn't grow anything for them last year to deter them this year, and it worked. Their numbers got away from me the year before.
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