Category Archives: Insects

Stink bug

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Signs of Autumn.’ (See more responses here.) So here two photos of a stink bug. I think this is probably a four-humped stink bug or rough stink bug (Brochymena quadripustulata), but it could be a brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys).

What does this have to do with ‘Signs of Autumn?’ Well, stink bugs start gathering around and inside homes in the fall. As natives of Southeast Asia, they’re sensitive to the cold and spend winter in a hibernation-like state called torpor. So in the fall, they’re looking for a suitable safe spot and a warm house fits that bill. They also have a tendency to gather in large numbers, so one stink bug could quickly be joined by many others.

Stink bugs don’t bite and they’re not dangerous, but they can release an offensive smelling liquid if threatened, hence their name. Because of this, they’re not exactly welcome house guests.

Fireweed control moth

The fireweed control moth (Secusio extensa) was deliberately introduced from Madagascar in 2012 because its larvae feed on fireweed. Unlike many other introductions, the moth was first confined to a study area to make sure it would not wreak havoc on native species. Having passed that test, it was released into the wild.

I’m not sure how much impact the moth is having on the fireweed, but I think it’s a pretty and quite striking moth.

Hawaiian garden spiders face off

Hawaiian garden spiders face offHawaiian garden spidersThis pair of Hawaiian garden spiders spent a long time facing off from different sides of the female spider’s web. The male is the smaller, drab spider, while the larger female has splashes of yellow, orange bands on her legs, and a bejeweled back, which can be seen here. The female spiders are much bigger than the males, though this female is not actually a particularly large one. Full-sized females dwarf their male counterparts.

I don’t know how this encounter turned out, but the previous day I did see another male on this web and it did not turn out well for him. I didn’t get good photos, but he appeared to be thoroughly enveloped in her ‘loving’ embrace.

When male garden spiders approach a female, they pluck the females web in a certain way to alert her to their presence. Typically, successful male garden spiders mate with a female and then die immediately afterwards. Sometimes the female will eat their male suitors. I’ve read than canny males will try to mate while the female is undergoing her final molt because during this process she will be immobile!

Passion vine butterfly

A passion vine butterfly feeds from blue heliotrope flowers. What I liked about this was the lower image where the passion vine butterfly has spooked a lesser grass blue butterfly into flight. It made me think of the Hank Williams song, Move It On Over, and in particular the line, ‘Move over little dog cause the big dog’s moving in.’