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Bugs Come Home to Roost
By Carole W. Butler
A Charles County Master Gardeners Volunteer
Even though the flowers have faded from Rose of Sharon, Mother Nature still offers a colorful show on the lifecycle of True Bugs atop these shrubs in Charles County, Maryland. Most of the following amateur photos were taken in October 2007 during several weeks of informal, very unscientific observation—and totally fun.
The bugs pictured above and just below are one species at various stages of development.
The lifecycle of True Bugs has three stages—egg, nymph, and adult—referred to as incomplete or simple metamorphosis. (Complete metamorphosis includes larvae and pupae stages while this nymph looks much like the adult.)
True bugs are in the order Hemiptera. The life cycle begins with small masses of tiny eggs, pictured below on capsules near the top of a Rose of Sharon. As each egg hatches, a tiny, bright red nymph emerges.
The bugs grow and molt a number of times as they become adults with two sets of wings. Hemiptera means half wings, which describes the forewings. While the base of the forewing is hard, the tip is membranous. True bugs also have piercing beaks to take up liquids—you probably do not want to pet them.
The population begins to explode by the end of October. Coincidentally, the dry capsules begin cracking open, providing more protection from rain and cold in a miniature motel of sorts for an assembly of various stages of nymphs rubbing elbows with varying stages of adults, pictured below.
These true bugs return to their favorite haunt, the Rose of Sharon, in the spring. With a beige coloring much more subdued than the earlier stages, the bugs blend into the beige, weathered capsule, pictured below, at about 10 on a clock face. These two mating insects were photographed on April 26, 2008.
They apparently spend the summer elsewhere in the garden, then return to the shrubs in the middle of September to lay eggs, and the cycle begins again.
Challenging Bug ID?
Gardeners are likely to encounter unknown, interesting critters while planting flowers, pulling weeds, raking leaves, or just going out for a stroll in the garden.
Sometimes insect identification can be challenging, and if you are a gardener like me—eager to find out more about the insect but loathe to stick a pin in anything—there are cool tools on the internet to help you identify the insect, or at least to determine a close kissin' cousin. (Of course, if you need professional identification of an insect, please contact your local Extension Office.)
You can see very cool pictures of True Bugs and other insects and spiders online at Kentucky Critter Files and BugGuide.Net that may give you a clue as to what your insect may be.
With the True Bug, above, I was unable to make an exact ID, though I thought it could be kin to an Assassin Bug. The folks at BugGuide.Net suggested it may be a Scentless Plant Bug, Niesthrea louisianica. More importantly one of the volunteer naturalists who assist with identifications pointed out, "Assassins are, well, assassins. These obviously feed on the plant." Duh - and I kept wondering what they could be eating, while they were sucking up the plant juices the whole time!
If you have a digital camera handy the next time you find an interesting insect or spider you would like to learn more about, you may be able to find the ID (at least to Order and perhaps down to a close kissin' cousin) by uploading a picture to Bug Guide.Net. At the same time you can help this site hosted by Iowa State University build a data base on insects found in the USA and Canada.
For more information, contact Marcia Wakefield
Last updated: 03/10/2009
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