A few random things from recent days, including a beautiful grass

 

A Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) strikes a pose on a wingstem leaf. Last night was hot, humid, with some showers and lots of the little frogs were out and about. This was at a recently acquired Arc of Appalachia property in Holmes County, Ohio, along Killbuck Creek. Our crew found lots of interesting creatures during our nocturnal foray. The peepers were especially notable, and we saw many. August 8, 2024.

As always, click the image to enlarge

The desiccated corpse of a Long-jawed Orbweaver spider in the genus Tetragnathus is enveloped by a fungal killer, Gibellula pulchra, a fungus that preys on spiders. When a spore lands on a suitable arachnid, the fungus begins to envelope the victim, penetrating it with mycelia that consume its inner tissues. As a last hurrah, the fungus sends out rather showy elongated hyphae that produce spores, thus starting the cycle anew. Shauna Weyrauch spotted this grisly scene on an epic nocturnal foray at a new Arc of Appalachia acquisition. Holmes County, Ohio, August 8, 2024.

A portion of the flowering spike of Side-oats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula). The orange appendages are the grass's anthers, which contain the pollen. The white feathery objects are the stigmas, which are the pollen receptacles. Rather than evolve fancy flowers to lure insect or other animal pollinators, grasses go for the simpler carpet-bombing strategy. These plants release thousands upon thousands of tiny windborne pollen grains in the hope that some land on the stigmas of other plants and thus cross-pollinate them. The multisyllabic scientific name is a mellifluous delight: Boo-teh-loo-ah ker-tih-pen-do-la. This Side-oats Grama is in my front yard in Worthington, Ohio.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys) eggs with freshly emerged nymphs. This pest hails from Asia and was first collected in 1998 in Pennsylvania. Since then, it has spread to nearly if not every state. The first Ohio record dates to 2007 and now they're everywhere around here. One female can apparently lay up to 400 eggs, so the one that dumped these isn't done yet, or she already laid many other eggs. I must admit, there is an artistic symmetry to the bugs/eggs at this stage. My backyard in Worthington, Ohio.

A much reviled bug

An entomophobe I am not, but I utterly despise this bug. It is the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, and you may also know the ugly pest. These flattened wretched annoyances have a real knack for entering homes, seemingly being able to pass through the thinnest of slits. Come fall, in they come, and into hiding they go. Periodically, all winter long, the warmth of the home's innards coupled with lights will draw them out of wherever they lurk. My house is relatively new and nearly tight as a drum, or so I thought. Nonetheless, I find one of these stinkbugs nearly every day. I have no idea where they're roosting - maybe the attic, since the majority that I find are upstairs.

When a BMSB enters the room, there really is no rest until it is dispatched. They're big enough that you'll not be at peace knowing it is crawling about, and when they fly, the loud irritating drone is sure to make you ill at ease. Watch 'em when you grab 'em - squeeze too tight, and they can release a noxiously aromatic spray.

This is yet another invasive species courtesy of Asia. They first turned up in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1998, and are now well in their way to conquering America. BMSB's have appeared in something like 33 states thus far. I first starting noticing them around here - Columbus, Ohio - three or so years ago, and they have increased tremendously since then. Besides being a six-legged source of irritation when they come inside with us, the bugs are real threats to fruit crops. They are hemipterans, and use their sucking mouthparts to pierce orchard crops and about any type of fruit, apparently, thus doing great damage.

Conventional wisdom has it that Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs do not bite. Look around the web; just about every fact sheet says so.

I will challenge that, admitting that my evidence to the contrary is circumstantial.

Several weeks ago, I returned after a long day, and settled down for a half-hour nap before going back at it. About 20 minutes after nodding off, I awoke to feel flushed all over, and completely broken out in hives. Also, as I came to, I heard a scrabbling on the pillow next to my head, and there was one of these nasty beasts.

I am allergic to nearly nothing, save a nip of poison ivy if I really get into it on a hot day. Therefore, having an outbreak of hives was a very strange, scary, and new sensation. I also felt slightly nauseous and a bit like I had the flu coming on. Well, all of these unpleasant symptoms passed within the hour, and I was more or less back to normal. With the exception of a rather small but nasty wound on the back of my shoulder that is only now fading. Of course, I wanted to know what caused these conditions, and the stupid stinkbug was my primary suspect.

Stinkbugs have mouthparts modified into a strawlike tube, and this structure is what they use to puncture the skin and pulp of fruit and tap its juices. While I am quite sure the BMSB does not make a habit of feasting on humans, I see no reason why one couldn't stick a person if it were accidentally pinned or trapped, just as spiders will bite reactionarily if mishandled.

Furthermore, some Hemipteran insects, such as kissing bugs, do bite people, and apparently the aftereffects can include some of the same symptoms that I described above.

So, I cannot conclusively prove that one of these blasted stink bugs actually bit me, but there is some circumstantial evidence that suggests it. Bite or not, I still hate the things and hope that some native predator rises up and vanquishes them from American soil.

Spiders kill stupid bugs! And a fly mystery...

My front porch, with its attendant nightlight. Many a cool moth, and other interesting bugs, routinely turn up here in spite of my urban location. I've made scores of images of insects literally right outside my front door, such as THIS, and even THIS.

Not long ago, a pair of Variable Orbweavers, Neoscona crucifera, have taken up residence on the porch. Their massive webs tent in about one-third of the porch, but I don't mind. The spiders hide under overarching shingles during the day; I can see them peeking out when I peer up there. Come nightfall, they emerge and descend to commence web rehabilitation and prepare for the night's hunting.

Here's one of the Variable Orbweavers, peeking shyly at your narrator. If I approach with caution, they'll tolerate my presence. These hefty spiders fare well in their locations, routinely snagging moths, and other tasty (to them) meals.

And now, the "stupid bug" of this post's title: a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, also photographed near my door. It wouldn't take much of a skim of this blog to determine that I LIKE BUGS. Just not THIS BUG. These introduced Asian pests have skyrocketed in abundance, and their annoyance factor rates a 10. They are adept at slipping into homes, and once in the room, must be dealt with. They whir noisily about, colliding with things, and one just cannot rest until the offending bug has been dispatched. But whack them with care - they are not named stink bugs for nothing. Too much mistreatment and they'll release a noxious musk.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs are also death on certain plants. They tap into plant juices, especially the fruit of trees, and destroy the crop. Orchardists hate them with a vengeance.

So one can only imagine my delight when I glanced out the door the other night to see that one of my spiders had nailed a stink bug and was sucking it dry. Yes! I've seen them with stink bugs a few times now, including tonight, when I arrived home from work.

So, upon arrival this evening, and the discovery of a freshly whacked stink bug having its innards sucked dry, I retrieved the camera for a few shots. Here's a blurry picture of Senorita Spider enjoying her meal, but the shot isn't blurry because I don't know how to focus the camera. As soon as I turned the macro lens on her and her victim, I noticed something really interesting. A tiny fly was also enjoying the spoils! Now, I don't know with certainty whether this miniscule fly (species unknown, to me) was lapping up the juices spawned by the insertion of the spider's proboscis, or if it was laying eggs on the corpse. When I first noticed the fly, it was quite near the spider's mouthparts. In fact, at one point the spider took a leg and seemed to quite deliberately flick the fly away, to the position it is in in this photo..

Another, closer view of the fly. Little mysteries such as this intrigue me. Is there a group of flies that jumps onto fresh spider kills and deposits eggs on the victim? If you know anything about such a phenomenon, please let me know.

Nothing good comes from invasive stinkbugs!

Shield-shaped and menacing, this Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, had the gall to invade your blogger's home. It paid dearly for its transgression, as have at least a dozen others in recent days.

I first became intimately familiar with these pests two falls ago, on a trip to Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania. These bugs were numerous, even outside in more or less natural habitats. But they were at their ugly worst back in the hotel room. Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs (BMSB) are incredibly adept at forcing their way into buildings, and can do so in droves when the weather cools, as it had on my October trip to Hawk Mountain.

It was apropos that I learned the charms of these pests in Pennsylvania, as it was in the Keystone State where they were first found on U.S. soil, back in 1998. In the intervening 14 years, BMSB numbers have skyrocketed and probably everyone in PA is unwillingly acquainted with this six-legged brute. Like so many of our other problematic insect invaders, this one hails from Asia. And like other imported pests, it probably hitched its way here inside packing crates; another unintended consequence of foreign trade.

These bugs are tough, and slightly eerie. They appear to see well, and it seems that when I clap my eyes on one, it freezes and watches my movements. They're also fairly sizable, and create an annoyingly loud deep buzzing drone when they clumsily bumble-fly from point A to B. If one is in the room, you'll soon know, and probably won't be totally at ease until you've dispatched it. To make matters worse, if mishandled the stinkbug, quite appropriately, will discharge a foul-smelling substance from pores in its abdomen. There's just nothing positive to report on here.

Orchardists have it far worse than irritated homeowners that suffer BMSB incursions. The bugs are in the order Hemiptera, and use sucking mouthparts to tap juices from plants and their fruit. A big infestation can lay waste to crops of vegetables and fruit, and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of natural enemies.

I had one or a few invade my home last year, but there are far more this year. It seems the BMSB is quickly swelling its ranks here in Ohio as it sweeps westward across the landscape. I suspect they're here to stay, at least for some time.

These bugs are survivors, there is little doubt of that. An individual can live for a year, and they overwinter as adults. Hence, their urge to invade your warm cozy house when the weather turns nippy. Preliminary and informal survivability tests conducted by your blogger indicate that these insects can take a beating and keep on ticking. I captured the animal in these photos by trapping it in the lid of a noxious can of motorcycle chain lube, then securing the cap back on the can, airtight. The air quality within that small sphere could not have been pleasant. Then, I stuck the can in the coldest back recesses of my refrigerator for maybe an hour. When I brought the bug out and dumped it on white paper for these shots, it was predictably dazed and lifeless. Within two minutes, it was twitching and moments later was back to 100% health.

We've got a plant-sucking Armageddon-surviving cockroachlike six-legged pest that spews foul secretions on our hands, so it seems.

Thank you, Asia.

A pink stink bug

It must be the year of pink insects. The mania began with "Pinky" the katydid, which then led to "Pepto". As those two bugs grew in fame and reputation, I heard about several other pink Orthopterans. Actually, I don't believe there are any more glowing pink insects on the landscape; it's just that the widespread attention garnered by the aforementioned pinksters made people aware that someone might be interested in their finds, so they reported them.

Now, we have a pink bug of a very different type. Sandy Brown, who is an excellent photographer and very good field observer, sent me the following photo yesterday. She found this critter the other day in the Akron area and it's a doozy.

While exploring an old field, Sandy noticed something peculiar on the old inflorescence of a Queen Anne's Lace. It's an eye-catcher and certainly warranted closer inspection.

And in we go, to find something extraordinary, insofar as I know. These insects are Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, Halyomorpha halys, at least that's what we believe them to be. This insect is a recent arrival to U.S. shores. It's native to Asia and was first detected in eastern Pennsylvania in 2001, and has been on the warpath ever since. They've turned up in at least five other eastern states since, but I'm not sure how many or if there were any Ohio records prior to Sandy's find. It isn't surprising these stink bugs would get here, and quickly, especially as this find occurred very near U.S. Route 76, which is a major traffic artery from the east, and bugs could easily hitchhike on vehicles.

Anyway, the other more obvious coolness factor here is that one of the stink bugs is PINK, or if we wish to wax technical, erythrochroic. Stink bugs are plant juice suckers in the order Hemiptera. I have no idea how common pink hemipterans might be, but Sandy's creature is a rather extraordinary beast.

If anyone knows more about records of Marmorated Brown Stink Bugs in Ohio, or pink hemipterans, please let me know.

Thanks to Sandy for sharing her find!