Our Bug FriendS!

[thisearthlyride]

Per request (how did I know you'd want to see photos, dirtyjew?!?), this post contains pictures of our bug.

Funny thing is, we discovered tonight that our bug is actually TWO bugs! I was coming upstairs and found what appeared to be our bug at the top- on his back, antennae barely moving. (I will admit to being a bit saddened that he looked so close to heading to bug heaven.) I eventually was able to get him to grip onto the end of a Q-tip and brought him downstairs to chill on one of the plants.

I went back upstairs and, to my surprise, found his twin just outside the bedroom door (a mere 2 feet from where I had just rescued poor bug #1). I snapped a few pics and was going to let him go on his way when Luka decided that bug #2 looked like a fun plaything and pounced. I spent a good 5 minutes trying to get Luka to go away so I could scoop bug #2 up and safely transport him down the the plant to be rejoined with his twin. Who would have figured someone could get so worked up over a couple of bugs?

Anywho...

Comments

[bound-gagged.livejournal.com]

we discovered tonight that our bug is actually TWO bugs!

Uh oh...you're gonna get baby buggies..:P

[bound-gagged.livejournal.com]

Hehe - a stink bug just like George..*giggles*

[dirtyjew.livejournal.com]

i'm trying not to laugh, but i can't help it.
what you have there, mr alex, that your cat was so intent on startling, is a stink bug (aka hemiptera or squash bug). kinda like the skunk of the bug world. if you squish it, it will be smelly.

:-p just so you know.

[thisearthlyride.livejournal.com]

No way!!!

This looks nothing like the stink bugs I remember from my childhood. Of course, I lived in San Diego then, so maybe it was a different variety?

Thanks for warning me, but there are no plans to squash either of them so I think we are safe from stinkiness ;)

[dirtyjew.livejournal.com]

there are lots of different varieties. a lot of them are smaller and greener. does that sound more like what you remember? these are the ones we have around here, though. not only do they smell, but if you squish them on your hand, you'll usually get a small rash as well. :-p not that you're planning on squishing it. just watch out for your cat.

Mom? Dad? What are you doing all the way out there??

[dodgingwndshlds.livejournal.com]

Yup.... Stink bug... And I know from bugs...

They're cuties, too..

Good thing your cat didn't eat it... Along with smelling bad, the chemical they produce is also toxic. Not enough to kill a cat, but definately enough to make it hurl once or twice.

I can't remember for sure, but I think they are herbavorous.. make sure they don't eat the plants you so lovingly put them on.

Re: Mom? Dad? What are you doing all the way out there??

[thisearthlyride.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, they are vegetarians- just like everyone else in this house (well, not the kitties!).

I looked into the term "squash bug" and am now wondering if I should buy them a nice spaghetti squash to tide them over until the weather is nice enough to be "evicted" from our home.

Maybe I'm just thinking about this too much... ;)

Re: Mom? Dad? What are you doing all the way out there??

[dodgingwndshlds.livejournal.com]

I would be the wrong person to ask about over thinking hosting the little crawling critters in our homes. Remember Khali, the seven-legged Common Sac spider that lived with me?

Yeah... I bought her fruit flies online, ferpetessake. She got so big and lazy.

Haven't seen her in a while. I am afraid that Her Royal Highness, The Pirate Tranny Kitty Goddess Afsoun: Bane Of Arachnid Kind And Harbinger Of Podiatric Doom may have lived up to her name.

Either that, or she ran off to join Overeater's Anonymous and now views me an an enabler.

Re: Mom? Dad? What are you doing all the way out there??

[thisearthlyride.livejournal.com]

Kat asked me last night not to tell the story anywhere other than here. Seems she embarrased by the compassion she's showing to a stink bug ;)

But I immediately thought of your kindness towards Khali. It's something I've been aspiring to, since insects and I have not had such a genial history together. Why should I value a bug any less than every other animal on the planet? If I have have compassion for even lobster (giant "sea bugs"), then can't I show some love to a little stinker?

I like to imagine that Khali ran off with the circus and is eating like a queen while other insects pay to get a gander at her missing leg. Either that, or she's grown so fat she can't leave her web and will soon be appearing on the talk show circuit to blame you for her current condition ;)

Re: Mom? Dad? What are you doing all the way out there??

[dodgingwndshlds.livejournal.com]

I am so glad I served as an inspiration to compassionate bug cohabitating!

I will still admit to a certain skeeving with the spiders and bugs, but if I am not startled by them, I almost immediatley find them cute. Even when I am startled by them, I know that the fear is my issue and nothing that they have done. I refuse to kill any but the most dangerous and agressive of them in my home. Even those I do my level best to relocate without violence.

Kat should be proud of her compassion to our crawly friends. The measure of civilization is how we treat those less powerful. Being kind to a bug is the paramount of enlightenment. Of course, that view point has nothing to do with my name! ;-)

[karendammit.livejournal.com]

Yes, a stink bug!! When I was a child I was running in my backyard and swallowed one once... damn thing flew in my mouth. I now know what a stink but tastes like... and it tastes awful! You should have sampled it to see.

[fireworkboy.livejournal.com]

My dearest darling alex, I guess u did not know this, but before I started teaching kids science I studied (and still do) as an entomologist. I have worked at both Yale and Harvard in the entomological field. I will tell u right now that what you have there is a Western Conifer Seed Bug, of the order Hemiptera or "true bug." It is of the same family as the more well-known "stink bug" and if disturbed, it too will egnerate a sickeningly sweet odor, but it is not of the same genus that is well-known as the classis "stink bug." They range all over north America, and they come inside when it is cold seeking shelter. They do not feed or cause damage of any kind. Just think of him as a seasonal hosue guest. Here's a link with mor information: http://www.caes.state.ct.us/FactSheetFiles/Entomology/fsen016f.htm and I trust that you will direct all future bug-related questions to me. xo