#red bug

[onenicebugperday]

A candy-striped bug for you on this lovely holiday evening!

Indian cotton stainer, Dysdercus cingulatus, Pyrrhocoridae

Photo by Rushenb

[jimbosanc]

BUG!!! :DDDD

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Firebug (aggregation) - Pyrrhocoris apterus

In previous posts featuring this insect, the aggregations I've found were near the of a tree (and some of the surrounding plants) or nearby in the surrounding grasses. These Red Bugs had gathered to absorb the setting sun's heat and to search for seeds (their primary form of nutrition) and while aggregated they enjoy safety and comfort in numbers. All this is nothing new, but where urban environments and nature come together, the Common Firebug may be found in strange places. In today's post, the aggregations found here were either on or near a wooden utility pole! A while back, I noticed a similar event with a similar looking insect: the Eastern Boxelder Bug. Both insects had mistaken a piece of human construction for a tree. Looking at it from an insect's perspective, a large wooden object may very well be mistaken for tree, especially if it has similar scent cues still attached to it. A utility pole unfortunately cannot be used as a food source, but does have potential to act as a shelter from the elements or a sunning location. For the former use (as can be seen from Pictures 5 and 8), as many individuals as possible can cram into the cracks and hide away, similar to the recesses and holes of trees (similar behavior also occurs when they find their way inside a house).

Firebugs would have to rely on other creatures to expend the crevices in order to fit every Bug in the aggregation, but alas, nature is survival of the fittest. What may benefit the Firebugs more is a eusocial/colony structure whereby the younger nymphs hide away in the woody voids while the adults monitor and search for food. While not eusocial in any way, there are small inklings of such a system in the aggregations. If you look closely, your attention may be drawn more to the spotted, larger and redder adults and not the smaller nymphs that try and hide beneath them. Meanwhile, loose aggregations and single Firebugs scamper about on stone and concrete looking for a source of food and shelter. What can start as one individual in an area can quickly turn into many individuals gathering in an area thanks to potent pheromones. However, different pheromones from this insect can also cause aggregations to separate and scatter. This may be useful as a defense, but likely has more value in use for after mating (for egg dispersal) or if an aggregation grows too large and food sources are in short supply. With reduced wings to prevent flying away (in most cases) personal stuff is all the more important, and it's furthermore great that this specie can run very quickly should an aggregation need to suddenly form or disperse.

Pictures of individuals or loose aggregations were taken on June 16 and August 5, 2022 with a Google Pixel 4. Pictures of the large aggregations were taken on October 1, 2022 with a Google Pixel 4.

[noir-poetography]

First Sign of Spring

© 2024, James Blatter

[billionneuronscurious]

A Red Bug on Orchid Pods.

[winged-lights-and-krill-frights]

Daylight Prairie looked really cool; had a nice balance of red and green. The neon Eye of Eden is really on display here! At this point in picture taking my eyes were starting to hurt 🤕 but I was determined to get all the realms! In the end it was totally worth it.

[atomicbug]

I’ve started to carry markers with me and I think they add a lot to my art. I’m really proud of the bug spread and Galileo looks really good too.

[dragonwysper]

So I have a little Trombidium mite in a teeny tiny terrarium that I raised from a pupa (after finding him pupating in a container I put a firefly in) for scientific purposes. I highkey have just left him in the little terrarium for several months now, and he routinely just Disappears and I don't see him for a few weeks at a time. Well he disappeared like three months back, and I kinda forgot about him until like last week, when I used a stick to prod through the dirt to try and find him. I did not succeed. I resigned myself to waiting for the freshly misted dirt to dry before digging out his corpse to send to an acarologist friend, and then put that off too.

So anyways, I just got home today, and bro was just out crawling around on a leaf.

Remind me not to underestimate him again.

[firebugseverywhere]

A little firebug with damaged wings. Since it is still eating (look at that trunk aw) I think it was doing just fine despite the hurt.

If you are lucky enough to encounter a large group of firebugs, you will likely see a few individuals with damaged wings. It doesn't seem to be unusual or very restricting. Note that almost all firebugs have "devolved" wings that make it impossible for them to fly. And they live just as merry without flying. :)

[onenicebugperday]

@panaceaphantastica submitted: Hi I'm sorry for adding my face to the mix but I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this picture my boyfriend took of me excited about a pretty bug I found. Literally seconds before I started asking for the camera so I could take a picture to submit it here! Ur allowed to post this submission btw if me being in it is not against the rules! Took while climbing at the Brazilian Highlands, Itatiaia National Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil. I would love to know what kind of bug is this, there was this one time when I was 6 or 7 that I found (to my horror) three of these in my pants somehow???? They were just sitting there and I spent the day with those pants and only noticed something weird at night. Still feels like a fever dream.

(I think I accidentally deleted the auto tags I'm so sorry I hope this doesn't mess anything up)

Nope, it doesn't mess anything up, I can easily re-add the tags. They're just there so I don't have to type them every single time.

Anyhoo I too would get excited about this little dude! Very colorful. It's a cotton stainer bug, Dysdercus ruficollis. They're a type of plant bug, so definitely harmless to people. Not sure what they were doing in your pants lol. Human taxi?

[paulpingminho]

[onebadnoodle]

cartoon gals

[catmanbowser]

A bug on your wall wwyd,,,

[winged-lights-and-krill-frights]

The Village of Dreams and Village Theater were absolutely gorgeous, even while bugged! No surprise, really, it's always stunning. Like with Home, it would be nice to be able to choose this look if and when we wanted it. It looked especially nice in the Theater, I think, with all the purple-toned shadows.

[talos-stims]

aleia on ig | source

[firebugseverywhere]

Mom's sitting on her children.