Notes from Halibut Point: Stink Bugs

Some years ago in the early days of my Halibut Point explorations a colorful bug dropped out of a tree onto the path in front of me. It was a beetley-looking thing with Matisse-like ornamentation, though surely the inspiration of its design would have passed from nature to the artist rather than from the man to the bug, if the two had met. I took its picture home for research. A naturalist friend reported, "It's a Stink Bug nymph." I've been marveling at that combination of terms ever since.

Green Stink Bug nymph, Chinavia hilaris

How does one hold a glamorous creature and the words 'Stink - Bug - nymph' together in comfortable unity? A firmly formed person finds himself in a muddle of prejudices. His birthright curiosity needs refreshment, confrontation, spectacle. He needs to fall through the Looking Glass. This recent summer was my season of looking.

Green Stink Bug nymph at a later instar

I came across more nymphs. As the Green Stink Bug nymph matures it loses its harlequin coloration in a progression of developmental stages called instars. But I could sense consolation in that arcane scholarly-magical term, and in the lengthening wings of each instar that would prepare the creature for flight.

Green Stink Bug adult

For the serious business of adulthood the Green Stink Bug might just as well blend in to its surroundings.

Twice-stabbed Stink Bug (T-s.S.B.), Cosmopepla lintneriana

The Twice-stabbed Stink Bug, on the other hand, is vividly marked at all stages. Rather than seeking protection through camouflage its harlequin coloration warns predators of an unpleasant taste and odor. This stink bug wants to be unmistakably visible in every instar.

(T-s.S.B.) Instar 1

(T-s.S.B.) Instar 2

(T-s.S.B.) Instar 3

Spined Soldier Bug, Podisus maculiventris

Stink bugs generally possess a long, broad scutellum, the triangular segment between their "shoulders" which often protrude in lateral peaks. Most bugs in this family eat plant tissue only and can be an agricultural scourge. The Spined Soldier Bug is considered a beneficial predator in your garden where it will feed on leaf beetle larvae, caterpillars, and other problem pests.

Stink Bug, Mormidea lugens

Stink bugs comprise the family Pentatomidae (Greek pente 'five' + tomos 'section'). The name refers to their five-segmented antennae, or possibly to the configuration of their shield shape. They are of the sub-order heteroptera, True Bugs, as introduced in the previous Note.