May 15th, 2007
nemesis
For the past three weeks, I’ve been seeing Six-spotted Tiger Beetles in the garden almost every time I’m outdoors hanging laundry on the line. Sometimes they’re perched on the chunks of pink granite next to the little frog pond. Other times, they zip across my path and land on the ground just ahead of me as I’m walking to or from the clothesline. Despite the frequent appearances, I haven’t been able to snap a photo of them as each time I’ve seen them, I’m carrying an armful of laundry and the camera is indoors. If I venture out in search of them with my camera, they are mysteriously absent. Yesterday, I finally managed to snap a not-so-hot photo of one that flew up to land on the porch steps just ahead of me as I returned from the clothesline (see above). I carefully stepped around it and sneaked into the house to grab my camera, and then returned to get this shot. Of course, as soon as the beetle saw the camera, it took off and flew off across the yard in the direction of some cedar bushes. I guess we could consider this my “nemesis insect” for this season. I usually have a nemesis insect of one kind of another each year — one that I would really like to photograph, but that manages to dodge my camera lens for weeks before I finally get a good photo.
The photo below is of a new insect for me. It’s a very tiny little creature belonging to the family Aradidae, commonly known as Flat Bugs. I found it on the bark of a poplar tree back in the woods. When I first noticed it, I thought it might be some nymphal stage of a Brochymena stink bug, but after a bit more study, I determined that it must be something else as it seemed to have a fully formed set of wings. By its motions, it seemed as though it might be laying eggs, but that’s just a guess. When I returned to the house, I picked up my new copy of the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects, flipped to the True Bugs section, et voilà, there was an image of a small creature that looked just about like mine, captioned as an Aradus. This was the third insect I’ve looked up using the book and although it doesn’t go into species name of every insect (an impossibility), it has pointed me in the right direction in moments. I’m finding that it’s quite a handy little guide. After getting a rough idea of which insect this might be, I checked Stephen Marshall’s Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity which I finally purchased for myself a week ago (I’ve been wanting a copy for awhile now). Sure enough, there were 7 photos of Aradidae bugs. One of them, Aradus crenatus, looks almost identical to the Flat Bug I’d found. It’s always fun to find a new insect, and particularly nice to be able to get a rough ID so easily.
Tags: Six-spotted Tiger Beetle, Cicindela sexguttata, Aradus, Flatbug