I took these photos of insects in my backyard today! A bee, butterfly, and some unidentifiable insects that look like jewels! (They may be Coreidae--"leaf-footed bug")

Date:   9/14/2007 5:09:13 PM ( 17 y ago)

Giant Swallowtail Butterfly, full view




Butterfly, side view




Butterfly, "face" view




Butterfly, under the wing view




Busy bee




Same busy bee, different flower




Invasion of the Bug People!




Invasion of the Bug People, close-up #1




Invasion of the Bug People, close-up #2




Invasion of the Bug People, close-up #3


Liora's Notes:

I'm not very good with a digital camera, and never manage to see well through the little viewer. My hands always seem to shake just as I'm clicking the shutter, so I took about 15 pictures of the Giant Swallowtail butterfly just to be sure I got one that turned out well! This butterfly was amazing--it sat there throughout the photo shoot, not moving, and let me get very close to it. It remained still for hours afterwards. At first I thought it was dying, but it eventually flew off.

...I'll add that on the day I took these photos was the 1st anniversary of my father's death (August 26, 2007), and I was out in the yard taking pictures of the trees and plants my father had planted 48 years prior, for some stories I had completed that day in memory of him (Yard Notes: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=976592 ). While I sat at the computer editing the stories, I could look out the sliding glass door and see the butterfly sitting on the succulent, unmoving. Butterflies are a symbol of transition, given that they emerge from cocoon stage into something quite different and beautiful; they're often seen as a symbol of transition from life to afterlife. I certainly felt that the butterfly was there as a "spokesperson" or representative of my father!
***

I emailed the photos of the "Invasion of the Bug People" to the Insect Diagnostic Lab at the University of Wisconsin, Department of Entomology, and found out "they are the adult and nymphs of a leaf-footed bug( Coreidae)" although the entomologist didn't know what particular genus, or species, of Coreidae they are. Then I checked out a GREAT WEBSITE, called BugGuide, posted the pictures, and found out these insects may be of the genus Leptoglossus zonatus:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/144519#187732


Want to identify some bugs of your own? Go to BugGuide home page and register as a user; it's FREE!
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

Related Blog:

Butterfly Visitor  10/22/2007  
  Last night, a butterfly, perhaps disoriented from the wildfires, flew into my house and visited for a while.

Photos: Friendly Critter  http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1249741

 Does anyone know what type of bug this is? Don't think it's a grasshopper, too green, unless it's an immature one...a katydid, perhaps?

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