Rough Stink Bug on Ficus

wildlifehub

I believe our subject is Brochymena arborea, also known as the Rough Stink Bug.  After photographing it I did a little research and was surprised to learn there are several beneficial species of stink bugs, the Rough Stink Bug being one of them.  While many stink bugs feed on plants and cause crop damage there are also species, such as this one, that prey on caterpillars and other crop damaging insects.

Virginia Integrated Pest Management published the Field Guide to Stink Bugs which explains how to identify stink bugs in the Mid-Atlantic region and identifies the beneficial ones.

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Pink Orchid

This beautiful pink and yellow orchid was on display at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Orchid Show in Richmond, VA.  I couldn’t resist the temptation to try and get a Georgia O’Keeffe style image of it.

Praying Mantis on Pine

This praying mantis was on a picnic table when I found it.  I moved it to a pine tree where it began climbing as I began shooting.

 

Grass Seedpod

The long stem of this wild grass silently hangs above competing weeds, wildflowers and native plants, patiently waiting for its seeds to drop.  Some will be eaten by birds and field mice.  Others will fall in places they cannot germinate.  But for eons these simple seeds have dropped from similar pods carrying the lessons of their ancestors.  Each year enough find their way into the earth to continue the silent tradition.

 

Blue

This picture was taken after a rain shower in the early evening of a warm September day.  Between the rain dripping off the porcelain vine berries and the bright, mixed colors of the ripening fruit I couldn’t resist getting a few photos of them.

Dragonfly Profile

Here’s another dragonfly photographed in my backyard.  This dragonfly seemed to rest with its wings pointing slightly forward.  Dragonflies prey on mosquitos and anything that reduces the mosquito population is a friend of mine.  Maybe its because we have so many mosquitos in the summer that so many dragonflies stake claim to our yard.

Cicada Shell

Leaving for work, I noticed the sunlight gleaming through this abandon cicada shell hanging under a fence rail.  I came back a few days later, right around the same time, and got this photo of the backlit shell.  These empty shells disgust my wife but when I was a child we would play with them in the summer.  We had great fun pretending they were aliens, space ships and monsters.  Maybe because of that, they remind me of simpler times and summer fun.

 

Smiling Dragonfly

I spent some time one summer day watching and photographing the dragonflies that buzz around my backyard.  This individual almost seemed to pose for me.  In this shot it looks like the dragonfly is smiling for the camera.