Smelly but cute!

  Critters are a special interest of mine.  I am not sure why but I want to know what makes them tick.  I want to know how they hunt, how they raise their young and how they survive in a world that is seemingly against them.  Every chance I get, I hike the hillside and marshes to observe whatever I find.  Usually, I am pretty good at identifying them but, every now and again, one throws me.  Now, it has been two in two days.  Yesterday, the slender twig ant was a new name for me.  I knew it was an ant but did not know much about it.  Today, another critter and another mystery became my quest.  This time, a bright green bug was found on the ti plant.  It was about the size of a penny....round and flat.  I had never seen this bug before so I decided to play with it a while to get a good look at it.  The bug was very docile and did not attempt a getaway nor did it "attack".  In fact, it sat calmly on my hand before I let it retreat back into the leaves of the ti plant.

  Now that I found out that this bug is the nymph stage of a stink bug, I may come to regret that decision to let it live.  Come spring, this little rascal's descendents may ruin a good number of my tomatoes!  Yep.  The flat, green bug is in the 4 instar of becoming a full blown stink bug!  Had I known, I probably would have smacked it just to protect the gardens.  Well, maybe I would have.  Look at how cute that little critter is!  Maybe I would not have.