Hemiptera are the "true bugs". Though people commonly refer to all insects and indeed other invertebrates as "bugs" the bugs are actually a group of insects that includes stink bugs, cicadas, bed bugs, assassin bugs and aphids to name just a few. In the past decade or so Brown Marmorated stink bugs have become fairly infamous in many areas of the United states due to their habit of home invasion during the winter months. Cicadas also make press when the periodical cicadas emerge en masse in the summer months in certain areas.
The infamous periodical cicada Magicicada sp. in 2013.
Here are some of the bugs I found in the past year:
These beauties are Florida Predatory Stink Bugs Euthyrhynchus floridanus. Unlike many stink bugs, (including the invasive Brown Marmorated stink bug) that feed on plants, these stink bugs eat other bugs. The can be gregarious and even attack large prey together.
In an amusing (well, to me anyway) intersection of my two worlds, a stink bug, perhaps a Brown Marmorated, laid eggs on my nursing cover while it hung outside on the line to dry. I collected these eggs to observe them until they hatched to see what they were.
This is a broad-headed bug, probably in the Subfamily Alydinae. They feed on seeds and the nymphs of some species are ant mimics, living in ant nests.
Here is a cicada, one of the annual species, emerging from it's larval exoskeleton. It chose my car tire as a safe spot to eclose and wait for its new adult exoskeleton to harden and darken. Luckily I didn't need to go anywhere.
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