'I'm always looking for the Hows and the Whys and the Whats,' said Muskrat, 'That is why I speak as I do. You've heard of Muskrat's Much-in-Little, of course?'
'No,' said the child. 'What is it?'
- The Mouse and his Child. Russell Hoban.

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Thursday 19 February 2015

A Stink of Bugs?


What's the collective noun for a group of vegetable bugs?  Mine seem to be all clustering together this afternoon.



I'm pretty sure these are the young of the 'Southern Green Stink Bug' Nezara viridula, originally from Ethiopia, but which has now made itself at home almost everywhere.  They spray a toxic, foul-smelling substance when disturbed.


Pretty, aren't they? They are about a cm long each.

Just don't eat them along with your lettuce. I can assure you from first-hand experience, you need only the rear end in your salad in order to have an extremely memorable experience.



10 comments:

  1. Ours here are just plain green, but probably with the same smell. They try to come indoors for winter, but Cro says No.

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    Replies
    1. These will be green when they are grown-up Cro. The ties that bind us ...

      Delete
  2. The collective noun is from the Latin 'Buggered' - pronounced: bug - 'erd (bug - herd).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. They stick their little mouthparts in my tomatoes Helsie. And the passionvine hoppers suck the stems. And yet I still have the biggest harvest in years! I can afford to be generous a little.

      Delete
  4. I squashed a stink bug once accidentally on the veranda. Hmmm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A 'squash' of bugs? Yep, that works. Hard to get the smell off your hands Geeb?

      Delete
  5. This goes to show that globalization stinks. Many creatures have hooked rides around the world and become invasive species.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Red. Although, species travel long distance on wind currents too, and have for millions of years, so it might not be due to humans in this case. Although it might be too!

      Delete

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