Thursday Invertebrate Blogging Returns!

Warm weather is finally here, and you know what that means...

Disgusting pictures of bugs, worms, spiders, crustaceans, and other assorted creepy-crawlers who lack a spine (politicians excepted).

Aren't you excited?

This week's entry is either Leptocoris rubrolineatus (aka Boisea rubrolineata ) or Leptocoris trivittatus (aka Boisea trivittata). I know the answer, do you?

Commonly known as the "Box Elder Bug," this critter is indeed a bug and not a beetle. They don't really do much damage to trees, but they can appear in such high numbers in and around your home that they become a real nuisance. Very few home decorators choose wall paint and drapery fabric that contrasts nicely with bug doo.

This particular specimen was not long for this world, as it was photographed inside a trap. This is either extremely fortunate or extremely unfortunate depending on whose side you're on.

But what of bugs and beetles?

Bugs are members of the order Hemiptera ("half wing"), while beetles belong to the order Coleoptera ("sheath wing"). Bugs are dubbed "half-wings" because the foremost half of their front pair of wings is usually tough and leathery while the hind part is membraneous. The front pair of beetle's wings, on the other hand, are hardened throughout their length.

SHORT VERSION: Beetles crunchy, bugs chewy.

If you can't put them in your mouth, how can you tell them apart?

Unfortunately, the common names of insects are of no help whatsoever. June bugs and lightning bugs are both beetles. Fireflies are beetles (as are glow worms), and jarflies (aka cicada) are bugs. A "locust" may either be a jarfly or a grasshopper. The latter are Orthopterans ("straight wing"), which are related to roaches, and are neither beetle nor bug. To add insult to injury, the Germans, who are normally obsessed with precision, took no action to keep their most famous automotive export from being called both "the beetle" and "the bug."

Thank goodness we have scientists to clear everything up with their unambiguous classification schemes, right?

Wrong.

According to the site:

A possibly paraphyletic group of insects known as the Homoptera is sometimes included within the Hemiptera, even though they lack the toughened areas on the first pair of wings. Some entomologists group both Hemiptera and Homoptera within the group Heteroptera; others use the name Heteroptera for what we have called the Hemiptera and use Hemiptera for the Heteroptera. Confused? So are we.

Next week I will endeavor to find an invertebrate that doesn't have an identity crisis.

Comments

[Steve K.]

If you can't put them in your mouth, how can you tell them apart?

Someone told me that Etnier won't name a species until he's eaten it.

[Gordon]

Reminded me of an old joke:

Two ice fisherman out on a frozen lake. One guy's haulin' 'em in hand over fist. The other guy ain't catchin' squat. He asks, "What's your secret?"

The successful fisherman mumbles something unintelligible. When asked, "What'd ya say? Come again?", he reaches in his mouth and extracts something and repeats:

"Gotta keep your worms warm."

[Steve K.]

It's a wonderful little book. I couldn't stop, so I put a couple more on Les' blog.

[lobbygow]

Thanks Steve K.

Those are great.

[Steve K.]

THE BOXELDER BUG PRAYS
I want so little
For so little time,
A south window,
A wall to climb,
The smell of coffee,
A radio knob,
Nothing to eat,
Nothing to rob,
Not love, not power,
Not even a penny.
Forgive me only
For being so many.

SUNDAY IN IOWA
After the prayers,
in Swedish, of course,

I jesu namn
går vi till bord
ätta Gud's ord.
Gud till ära
oss till gagn
så får vi mat
I Jesu namn.

Father passed the chicken
calmly to Uncle LeRoy and then
flattened with his thumb
the boxelder bug making his slow
way towards the mashed potatoes.
"Democrats," he said,
"Democrats..." in a voice
quite different from his prayers.

MONDAY IN MINNESOTA
The menu in the Comfy Cafe Reads:

Beef Dinner
Beef Commercial
Beef Hot Dish
Beef Sandwich
Beef Soup

Four bib overalls topped
by four seed corn hats,
consider the options, gravely,
silently, like judges
about to hang a murderer.
Finally, one stubs out
his smoke on the back of
the boxelder bug who crawled
into the ashtray.
"God-damn Republicans," he says,
"I'll have the Commercial."

-- Bill Holm
from Boxelder Bug Variations

[F-Stop]

To add insult to injury, the Germans, who are normally obsessed with precision, took no action to keep their most famous automotive export from being called both "the beetle" and "the bug."

I suppose that Non-Germans were in the marketing dept. at Volkswagen, since the "Thing" was also around. Mechanical and optical precision? Absolutely. Marketing precision? We'll get back to you on that one...